RANKINGS
Check-in/Check-out [3 out of 5]
Checked in at 1PM and the room was not ready. Front desk attendant took my cell # and said she would call me when the room was available. Asked about an upgrade as an SPG Gold but was told that I booked too high of a category [Fabulous Suite] to get upgraded past that, oh well doesn’t hurt to ask and as I learned from Cheap Elite, book the category of room you want. I asked the front desk if they could at least give me my room number so I could bill food and drinks to the room while I waited for my suite to be prepared but they couldn’t accommodate that even though they said they already knew which room I would be placed in. Complimentary late checkout offered without prompting. Checkout was quick and removed an erroneous parking charge with no issues.
Common Areas [4]
Overall all the common areas were pretty nice and clean.
Guest Rooms [5]
I stayed in room 407 which overlooked the pool area.
Overall First Impression: LOVE IT!
Bed: Big, comfortable and awesome.
Furniture & Decor: Loved the décor of the room and the furniture, the wall paper was a bit blah but nothing terrible. I thought the rooms could have used more lighting and a dressing mirror in the bedroom would have been appreciated.
TV: Flat panel in each room but didn’t really watch any TV during the stay.
Workspace: Nice desk in both the living room and the office room. Also, the office room has a couch that folds out into a bed and the staff made when they brought our bags up.
View: view of the pool
Radio/Audio: We were able to get the Ipod dock working with no problems.
Guest Room Bathroom [3]
Shower with a combined tub, no separate door for the toilet but there was a little “wall” blocking it off. I felt the bathroom was a little bit cramped. Bliss toiletries but sadly no Bliss men’s shaving cream despite a request for it. I don’t know if I should expect the Bliss Shaving Cream but I know the room came stocked with it when I stayed at the Sheraton Pasadena.
Pool[4]
We were fortunate enough to have perfect weather this weekend. Unfortunately the pool was crowded with kids and parents who would not control their kids due to the Kids Choice Awards being filmed near by. A few drinks were ruined when kids would cannonball into the pool and water would splash into our glasses. Talking to the security they said the pool is normal much more mellow and mature, looking forward to trying it out again on my next stay. Lounge chairs and day beds are on a first come first serve basis and tend to fill up pretty early. Cabanas could be rented for $100/day I was told.
Concierge [4]
The concierge sent complimentary chocolate covered strawberries and a small bottle of Champaign up to our room in honor of my friend’s birthday. The price I was quoted to have balloons and flowers set up in the room seemed exceedingly high so I just brought my own.
Parking/Valet [3]
$32 a night for cars $35 a night for SUVs. We had 3 parking charges on our folio despite only having two cars in our group. Additionally at checkout they couldn’t find my car keys and I was made to wait about 30 minutes. The valet manager said he would comp my parking without my asking which I appreciate and if it does actually come off my bill (I had already checked out) I’ll be very pleased with his proactive customer service.
Dining [food 4 Service 2]
Food and drinks by the pool were expensive but that was to be expected. All the food we ordered was great but the drinks were weak. I was supposed to get 20% off my bill as an SPG member and was told it would be taken off at check out. When I reviewed the preliminary folio slipped under my door Sunday morning I saw this had not been done. Went back to the pool to have breakfast and resolve the situation of the missing discount with the manager. Asked to speak with him several times over several hours while enjoying the sun and pool and he never came out, finally after about 3 hours he came. He said he couldn’t fix the bill from the day before but did apply the discount I should have gotten to Sunday’s ticket so it all ended okay. Ultimately I should have never had to ask more then once to speak with the manager and been made to wait. It was a very frustrating situation and put a cloud over the last couple hours of our stay, apparently whatever/whenever doesn’t apply to trying to resolve issues their service staff created. Drink and food service by the pool was also incredibly slow and both days we had to ask 2 people 3 times to get ranch dressing and BBQ sauce for our meals.
FINAL IMPRESSION
Overall a few basic service errors put a damper on what was otherwise a wonderful stay and a nice property. I have another stay booked for my birthday in a couple of weeks so hopefully we wont have the same service issues this time as it is a nice property in a great area.