My two teens and I were excited to stay at this hotel as we learned we were to be upgraded to a deluxe suite with patio. We stayed four nights in April 2012. We liked the location of the hotel, but several small slips in service marred our stay.
The good...
1. The hotel is nicely located - it was easy to walk to the theater and restaurants. We felt quite safe staying here.
2. Our suite was roomy and comfortable (with the exception of the pull-out sofa.) It had a nicely stocked refrigerator with ice maker.
3. Room service breakfasts were delivered on time and were quite good.
4. Our tiny patio offered a nice escape. However, we noticed that the patios do not include the attractive lanterns, pillows, plants and umbrella that are shown on the hotel's website. Our patio had two small hard chairs and a tiny table. Certainly not large enough to dine upon.
The bad...
1. Our room was not ready when we attempted to check in at 2:30. After waiting in the lobby for thirty minutes, it still was not ready. The clerk was apologetic and gave us four coupons for drinks in the lounge. The bellman did not offer to handle our bags and we had to sit beside them in order to safeguard them. When the room was finally ready, we had to take our luggage up to to the room ourselves. As no one escorted us to our room, we did not receive any information about how to work the thermostat. The fan ran constantly and quite loudly the entire time. I guess this noise did block out the street traffic noise. One good thing - this lack of service did save me tip money!
2. Although I received an email before our arrival from the "pillow concierge" regarding our sleep pillow preferences, the pillows were not delivered. I finally asked at the front desk after spending two nights at the hotel and it was determined that somehow our preferences had not been logged into their system, even though I promptly replied to their email. I again gave the front desk my preferences, but only part of my request was delivered. We never received the eye masks.
3. At the same time I inquired about the missing pillows, I noted that my teenage son had difficulty sleeping on the pull out sofa as the metal bars could be easily felt through the thin mattress. The Front Desk agent seemed to not be surprised about this and stated that extra padding would be sent up. This padding was never delivered. My son ended up sleeping on the sofa cushions for the final two days as this was more comfortable for him.
4. We received a lovely turn down service on the first night - complete with a nice box of chocolates. After that, nothing for the next three nights.
5. When we returned to our room on the last evening at the hotel, we were disappointed to discover that the patio door was unlocked and standing wide open with cold wind blowing into our room. The room maid had lowered the shade on this door - I am surprised that she did not notice that the door was unlocked.
6. Even though we were a party of three staying in a suite, we only received one small bottle of shampoo and conditioner each day. Extra towels were promised at check-in but were never delivered.
7. On our final morning, we attempted to use one of our drink vouchers at The National Bar. We were met by a surly male bartender who informed us that the bar was not open at 11:00 am! There were plenty of people in the restaurant enjoying breakfast and lunch so I am not sure why he would state this. I had enjoyed a nice bloody mary delivered by a efficient but not particularly friendly female bartender two mornings before. We ordered one cocktail and two soft drinks and gave the bartender one of my vouchers that had the notation "party of three" hand written on the card. The bartender informed me that the card was only good for two drinks. As I had several of these cards in my purse, I just gave him another card for the extra soft drink. Of course I tipped him for his (lack of) service.
8. We had breakfast delivered to our room on three mornings. Every morning, we received a phone call stating that one of the entrees we ordered as "not available." As there are only a few entrees to choose from, I don't understand how so many items could be unavailable day after day. We had to change our orders for the Crocque Madame, French Toast and Biscuits with Gravy. How can a kitchen run out of these items???
9. When returning to our room one day, we shared the elevator with an employee that was delivering two pillows to a guest room. He held the unprotected pillows by their edge and they were left to drag on the elevator floor. I certainly hope that our pillows were not delivered to our room in this fashion.
10. Our room only had one mirror that was located in the bathroom. As our suite was being shared by three people, it would have been extremely helpful to have had another mirror located somewhere else in the suite.
These are all minor issues (with the exception of the open patio door,) and they won't prevent us from trying The Benjamin again. That said, I now know that I will have to ask for services that I felt should have been provided automatically.
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