Sean K.
Yelp
First off, SHAME ON ME! I should have done my Yelp research. Listed with the local Chamber of Commerce and close to the beach, Berkeley seemed like a good fit, but was hands down my worst hotel experience ever. Not worth the money, the stress nor the rudeness.
Upon arrival, there was a loud argument between guests and management in the lobby. It continued as we waited and management just continued to push back against guests who were claiming to have been denied service. Our room was not ready so we did the paperwork and planned to return. On our return, we were directed to the $45/day valet parking which was unattended with no fence, security and hardly any lighting.
We managed to get our room keys, wait in line for one of the two working elevators which were occupied at socially distant levels.
The Building is an X-shape and one quadrant faces the ocean, three others do not. When we booked an Ocean View room, we expected an Ocean View having paid a higher price than the PARTIAL Ocean View option available at a lower rate (such as the one we were assigned).
The room was generously spaced but upon further inspection was lacking in many basic amenities. Absent were the bathrobes listed on their website but also the common things one has grown to expect in a hotel such as a mini-fridge, working clock, coffee maker, shower soap or even outlets!
One side of the bed was electrically dead--lamp wouldn't work nor charging port. On hands and knees I get on the floor which has not been vacuumed--there are leaves and food particles under the bed! I cannot get to the outlet because it is on the wall behind the wall-mounted headboard, so we do without, taking turns at the one working outlet by the bed. The desk? No outlets within cord range of any laptop.
Asbury Park itself is a win that far exceeded expectations. The beach and water are clean, the other beach-goers friendly and respectful. Restaurants nearby relaxing and accommodating. All of this evaporated upon every re-entry to the hotel. When I shared the photo below with the front desk, I was told that the partial view I snapped on the phone was indeed "Ocean View" not "Partial Ocean View" and shunted off to a manager, Joseph. I met him the night before when he was making a dog's breakfast of managing the ever-lengthening elevator line.
Without looking at the photo he insisted we were Ocean View, dismissed any issue and said "what else?" over anything I said. This is the exact opposite of hospitality. The staff literally has contempt for the guests.
What else? Well, the intermittent wifi? The missing amenities. The lack of towels for the beach the sense of customer needs? It was useless. I mentioned I would be writing a review and he taunted back. I held up my phone as a gesture and he and the first rude front desk attendant both ducked...this seems to be a common practice. He yelled back that he would have me arrested and that it is illegal to take photos! No such sign existed and I was tempted to say great, call the cops because I am being robbed by your clearly false advertising.
We continued to have fun in AP despite the hotel experiences. These were only reinforced every time we came back and heard or saw another frustrated guest fighting or arguing with the staff over misleading, failed or lacking "amenities".
On day two we awoke to a dog barking loudly in another room and an airless, muggy room. The A/C went out overnight and mind you the windows do not open. I pulled back the drapes and lady bugs shook out of the fabric! Although it was breezy and in the 60's outside, we had a low of 79, high of 82 in the room. We called inquiring about a fix and they said "momentarily". Air did not come on all day until after 11pm, and then only at a trickle. Room temperature was 77 the next morning upon check out despite being set all the way to its lowest level. Of course, no refund, no apology...the customer is to blame for everything. The hotel is responsible for nothing. How dare you book with them?
Lesson learned. As I sat in the roasting room last night and read through so many low-star reviews on this, I can agree with much of what is being said. I try to support locally owned businesses but the public must be warned against this simply false advertising which does not provide basic amenities such as power or air conditioning let alone the premium ones like bathrobes as listed on their site, simply a sour experience.
As for Joseph, he saw us coming to check out and suddenly ran to hide. This is their service. Last note, on check out they don't ask "how was your stay?" which is industry-standard practice because they seemingly already know, don't care and have no intention of remedying any of it.
