Shokkolat
Family · September 20254/10
I came to Trip Advisor to see whether the uncaring level of service was just a "me" problem and discovered it was not. I will start off by saying that the the room i had -- a 2 bedroom Mountain View s...I came to Trip Advisor to see whether the uncaring level of service was just a "me" problem and discovered it was not. I will start off by saying that the the room i had -- a 2 bedroom Mountain View suite on the 51st floor-- was simply spectacular in terms of aesthetics, cleanliness and view. As someone else commented, that's where it ends. I'll just list all of the things that were below par and you can make your own decision as to whether this qualifies as a 5 star hotel:
1. They do not honor any perks provided with elite credit cards. For example, Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status and above should result in the $55 daily "resort fees" being waived. They declined to do so because they claim they only "partner" with Marriott. Similarly late checkout provided with Marriott Bonvoy or Amex Platinum is non existent. I booked my reservation weeks in advance and requested late checkout. I repeatedly requested it via the pre-check-in concierge and multiple times during my stay. The "best" they could do was one extra hour. This was annoying because I had booked a spa treatment at 10 am which required me and my daughter to rush back from our massages to finish packing and leave the room in time.
2. I arrived at the airport and my pre-arranged free airport transfer included with the sky suite I booked was not there. He texted me that he was "dispatched late" and would be there shortly. Not the end of the world as he arrived relatively quickly, but again, poor planning by the hotel
3. At check-in the employee barely bothered to look up from her screen and addressed me as "MR." I corrected her and she didn't apologize. I guess women don't usually book these rooms?
4. Our suite was not ready when we arrived around 11 am. They promised they would call me if the room became available before the 3pm check-in. Of course no call came. At 3:30 I called to inquire and after some hemming and hawing, they said the room was ready. I returned to the front desk, and the clerk made a mysterious call to confirm that it was okay for us to go to the room. She handed us the keys and we walked into a beautiful suite. My daughter and I were standing in the living room ooh-ing and aah-ing about the beauty of the suite and the view, when we were scared half to death by a gentleman emerging from the bathroom. He said he had been told that the room had been put "on hold" because the prior occupant had spilled purple hair dye all over the shower and he was still in the process of cleaning it. He had heavy equipment in the bathroom and it reeked of cleaning agents. He assured us he could be finished shortly. So we said okay. At that point the clerk at the front desk called to make sure everything was ok and I explained what had just transpired. She offered us a $200 food and beverage credit. I accepted. At that time I told her I'd pre-arranged to have a charcuterie board and fruit tray in the room when we arrived, but it was not there. By this time, due to the late check in, it was too close to our scheduled dinner plans, so I asked her to cancel the order. She said she would, but 2 hours later as we were getting dressed for dinner it arrived. Unfortunately my daughter answered the door and allowed them to bring it in, so we were stuck with food items we were not about to eat. We stuck it in the fridge.
5. The next day as we were killing time before that evening's plans, we decided to watch a movie. A sign posted in the room said we could watch shows from our devices via an HDMI cable. I contacted the concierge who proceeded to tell me the TVs were "too old" and did not allow for such connections. I sent a photo of the sign in the room and asked if it was inaccurate. She then said okay well I guess you can. I asked if I could borrow one from the hotel-- mind you this is a supposedly 5 star hotel, in a supposedly elite section-- and she told me they don't have HDMI cables. In THIS day and age-- that is standard, like asking for a toothbrush or extra pillows. I have had HDMI cables provided to me at extremely BASIC hotels. To add insult to injury, the concierge then proceeded to tell me there were "places across the street" where I could go buy one. Unbelievable.
6. Because we had a spa service early in the morning with checkout immediately after, I had to go to the front desk to find out how I could use the $200 food and beverage credit at lunch if I had already checked out. That process took a solid 30 minutes as she had to go talk to her manager multiple times to figure out how to arrange it to be credited to my bill. This couldn't have been the first time they had to deal with this issue.
7. I spoke to three different concierges trying to book the spa service. I must have given the same info 10 times. The "text" concierge services they offer is nothing but a joke.
8. The sky suites lounge is super basic. Other than the fancy coffee machine, the snacks offered are basic basic basic, and no more than 2 or 3 items-- plain mini croissants: some type of salmon pastry: and peanut butter/chocolate energy squares. Then your choice of mini bottles of purified water or Minute Maid orange or apple juices. Again-- ultra low budget. The only thing you are paying for are the rooms. That's it.
I will say that housekeeping, the bell desk, the limo drivers and one or two other random staff members were great. The spa was also nice, though I wish I didn't have to rush back to checkout. That was not "relaxing." As a whole, however, the service was below par. I will try a different hotel next time. I have had fabulous experiences at the Wynn/Encore and the Venetian. The new Conrad hotel at Resorts World, and the suites at the Fontainebleau look promising and those hotels are new and beautiful.
Hope your experience is better than mine.Show More
