Hilton Sonoma Wine Country {US-CA} [closed due to fire Oct 2017]
Jun 22, 2015, 10:46 am
#61
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Exactly where I want to be
Programs: IHG Gold,SPG Gold, HH Gold, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Delta Kettle, AMEX Plat, DL AMEX Plat
Posts: 1,434
OP: if you are there now, why wait until checkout to get the rate adjusted? I would go to the Front Desk now and make sure that they are aware of the problem. That way, they have time to 1)have Revenue re-do the rate, 2)Revenue will know it needs to be changed in the system to prevent issue for future guests and 3)you won't have to spend the extra time at checkout with the time it will take to get it modified. The Front Desk Agent you get at checkout may not be authorized to do those kind of revenue changes - they may have to find a manager who may or may not be immediately available.
I'll suggest you also take with you your copy of your confirmation that shows the rate differences; there ARE times when promotions change but use the same rate plan code and the Front Desk doesn't have the visibility to see the changes, but only see the current promotion plan code...
I'll suggest you also take with you your copy of your confirmation that shows the rate differences; there ARE times when promotions change but use the same rate plan code and the Front Desk doesn't have the visibility to see the changes, but only see the current promotion plan code...
Aug 3, 2015, 8:48 am
#62
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: RDU
Posts: 19
I just returned from a four-night stay at at this hotel. The hotel property is nice but needs some updates. The building that I stayed in badly needed new carpet. The paint needed to be redone as well (both interior and exterior) and the upholstered furniture needed to be cleaned. The beds were super comfortable though, and I lived the vaulted ceiling in our third floor room. The pool area was very nice and we enjoyed using it. The property was not super convenient to vineyards but not much is since the vineyards are so spread out. Next time I go to Sonoma, I'll check other options but this property will be a contender as well.
As others have already noted, breakfast was good.
As others have already noted, breakfast was good.
Sep 5, 2017, 10:49 am
#63
Moderator: Hilton Honors, Practical Travel Safety Issues & San Francisco
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: San Francisco CA
Programs: UA, Hilton, Priceline, AirBnB
Posts: 11,007
Not a great stay :(
This is been our go to hotel in the wine country for many years. We've stayed at least once a year every year for the past five or six until a couple of years ago, when we stayed at various other places in Napa and Calistoga. We've always had a wonderful time, as the grounds are lovely, the pool exquisite, the breakfast pretty decent, and the staff is been exemplary.
However I see from the most recent post two years ago that this was just about the time a new management company took over. In this new management company may explain the problems we had in our stay this past weekend.
We arrived on Friday evening, and was asked immediately for my cell phone number in case they had to text me anything as it was easier than calling the front desk. That was a new wrinkle but I gave it to them but never received any texts despite several inquiries. This will come into play later.
As my profile says quiet room away from elevator ice machine and housekeeping I asked where our room was situated. I was told we were in a different building than we've stated before, but that the room was very quiet and pleasant. When we arrived in our room in the shabbily building, it was directly next to the road and right across from maintenance/housekeeping/the small golf carts they used to drive around the site. Went back to the front desk and was given a much nicer much quieter room but I was aggravated and let them know that this was not what I expected to get for a quiet room. my guess is they were trying to dump the crummy rooms onto people they thought might not complain.
One change we had not noted on the site , As we just booked the room without checking the site since as we'd been there before was that parking is now $10 a night. It's a huge property with tons of parking so no need for a valet, so the charge is (duh) just to make money because you're stuck parking there. However the front desk waived it without any request from us which was nice.
Since the new room was pleasant so we expected an equally pleasant stay. However, starting with breakfast the next morning our stay was anything but...
One of the servers was loudly complaining that she wasn't going to pick up dishes from the table that other server was supposed to do and stormed around stamping her feet and loudly clanging dishes and silverware. They seemed quite shorthanded, but the server in question just seemed a bit confused, and not unwilling to do her job. Our server was fine but when we ask for change to give her a small gratuity we were told they had no change and to go to the front desk. We were told by the front desk they did not have any change at all. A front desk of a suburban hotel with no change.
the pool area was full of glass, children without parents, and there were no pool towels. We called several times to ask for towels and finally the day manager said he brings them down. Half an hour later still no towels. So I went to the front desk and asked to get towels from the back. I was told there were no towels at all. I told them (rather loudly I admit) I knew they had towels in the back and to please give me some which they did. In the 98° heat having some kind of towels or something to cover ourselves was imperative as there was only one umbrella available at the pool site. towels did not arrive for another half an hour after that so I'm glad I went to the desk.
However, the behavior at the pool was unconscionable. There were kids running around with no parents available – one small child about two or three was crying to try to get out of the pool yet when I tried to help her her mother came from outside the pool to yell at me. There was glass everywhere – champagne glasses, beer bottles, cigarette butts all over the ground and squished food right at the entrance of the pool itself. There's no one walking by, which there used to be at least once an hour, checking on parents, kids towels etc. We gave up trying to swim except for early early morning the day that we left.
I realize it's a holiday weekend and they were pretty booked. However, our room was not cleaned at all until we asked, and I always call the desk to tell them were going out for a few hours so to please clean our room while we're gone. The room was not cleaned each day until late afternoon, even though we did find change to tip the housekeeping staff.
Our final morning we came down to breakfast early and they were literally out of everything at the buffet. Toast, pastries, eggs, bacon, sausage, juice, milk, yogurt, fruit, cold cuts, cheese. There was nothing. The HR director who come in to get some paperwork done was madly trying to stuff pastries into the pastry counter, and opening random loaves of bread to put out on the counter. When I asked about it I was told that "well two people wanted the day off and didn't get it so they called in sick. What do you expect?" I'm guessing if two people one of the day off and called in sick, but you knew that was going to happen, and you might be able to call in some other folks to help from the corporate side. I'm not condoning or not condoning those employees behavior, but I'm sure that no one gets paid double time for the holiday to work in the restaurant so they may have even work some other job that does pay double time. If they're not willing to pay a little extra to make sure they have adequate help for a busy holiday weekend I'm not surprised they were out of food.
Our surprise however was greater we were told we could not order breakfast off the menu that we had to go to the buffet. Mostly when we beaten Hiltons with a restaurant, you get your choice of one menu item or a buffet knowing it if you get the menu item you have to pay separately for your coffee, juice etc. Even when I explained there was no food at the breakfast bar we were told that no exceptions could be made.
I gather the staff there overall is pretty miserable. Nobody was super pleasant except a couple of folks in the restaurant who'd been there quite a while and I'm sure have seen worse.
All this said, I did receive a call from the hotel manager late in the last day apologizing for the many misses and comping me part of this stay. I felt this was a very adequate restitution, but I would easily trade it for a more pleasant stay with no glitches, no screaming kids without parents, no glass all around the pool, and my room request honored at the get-go. he did let us know that the property management had changed hands a couple of years ago for a new management company, and it's very apparent they have a hard time keeping staff and do not hire adequate staff for their needs.
However I see from the most recent post two years ago that this was just about the time a new management company took over. In this new management company may explain the problems we had in our stay this past weekend.
We arrived on Friday evening, and was asked immediately for my cell phone number in case they had to text me anything as it was easier than calling the front desk. That was a new wrinkle but I gave it to them but never received any texts despite several inquiries. This will come into play later.
As my profile says quiet room away from elevator ice machine and housekeeping I asked where our room was situated. I was told we were in a different building than we've stated before, but that the room was very quiet and pleasant. When we arrived in our room in the shabbily building, it was directly next to the road and right across from maintenance/housekeeping/the small golf carts they used to drive around the site. Went back to the front desk and was given a much nicer much quieter room but I was aggravated and let them know that this was not what I expected to get for a quiet room. my guess is they were trying to dump the crummy rooms onto people they thought might not complain.
One change we had not noted on the site , As we just booked the room without checking the site since as we'd been there before was that parking is now $10 a night. It's a huge property with tons of parking so no need for a valet, so the charge is (duh) just to make money because you're stuck parking there. However the front desk waived it without any request from us which was nice.
Since the new room was pleasant so we expected an equally pleasant stay. However, starting with breakfast the next morning our stay was anything but...
One of the servers was loudly complaining that she wasn't going to pick up dishes from the table that other server was supposed to do and stormed around stamping her feet and loudly clanging dishes and silverware. They seemed quite shorthanded, but the server in question just seemed a bit confused, and not unwilling to do her job. Our server was fine but when we ask for change to give her a small gratuity we were told they had no change and to go to the front desk. We were told by the front desk they did not have any change at all. A front desk of a suburban hotel with no change.
the pool area was full of glass, children without parents, and there were no pool towels. We called several times to ask for towels and finally the day manager said he brings them down. Half an hour later still no towels. So I went to the front desk and asked to get towels from the back. I was told there were no towels at all. I told them (rather loudly I admit) I knew they had towels in the back and to please give me some which they did. In the 98° heat having some kind of towels or something to cover ourselves was imperative as there was only one umbrella available at the pool site. towels did not arrive for another half an hour after that so I'm glad I went to the desk.
However, the behavior at the pool was unconscionable. There were kids running around with no parents available – one small child about two or three was crying to try to get out of the pool yet when I tried to help her her mother came from outside the pool to yell at me. There was glass everywhere – champagne glasses, beer bottles, cigarette butts all over the ground and squished food right at the entrance of the pool itself. There's no one walking by, which there used to be at least once an hour, checking on parents, kids towels etc. We gave up trying to swim except for early early morning the day that we left.
I realize it's a holiday weekend and they were pretty booked. However, our room was not cleaned at all until we asked, and I always call the desk to tell them were going out for a few hours so to please clean our room while we're gone. The room was not cleaned each day until late afternoon, even though we did find change to tip the housekeeping staff.
Our final morning we came down to breakfast early and they were literally out of everything at the buffet. Toast, pastries, eggs, bacon, sausage, juice, milk, yogurt, fruit, cold cuts, cheese. There was nothing. The HR director who come in to get some paperwork done was madly trying to stuff pastries into the pastry counter, and opening random loaves of bread to put out on the counter. When I asked about it I was told that "well two people wanted the day off and didn't get it so they called in sick. What do you expect?" I'm guessing if two people one of the day off and called in sick, but you knew that was going to happen, and you might be able to call in some other folks to help from the corporate side. I'm not condoning or not condoning those employees behavior, but I'm sure that no one gets paid double time for the holiday to work in the restaurant so they may have even work some other job that does pay double time. If they're not willing to pay a little extra to make sure they have adequate help for a busy holiday weekend I'm not surprised they were out of food.
Our surprise however was greater we were told we could not order breakfast off the menu that we had to go to the buffet. Mostly when we beaten Hiltons with a restaurant, you get your choice of one menu item or a buffet knowing it if you get the menu item you have to pay separately for your coffee, juice etc. Even when I explained there was no food at the breakfast bar we were told that no exceptions could be made.
I gather the staff there overall is pretty miserable. Nobody was super pleasant except a couple of folks in the restaurant who'd been there quite a while and I'm sure have seen worse.
All this said, I did receive a call from the hotel manager late in the last day apologizing for the many misses and comping me part of this stay. I felt this was a very adequate restitution, but I would easily trade it for a more pleasant stay with no glitches, no screaming kids without parents, no glass all around the pool, and my room request honored at the get-go. he did let us know that the property management had changed hands a couple of years ago for a new management company, and it's very apparent they have a hard time keeping staff and do not hire adequate staff for their needs.
Oct 9, 2017, 9:47 am
#64
Moderator: Hilton Honors, Practical Travel Safety Issues & San Francisco
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: San Francisco CA
Programs: UA, Hilton, Priceline, AirBnB
Posts: 11,007
Early reports say Hilton Sonoma Wine Country has burned
Huge North Bay Area wildfire has supposedly claimed the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country - only reported in one source and I’m trying to confirm.
More as I can but feel free if you know more. Prayers for all concerned.
Squeakr
Co mod HH
More as I can but feel free if you know more. Prayers for all concerned.
Squeakr
Co mod HH
Oct 9, 2017, 10:23 am
#65
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Snohomish, WA
Programs: AS MVP Gold, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 2,796
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/2...y-12262945.php
Neil
The Fountaingrove Inn across the street from the mobile home park burned, as did the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country, a Kmart store, a McDonald’s, an Arby’s, an Applebee’s and a Mountain Mike’s Pizza. And that was just the beginning.
Oct 9, 2017, 11:23 am
#70
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Bainbridge Island, WA
Posts: 8,967
Oct 9, 2017, 12:40 pm
#72
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Newton Centre, MA, USA
Programs: DL 2MM Gold, AA Plat Pro; Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium (via SPG), IHG Plat
Posts: 2,192
Their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/HiltonSonomaWineCountry/) says everyone got out safely.
Oct 9, 2017, 2:24 pm
#74
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Newton Centre, MA, USA
Programs: DL 2MM Gold, AA Plat Pro; Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium (via SPG), IHG Plat
Posts: 2,192
People interested in this hotel should check out the thread about the Sonoma Fire. It doesn't sound good for the hotel.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilt...as-burned.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilt...as-burned.html