This is the first time we have visited a TripAdvisor top choice that did not work out well. Our experience may be an anomaly, but there were multiple indicators during our visit to convince us not to return.
One interesting thing to note, is that in both rooms we had that night, the shower was a large walk-in tile shower with sliding glass doors - not the common tub with a shower we are used to at this price range. I am not sure if this is good or bad - and as far as we know they were supposed to be regular rooms - but this may be a bonus to some of you.
The check-in clerk was friendly throughout our ordeal on the night we arrived, and the overall hotel looks nice and relatively new. We did not visit the pool area, but driving by it looked larger and nicer than many in this price range.
Unfortunately, what we experienced in our rooms was very disappointing and trumps everything else.
We checked in around 8:30 p.m., yet when we got to our room there was a small puddle of water on the bathroom floor, and the shower tracks were still wet. Even though it was odd to us for those things to still be wet that late, we wrote it off. However, the problems started when a closer look revealed a fairly large number of hairs scattered across the bathroom floor and in the shower - far more than the one or two they may have missed cleaning.
It was late, we were tired and my wife was not feeling well, so I picked up most of the hairs scattered around the bathroom floor with tissue and flushed them --- and in the process noticed that the two rolls of toilet paper provided were actually significantly used (however, the first piece was folded neatly as if ready to be used the first time, so clearly the maids had been through). The low TP is relatively minor, but it was very odd to us to have one roll with only about 1/4 of a roll left and the other with about 1/3 left - and no backup TP in the room we could see. Maybe we missed a hidden stash, but if not we certainly expected better from such a potentially nice place.
With our confidence shaken, we thought we better look for bed bugs in the sheets. We are happy to say there were no bugs we could see, but upon pulling back the sheet we discovered several more hairs in the sheets. At first we gathered and disposed of most of them, but then we figured out that this is crazy (and disgusting), so it is time for a new room.
We explained the situation to the front clerk, who was apologetic and gave us a new room. Upon my request, she placed us in a room that should not have been maintained by the crew that cleaned the previous room -- we had seen their work and were not anxious to return.
We arrived at the second room and were happy to only have the typical hair or two on the floor in the bathroom - nothing out of the ordinary. However, the disappointment instantly returned when we pulled back the sheets and discovered multiple hairs again, but luckily it was not as bad the first room. While this was a major bummer, we realized we only had to make it through one night in this place, we had gotten a cleaner room the second time, and my wife was still not feeling well, so we just disposed of the hairs with tissue and kept the room.
Other things to note about this hotel:
- The pillows were very comfortable
- The A/C worked great keeping the temp very steady while working quietly through the night
- The walls were thin or something was odd because we could hear parts conversations through the walls fairly easily.
- Their attention to service needs to improve in at least two ways we noticed:
1.) Related to the cleanliness issue, the front desk should have given us a discount or something for the inconvenience of the dirty room - surely they have some options to offer without us demanding them. We recognize the second room was technically an upgrade because it included a couch, but we really did not care about the couch -- besides the fact did they really think someone who just experienced hairs all over their sheets would be anxious to go sit on their couch -- call us crazy but we just wanted a clean room.
2.) When we went to check out in the morning, the lady on duty was very friendly (we did not bring up the second room issues), but she was new to the area and did not know where a bagel or bakery was located in the area. Being new is perfectly fine and she had a great attitude, but it does not seem out of line to have answers for predictable questions ready for the staff. A simple solution is to provide the front desk staff a FAQ or similar tool.
There are a lot of people involved with any business and a slip-up can occur, but YIKES, this experience is not what we expected or should of had to endure.
Overall, it is our opinion that there seems to be multiple opportunities for improvement at this hotel.
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