I had stayed at the Hotel Palomar in 2000 when it was somewhere newly opened. From my several trips to and from the US and to San Francisco, my return this year to this hotel would have been a homecoming... NOT!
What used to be the Hotel Palomar noted for being a boutique luxury hotel was terribly terribly all wrong. Perhaps it had something to do with a travel agent in the Philippines using another travel agent in the US, booking this hotel for me. I was charged $380 per night for a King Deluxe and breakfast was $35 per head. I eventually found out that continental breakfast was only $14.50 and that if I had booked through the internet, it would have just been $1 breakfast for two. For the last 5 years I had never booked my trips through the travel agency but corporate policies which are still living in the dinosaur ages dictate that we need to go through a travel agent for auditing purposes.
Nevertheless, let me say that the King Deluxe was a letdown. There was no water available in the room (you had to buy it at the nearest Walgreens) and the place looked very desolate. The ambience overlooking the awkward looking Zen garden looked sad and pathetic. There was no view. While the room was kept clean by the cleaning lady, there needs to be a makeover and the carpets need to get changed as it smelled musky and moldy.
The bathroom was small and the shower curtains (who still uses shower curtains?!?!) were smelly. This was another place in the room that needed a major makeover.
Finally was the food. For $14.50 for a continental breakfast, one could get a more decent meal in the next door Westfield Mall for the same price! Talk about having a muffin, some fruits, a croissant, a cup of coffee or fruit juice for this price? There wasn't even yoghurt to go. Geez!!
The fitness center was really tiny and you probably are better off jogging in your room than in the tiny place they called Fitness Center.
Of course, coming from Sofitel Los Angeles last July and comparing what Sofitel offered and the price I paid for Hotel Palomar was a no brainer.
I expect to get what I paid for and if this is what this hotel offers at this price, this must be really the signs of the times in the US...that they are in recession and will stay this way for a decade more with no more cash to upgrade their hotels and provide people with rooms worth their money.
Disappointment is a kind word to describe this hotel. I don't think the Kimpton hotels will make it through the next decade.
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