We went to the Omni this past weekend for an anniversary and thought it would be a romantic…read morelocation with the scenery and hot springs. Yet, we found that the hotel was significantly overpriced, poorly serviced, and much more geared towards kids than couples.
The Service
Nearly every interaction we had with the front desk felt like we were inconveniencing them. From the moment we walked in, my partner and I walked up to the front desk with two employees. The one briefly looked up at us and then returned to what she was doing. We stood there for a bit before I asked if there was someone who would be able to assist us for check-in. The next morning, we walked by and that same employee was leaning up against the wall staring up at the ceiling - it looked like she would rather be anywhere else than working at that front desk. It was not a helpful, four star experience in any way.
The final straw for us was when we were checking out, and one of the Room Controllers (seems like a supervisor role) Patrick, was called over to try to help us with a question we had about a charge we saw on our bill. When asking if he could help us understand the activity fee listed that wasn't clear what it was connected to, he said he could look into it more but it would take over an hour to do. When we pushed if that was actually the case, he said "do you know how many people have stayed at this hotel over the past weekend," in reference to the number of tickets he would have to go through in order to answer our basic questions. Seems hard to believe a resort like this couldn't tell you what a charge on your bill is - and of course that wasn't the case. Turns out theres is a drop down that provides all the details. We weren't trying to nickel and dime here, just understand a charge that was not clearly tied to an activity. After he realized there was a drop-down and it would not take an hour to answer our question, he became significantly more friendly.
Cleanliness
Our room had stains on several surfaces, most noticeably on the pillows. The tub was also significantly rusted around the drain and there were two long hairs on the shower wall from previous guests that we found before using the shower.
Food
The food in Jefferson's was bad, especially at the price. I had eaten here before and did not remember it being so terrible. I would consider it the most overpriced meal we've had. We ordered an 8 oz steak, lobster tail, wedge salad, and spoon bread. The steak was 1) not 8 oz and 2) not cooked to order, the lobster was rubbery, the salad was soaked in dressing, and the bread brought with our meal appeared stale as if it had been sitting out for hours if not days.
The Fees
Everything includes an extra fee. We were fine with the cost of it, but the additional charges aren't an inconsequential amount and honestly it's clear that the fees are just a way to show a lower price when you're booking things. The one that really stood out to us was the spa "service fee" which was 22%, and which part of it went to the massage therapist - but the front desk at the spa couldn't tell us how much. We were told that this specifically was not a tip, and were expected to tip on top of the 22% fee. To make matters worse, our "50 minute massage" was not 50 minutes - we have texts we spent before and after the service from the room that shows it was closer to 45 minutes. To be clear, we were on time and completed the paperwork well before the start time - so it was not a matter of us being late to the appointment.
Activities
A quick note - our experience with all restaurant staff, interns, seasonal workers, and especially those leading activities was very good. Archery was fantastic, the hot springs were peaceful and unique, and the hike had a very knowledgeable guide. The guides for Archery (the intern from Virginia Tech and Ahmet) were incredibly helpful and friendly. Our activities were not without frustration though - when we showed up to our 9am archery reservation, we were met by the intern who said her boss was not here so we couldn't get into the building. So we stood out in the rain until management showed up to unlock the door. We would recommend part of our 20% activity fee on top of the cost of the activity go toward cutting an extra key so future guests don't have to wait in the rain.
