We have always booked the Meridien whenever we stay in the city, which is at least 1-2 times per year. If you could catch an e-mail special this hotel was a good value, with lots of space for our family of 3. Plus, our son, who is an avid swimmer, loves the penthouse pool. Unfortunately our most recent stay was a big disappointment. Here are the reasons why:
- Although a special was advertised on the website, it wasn't available for any date that I tried to book. I caved in and booked at a regular rate. I then received an email with an offer for a suite upgrade, which AGAIN was not available at all. Why offer discounts that aren't available? Extremely frustrating.
- The charge for a rollaway (even for a kid) is now a whopping $50 per night. When we started coming to this hotel, a rollaway in the room was free.
- The hotel now charges an outrageous $16/day for internet access which was included in the room charge until recently! "Free" access is available for 30 minutes in the lobby, if you're willing to sit on a hard bench for the duration, as the plush lobby chairs have been removed for "renovation". We skipped this "option".
- The hotel now charges to swim in the pool - $15 per family per day! There has always been a charge to access the gym (which is a full-blown gym, so I'm ok with that), but now we had to pay $25 extra per day just to work out in the gym and swim. What's next -- a coin lock on the bathroom?
- The pool is poorly managed. One section of the pool is supposed to be reserved for laps.The lap section was overrun by a gaggle of wild and screaming kids, who were busy swimming into everyone and batting each other on the head with foam noodles while their parents hang out on the sidelines drinking. When we nicely asked the lifeguard to please ask the group to move to the non-lap section, she was very hesitant and not only didn't bother to move the group, she allowed the screeching and chaos to continue. Needless to say, our experience in the pool was extremely stressful and unpleasant. If I'm going to pay $15 to swim, the pool should at least be managed appropriately.
- Service is mediocre at best. Housekeeping usually requires several calls, and dirty dishes stay outside rooms all day.
The Meridien is still a fun hotel with large rooms in a great location. Just expect mediocre service and to be "nickel-n-dimed" to the tune of a few hundred dollars extra by the time your stay is over.
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