Buy an old building. Renovate it. Stick "boutique" in its name. Staff it with mostly officious staff and unyielding management, and you have the perfect illustration for choosing to stay in a chain hotel.
We arrived late and needed to park our rental car. We were directed to a tiny building down the street, owned by the hotel. It was difficult to maneuver the car through the small doorway, but it got worse as I drove around a tight bend to find three cars already parked and one lone space left at the end of the row. I could barely fit the SUV into the narrow space, but knew that pulling out of the space would be nearly impossible. The next day wasn't terrible, since the other cars were gone. BUT - when I went to pull back in, there were no spaces left at all. And for this we were paying more than $13 a day? It got hairier. I couldn't know there were no spaces until I went around that very narrow bend past the entrance. And then I COULDN'T GET OUT! No way, nohow. We had to commandeer two staff members to stand on either side of the car, and it took a full 45 minutes of maneuvering to get that car out, even with the backup camera in the car. But then the kicker: it turned out that the hotel has other spaces - outside, under video surveillance - in the parking lot of the supermarket across the street. It's not free parking for anyone, but I bet it was cheaper than what we were paying the hotel. How dare they send us into that garage, knowing that our SUV was too big, when it all could have been avoided by sending us to the parking lot in the first place. And yet when we requested a refund of just one day of the three days of paid parking, it was met with haughty disdain and we were refused.
Our room was at the very end of the corridor, and the hallway floor inexplicably sloped downward right before the door to our room. I didn't remember this when, soon after checking in, I needed to go back down to the lobby. I was deep in thought as I left the room, and forgot about the slope, which was now upward. Since I wasn't paying attention, I stubbed my foot into the floor and caught myself from falling. I decided to suggest to the desk clerk that they should have management put some reflective tape or a sign up to warn people, so that future guests could avoid accidents. My suggestion fell on deaf and unapologetic ears.
Our room was very cold. We asked if there was heat. They sent up someone with a remote control to operate the ac/heater unit. We wondered why it wasn't in the room in the first place. The guy fiddled with the remote, but nothing happened. When we went to the desk to find out what the deal was, we learned that heat had not yet been turned on in the building. But we were cold, and it was already quite chilly outside in early October. The response was simply no response, kinda like "tough luck." Heartwarming, but not body-warming.
When I made the reservation (on the hotel's website) I asked about their smoking policy. They replied that the entire hotel was non-smoking, but I could smoke on their patio. All well and good. What they didn't tell me until we checked in was that they turn the lights out on the patio at 9:00 p.m. All of them. The patio is just outside the lounge area adjacent to the entry, and they dim those lights at 9:00 too. Consequently the patio is in total darkness. And just like the floor in the room corridor, there is a slope just past the entry way which cannot be seen in the dark.
After the parking nightmare and the sloping floors inside and out, this hotel is an accident waiting to happen. And management is as cold as the rooms. And sadly, nobody cares about any of it. A good hotel is more than just nice rooms and a decent location. It's about value for the money paid, and making guests feel as if they are valued. Sadly, this hotel is sorely lacking. I'd give it one star, but the nice breakfast, the decent location, and one nice lady working the desk makes it two. read more
