What a lovely and clean hotel, and every single staff member was so kind and respectful, through and through! It's on the pricier side, but worth it because of the consistent customer service and convenient location (adjacent to the waterfront, many restaurants, and not far from shopping or Downtown/other major areas, and the highway). I used my credit card rewards to book the hotel for two nights, but my husband and I agreed we would pay to stay here again.
While I was in line to check-in, one of the front desk attendants named Aaron was working with another couple, but he took the time to acknowledge my very pregnant belly and mouth "congratulations!" Because his colleague was available first, I made it a point to check out with him days later. Manager, take note: Aaron was super friendly, professional, funny, and the additional conversation outside of the logistics of our stay made our interaction that much more personal and enjoyable!
The room was clean and the basic amenities were provided. We stayed in a room with a soft and pillow-like king size bed, and the pillows were so fluffy but sunk down a little. To be fair, while checking in, the front desk attendant (didn't get her name) recommended a pregnancy body pillow and a weighted blanket when I shared we were there for our "babymoon."
My one complaint is that the walls are quite thin. There was evidently a family on one side of us, and we could actually clearly hear when/what the child was yelling or laughing with presumably his dad. It was only in the morning, at a reasonable time, so that wasn't a big deal. However, there was a very perturbed man yelling at someone around 1am. It was a one-sided conversation that we heard, but we couldn't figure out where it was coming from...upstairs? Outside? A vent? Otherwise, we would have called downstairs to see if that could be addressed because we were trying to sleep.
Parking garage: $37/day to self-park. We went straight to park in the garage before checking in, and we exchanged our ticket during check-in for another that would allow us unlimited entrances and exits throughout our stay--in fact, until Midnight of our checkout day. I read that the valet garage parking would be $40/day. Either way, the garage parking was totally worth the convenience!
My husband and I went to one of their restaurants, Aura, for breakfast on two occasions, and we had very professional and friendly service! I can tell the hotel must really drive home the importance of the customer service experience. The first day, instead of the buffet, my husband got a choose-your-own omelet, and I got the two-eggs breakfast. We both enjoyed our meals and were sufficiently full afterward. There is an automatic 18% tip tacked onto the bill for the server, and you can certainly charge it to your room, but you don't need to sign anything if paying by credit card. The second day, we had a different server and chose meals again over the buffet. My husband ordered orange juice and the Belgian waffle with bananas and caramel, and he started to feel some digestive discomfort early on during his meal. He said the orange juice tasted like it was made from concentrate and had a little odd sourness to it. Later, he said it could have been the bananas, but we will never know if it was his stomach sensitivity or something else. I had strawberry pancakes and an iced latte, and it was certainly satisfying. I asked for a to-go cup for the rest of my latte, and our kind waiter asked if I'd like him to make another one for me. I'd usually say yes, but I indicated I have to watch my caffeine intake because of my pregnancy. He and another waiter asked about my due date, and it turned out another waiter has a son who's turning 11 on my due date. I really liked the willingness of the staff to make conversation. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea, but I really appreciate those types of interactions most, and they still kept it professional.
Speaking of personal touches, even the tv shows the name of the person who booked the room. When I called down for room service one night, they answered by addressing me by, "Miss [last name]," which was also a nice touch. The gentleman who took the order and also the one who delivered our order were just as kind and professional as any other staff we came across at the hotel, if not more. I'd say they were on par with our wait staff from Aura. The food we ordered came from the menu of the hotel's other restaurant, Tamo. We splurged to get the clam chowder, a burger, the four-cheese pizza, the bolognese, the Oreo cheesecake, and the deconstructed s-more. We were satisfied with every part of our meal, except for the bolognese. I took one bite and thought I was tasting the fork, but when my husband tasted it, he confirmed that it tasted "metallic," so we left that whole plate of bolognese alone.
Overall, highly recommend! Bravo on the customer service, truly! That got me to 5 stars instead of 4. read more