Rick S.
Yelp
STRANGER DANGER 2021 !!!
I was really truly hoping The Ayres Hotel in Manhattan Beach would not disappoint me and step up with a simple easy gesture of professional follow-up communication, but I gave them a week and they failed.
I waited nearly a week to write a review hoping that The Ayres would come through and contact me with some sort of communication to address my complaints/concerns over my stay. Unfortunately, that never happened. So, this is what happened from 11/10 to 11/12 in 2021...
What started as the potential of a ***** Five Star experience quickly went downhill on the 2nd night staying a the Ayres.
First off, they charge $15/night for parking, yet don't secure their gates (the security arm guard barrier is always up!) so you could essentially lie to circumvent paying that fee.
I mention this fact as it relates to my experience potentially.
So, the first night was pleasant, the hotel and amenities were fine. The staff at the front desk were friendly too.
On the 2nd night, our room was subject to a series of random disturbances that frightened the family to the point of paranoia and temporary trauma.
We were disturbed THREE TIMES through the night within about a 3-4 hour time-frame with a, what my wife describes as a "sketchy looking male, individual" knocking on the door with solid knuckles, then trying to open the door, and when confronted through the security peep-hole and telling him he has the wrong room (because we were not expecting guests, deliveries nor room service or anything) he luckily was not violent but polite and apologetic the first time.
The second time, it was the same person and the same scenario of knocking and we told him, yet again, he had the wrong room and he went away.
Then after 10pm, and mind you, we had a child who sleeps at 7am, so it was of the utmost importance not to be disturbed, for the third time, he knocked again, and we looked through the peep-hole again, ignored him and called the front desk.
Quite honestly, the front desk offered little assistance or consolation nor resolution. Frustrated, I recommended we just call 911 the next time this happened even if it caused the local crime blotter to report an incident at the Ayers, at least then maybe our issue would be taken seriously. Fortunately for all involved, the disturbances ceased.
This caused my wife to not get a restful night's sleep, then complain continually to me, that cause me to not get any worthwhile sleep, and it was pretty much bad time from night to morning because of not only the continued disturbance but the odd circumstances of the same sketchy looking guy coming back with frequency, where we never knew if he was going to come back at 12am, 2am, 5am or whenever.
Upon checking out, I was never asked by the front desk "How was your stay?" as customary with most hotels.
I had to bring it up, then she, the front desk person told me she sees it on my file and that they had sent security up to walk around that area, after the fact.
They'd offered no consolation and she'd mentioned she'd let the manager/supervisor know of our displeasure and horrific experience. That was on Friday 11/12/21.
I am assuming either the message was neglectfully never relayed or that management simply does not care.
I was at one point whole-heartedly going to give the Ayres rave reviews and recommendations to the public and my peers.
I have reservations currently because of their lack of follow-through and allowing for these incidents to happen, and more so, not seem to be bothered by it nor want to follow-through in an attempt at customer satisfaction.
So, going back to the parking lot situation, it's the fact that anyone can drive in, where it's supposed to be a secure parking lot you're paying for that's somewhat troublesome and in part maybe reckless. I could only imagine it's easier for a criminal to bring in a car and break into other cars or guest rooms as a convenient getaway heist. Parking security won't stop pedestrians from walking in nor criminal activity from occurring, but if you're being charged $15 to park in a secured lot that's not secure, you might as well park across the street at the retail areas or in the adjacent residential area to walk or take a cheap ride service to the hotel.
This wasn't the absolute worst experience and the positives of the initial impressions and experiences definitely off-set this review from being a * One Star Review, but quite honestly, a hotel like The Ayres should absolutely be ashamed from earning a * * Two Star review that could have been avoided with proper customer service follow-through when alerted of the problem and even there-after.