Originally Posted by
Tomh65
just stayed on a free certificate night for one night in king park view. As spire (Amb) no upgrade available, given the £15 voucher, no mention of discount and no social hour due to Covid. Given 1000 points for Kimpton password. Service terrible, only palm court open, v limited menu, I had the burger, wife had the club sandwich, food didn’t come, asked where it was, apologies then it arrived instantly. The burger hand the been cooked, was cold and raw, the club sandwich was incredibly dry, the toast had turned into a crouton. They comped the burger and due to the bar closing at 10 (new UK Covid rules) they could serve it in the bar. Breakfast was a disaster, no service, multiple orders placed, nothing came, then wrong orders of both drinks and food twice, then when food came inedible, omelette had raw egg white on top etc, manager came and apologised and comped it. Due to delays in breakfast, (we started at 10:30) we finished at 13:00, we were after our checkout at 12:00. Manager assured us in the restaurant, that he would let the front desk know. Get the room, surprise the door card had timed out. Back to reception to be told that we were beyond our check out time! Started to loose my sense of humour again at this point and she apologised reset the card and off we went. Overall beautiful building but truly dismal service for very low occupancy (20% is what reception at check in stated) although hotel only partially open. I would strongly think twice!
I stayed on Saturday too, had pretty much the same experience. The hard product is amazing, even with some of the touches (throws, mini bar and pillows) removed for COVID. I declined the points and took the gift for the code, which was two really nice branded water bottles (chilly style). The room was available early, check in staff really friendly. Had lunch in Palm Court, really good service from George there, he really cares and took the time to chat - the food was good and reasonably priced. Went back to the Palm Court to spent the Raid the Bar but sat at the table for 30mins without service but then needed to go to dinner. Came back the next day for breakfast (included in my rate) and it took over two hours from sitting down to finishing - 1hr 30 for the food to come. The staff are super friendly but can't cope - it was odd because it wasn't even busy. Thought I'd give the Raid the Bar card a go again just after check out, had one diet coke and then asked for another, the server never came back.
I also had issues with the upgraded room they gave me (I booked Urban and they upgraded to Deluxe) the first shower I had the water wouldn't run cold. A guy from maintenance came and just ran it through for 30mins and it appeared. I then showered, meaning I missed social hour. Arrived back after dinner for another shower and no hot water again, left it to run for 15mins and then it comes. I was awoken several times by some sort of industrial noise making the bed vibrate and the sound of almost extractors going constantly. I was at one point (4am) ready to check out and go home but I had appointments the next day in London. I mentioned it to George at breakfast and he was horrified, went to tell reception who came over. She firstly tried to tell me it was the AC (I didn't have it on) and then that she can't think of any reason why it was there, was I imagining it?. Quite aghast at that interaction, the only poor member of staff encountered on the whole stay.