nmenaker

Wow, having that long a list of unavailable amenities would be pretty bad if anyone were staying there. I wonder if their “reopening” had anything to do with their being included in some of the most recent “best places to staycation in the USA” lists... which led me to think that I probably wouldn’t be able to find ANY time even in between holidays where one could have a nice get away, with quality social distancing and still able to partake in some amenities, services, etc. Having been there many times, I’m just going to come out and say it. The often large So Cal contingent that can show up during and around holidays can completely destroy the whole experience. There, I said it.

yakel

Ouch, like that never happens with crowds from the bay area to neighboring 'tranquil' locations like Sonoma or Napa valley.

drewdawg199

There are a few tripadvisor reviews from the first weekend back open. It's definitely not my primary source of information, but interesting.

milty908

Ya was thinking about getting away to play some golf this weekend in relatively mild heat. The reviews are scary though. It does look like the pools are open but not cleaned nor distanced.

30k

Any recent trip reports here? Trying to decide where to burn a few certificates in SoCal. Thinking either this location or the Waterfront Beach Resort at Manhattan Beach. Sounds like the Diamond benefit won't be that great either way.

oliver2002

It seems ABC hired the entire property to shoot season 16 of The Bachelorette there in a bubble I wonder if it was done this summer (June-Sept) or more recently.

cbrown5294

Just completed a stay over the weekend and had to leave a day early (due to poor WiFi)
Arrived Saturday afternoon and it was packed and huge line to check in (no Diamond line)
I asked about an upgrade and was told a firm NO. I did not push it however I found it very strange that the couple next to me were welcomed as a Gold and agent thanked them for their loyalty and gave them a poolside casita upgrade. I arrived to my room and it was tiny with no fireplace as was described in my room description so I called the front desk and after 20 mins got a callback saying “are you sure there is no fireplace?” I laughed and said I am pretty sure it’s easy to find so they then upgraded my to another room near the pool.
On Sunday I noticed the WiFi was extremely slow at 1mg download and advised the front desk it would be an issue since we both were working remote and had important calls on Monday and Tuesday. They never got back to me and called again Sunday night asking if this was resort wide or just my area ..again no solid answer. Monday I made the decision to check out and head back to La since it was too risky with not being able to work. All I got from the front desk was sorry and we won’t charge you for Monday night ..
a real bummer I was really looking forward to a few days of R&R but for being a Waldorf and so many people working remote you would think they could get it together

CMK10

Stay Report - 11/27 to 11/29

Location: One of the selling points of the hotel. Palm Desert is a lovely area and nearby are some great places that are doing outdoor dining. About two miles south is Old Town LaQuinta which has a really good brewery and some other shops and restaurants and a few miles north is LG's Prime Steakhouse which is similarly excellent. PSP itself is far away at about 30 minutes and it's 10-15 minutes alone just to get to I-10 so if you're going to be doing a lot of exploring expect more drive time.

Hotel: The grounds of this hotel are some of the loveliest of any I've stayed at. Everything feels gloriously 1930s and the design is really unique. The rooms in my area were clustered around a number of small pools which kept social distancing standards easy to promote. The main parts of the hotel include a lovely lobby building which has a small art museum and several restaurants all of which have outdoor seating.





Lobby





Pool clusters





Check In: I arrived at noon beating my companion. The agent noted the room he had chosen on online check in wasn't available so she swapped me to a room that was ready. She also provided info about the hotel and was very friendly.

Room: As much as I liked the hotel the room was a major disappointment. We were in an "upgraded" pool side room but nothing about it felt luxurious. It was drab and not pleasant at all for spending time in. Worse, the technology stunk. There were not enough outlets and many of the ones including in the desk were broken. Also the room hadn't been stocked properly. There was no shampoo and no tissues for example. The shower water pressure was also terrible. Lastly, service is currently on request only and we called twice to request the room be serviced. This meant we got three new towels and a bag of toiletries. No actual servicing. On the plus side there was a fridge and Keurig.









Dining: Diamonds get a $15 voucher per person in the room per day. It can be used at the marketplace (think Starbucks type cold case), Centerpoint Cafe for grab and go ($10-15 entrees) or Restaurant Twenty6 which had entrees in the $20-25 range. We took breakfast at Restaurant Twenty6 and the food was very good as were the lattes though it was slow getting served.







Lastly I'll note the discount was never applied so we had to go inform the agents on duty when checking out (at 6 AM mind you when you want to just checkout on the app and go). They did nicely credit us for the breakfast we didn't use when we left early zeroing out our balance.

Overall a mixed stay. Great grounds but a poor room. Overall I don't think the room we had was worth the price tag of $388/night.

Schwann

$388 a dollar a night for that? The room with the mismatch decor and furniture looks like one of those ole local Best Westerns. Certainly doesn't look like a Waldorf Astoria, at best a rebadged DoubleTree which is an insult to the nice DoubleTrees.

SFO 1K

Yikes on the price point you paid. Too bad you didn't book with American Express FHR or Virtuoso as they generally provide nicer room upgrades. I have been to this hotel about a half dozen times and never have a stayed in a room as poor as the one your photos depicted. You'd also been able to enjoy free breakfast at Twenty6 plus the Diamond credits and an on property discount. All of that might have made the overall cost/value for your stay more appealing.

Majuki

I'd attribute the room rate to the days traveled over Thanksgiving weekend and a lot of people doing weekend getaways from nearby during the pandemic. I didn't see the full benefits on The Hotel Collection, but the Virtuoso benefits seem identical to Diamond benefits, minus the $100 credit:

• Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
• Daily full breakfast for two guests per bedroom, served in restaurant TWENTY6, MD Grill, Wallaby's West, Ernie's (total $30.00 credit p/p)
• $100 USD Resort credit, (not combinable, not valid on room rate, no cash value if not redeemed in full)
• Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability
• Complimentary Wi-Fi

I don't know if the credit is restricted or can be used on anything except the room rate. The credit from The Hotel Collection seems applicable to food & beverage, spa services, and golf.

Even if The Hotel Collection and Virtuoso reserve better upgrades than those available to Diamonds, should there really be a subjectively bad room at a property that markets itself as a Waldorf Astoria? Are things like not stocking the bathroom with shampoo, requiring multiple calls to get some towels, and having to request a manual adjustment to reflect the breakfast credits at the service level one would expect from a Waldorf Astoria?

nmenaker

Historically, this place has gone in and out of FHR, not sure if it is still. I usually get best rates with like AAA rates, and then Gold/Diamond benefits. We ALWAYS book a starlight Casita, not wanting to play the upgrade game. Usually, for 4-5 days before XMAS and THROUGH the holiday or another holiday it’s been about 300-325$ a night for the stay. Maybe their rates are much higher these days since so many properties are either closed, at 25% or something else. At that outdoor restaurant though, for bfast or other, that social distancing would be WAY too close for our comfort at this point in the pandemic. Can’t wait to go back though, its a very relaxing and enjoyable property and staff, nice spa, great tennis and gym. Prefer to go when it’s NOT a holiday though.

diver858

Just completed a Saturday - Monday stay. 2 of G/F's kids stayed on an adjacent room Sunday-Monday, other with immediate family Sunday - Thursday. I emailed the general concierge address one week before arrival, received a personal response from the Direct of Operations (!?!) 30 minutes later, confirming we would be grouped together, in the requested 700 section - despite the fact family was on a government rate.

Biggest gripe is check in - property did not seem very busy, yet our room (Diamond) was not ready until 5:30 - despite repeated follow-ups with the front desk, emails to Director of Operations - latter were responded to within minutes, insincere apologies. They FINALLY offered a temporary room to change at 5 pm, texted us 10 minutes later to advise room was ready, we ended up waiting impatiently outside for 15 minutes.
Similar situation Sunday - rooms were not available until almost 5 pm.
I did receive a $100 incidental credit from the property, 15k points from the Diamond desk for the inconvenience.

Gomac

Looks like this property has now changed to the Curio Collection instead of a Waldorf.

as219

I just saw that today as well. I wonder why? Do we think there will be any implications for staying there? I have an award stay booked in Feb 2022…