Having heard about the many accolades and songs of praise of this hotel I decided to book here for 2 of our 3 nights in Beverly Hills on the last leg of our 3 week long Asia trip.

I was ultimately disappointed with this hotel though I can see the potential of this hotel. Many small issues compounded to make for a frustrating stay which suggests larger systems breakdowns behind the scenes. However, the hotel also has elements which ought to be praised as well.

Booked a Grand Deluxe room at the Virtuoso rate which included upgrade if available at time of check-in, and daily continental breakfast. Originally, we had booked only one night and had been pre-upgraded to a Villa room since it was my sister's birthday. However, we subsequently extended the stay by one night and by that time the hotel was pretty much full. As such, we were confirmed in a Grand Deluxe room for both nights.

Room

Our Grand Deluxe room had a very classic decor with yellow walls and mint green accents. The room overlooked the front entrance of the hotel (and the Beverly Hilton beyond) so you could watch the stream of expensive and super-expensive cars come and go all day through a large window which opens up to let in fresh air. The same window was poor in blocking out the noise from the driveway and Little Santa Monica Boulevard. There was an arm chair, small coffee table, and a two seater sofa in the room. Square footage was about 550 sq feet or about 50 sq. meters.

The King bed was very comfortable and the monogrammed pillow-cases were a nice and unexpected touch. The bedside control panel only controlled the air conditioning fan speed (not temperature), the night light, valet call, and either DND or Make Up room call signs. There were 4 phones, one on each side of the bed with one a cordless unit, one in the WC and the other on the desk. Hi-speed internet was complimentary and the room also had a Bose Wave radio/cd unit.

The disappointment was the flat panel tv which was a cheapo Zenith unit which was less than 26" -- for a hotel which has Bang & Olufsen telephones as house phones, using Zenith was a glaring judgment error as while B&O and Peninsula can be synonomous, Zenith and Pen certainly are not.

The bathroom only had a single vanity, a deep soaking tub, separate WC and stall shower and stocked with Molton Brown toiletries. Upon request, Neutrogena products were also available.

Finally, a silver plated folding frame was left on the desk as a present from Mr. Ali Kasikci, Managing Director.

All in all, a comfortable room perfect for a short stay.

Service

We had requested foam pillows, sheets untucked at turndown and humidifier prior to arrival (made at time of booking). None of these requests were fulfilled.

Since we were celebrating my sister's birthday whilst at the hotel, at check-in the Front Desk agent offered to send up 2 glasses of champagne, another beverage of our choice (we chose Evian), and some chocolates. Unfortunately, the chocolates never arrived. I did not bother to complain about this at the time since it was a complimentary amenity but I did mention it in the written comments I left with the Front Desk Manager.

Service is VERY SLOOOOWWWW at this hotel. A request for ice will take 25-35 minutes. Ordering the continental breakfast from Room service in the morning takes 30-40 minutes to arrive. I cannot understand why a continental breakfast would take so long -- the apple juice was not even freshly squeezed. There was no extra pot of hot water for my tea which was like coffee by the time it arrived. My sister's coffee, however, was amongst the best coffee we have had in a room service breakfast. Pastries were decent but the croissants were ridiculous.

At check-in, the agent asked us at what time we would like our room to be serviced each day (12:00pm noon), and our newspaper preference (L.A. Times). Each morning, no newspaper, and housekeeping would still come by and leave us a message at 10:00am saying they were respecting our privacy. Amazingly, the room service attendant never clued in as to WHY we did not have a paper nor did he ever offer to get us one.

Our room key needed to be re-keyed twice as each time only one of our keys would work. Both times, the staff gave us a look of bewilderment, made us feel that we were imposing on them with a ridiculous request, and made us feel by their snide comments as if it were OUR fault.

We were encouraged to take home the monogrammed pillowcases which are Filli D'Oro. Very generous of the hotel!! However, the pillowcases disappeared the first morning and never came back. A call to housekeeping promised us we would have them by check-out. No pillowcases by checkout time. The Front Desk Manager has offered to send them to us and time will tell if we actually receive them.

I wanted to settle part of the room charges to a pre-paid AMEX lodging card valued at $250 CAD. I informed the Front Desk agent that it is in Canadian dollars. She ignored me and put it through for $250 USD. This ended up costing me over an hour of my time calling AMEX myself and liaising between AMEX and Front Desk to get this sorted out. Terribly frustrated!!

Dining

We ordered our breakfast from Room Service both mornings. The first morning we ordered only after waking up and it took over 30 minutes for delivery. The quality was pretty good, though the Apple juice wasn't freshly squeezed and the croissants were doughy, heavy, and tough. At check-out I was surprised to see a $8.50 or so surcharge for breakfast. It turns out that instead of 2 Continental Breakfasts inclusive you get a $32.00 credit. The Continental Breakfast costs $15.00 each so the additional amount for tax and service was billed to us. While it is not a huge amount it is disappointing to see this kind of nickel and diming.

One evening, feeling peckish, I ordered some soup and a ham and cheese sandwich. Thirty-five minutes later my soup and a sandwich arrived. Only after the waiter left I realised that my sandwich was a cheese only sandwich. Calling room service again I was promised another sandwich but no real apologies were offered. Another 25 minutes passed before the new sandwich appeared. The waiter was not concerned that the first sandwich was incorrect nor did he apologies either.

The quality of food is pretty good but not delicious as compared to other hotels. Portions on the whole are generous though their burger was on the skimpy side.

Concierge

The hotel offer a courtesy car to take you into Beverly Hills, Century City, and even up to the Hotel Bel-Air for a small charge (usually waived by tipping the driver well). This service is booked directly with the Concierge and the standard vehicle is a Lexus. Upon request, you can book their Rolls Royce Phantom. For a $20 gratuity we were able to go to the Hotel Bel-Air for lunch on the Silver Phantom.......... verrrrrrrryyyyy nice!!!!!!!!!!!

I found the Concierge service to be competent but nothing extraordinary. I did not find the Concierges to be overly friendly or willing to offer any extra help. This attitude defines the service we experienced throughout our stay -- barely competent but will not go any further or above and beyond.

Overall

Complimentary internet access is very much welcomed and I wish more luxury hotels would follow suit of Peninsula. The courtesy car being bookable is also very nice. Service needs polishing but if the hotel can get their service act together this would be an excellent hotel worthy of its reputation.

I have left comments with hotel management -- we shall see if, and how, they respond.