Daniel B.
Yelp
Qualification: I went to the Cornell Hotel School. Know a thing or two about hotels and hospitality.
We booked a room here last-minute and when we entered the lobby, we were glared at as if we were somehow lost. After informing the front desk we had a reservation, it somehow "hadn't come through yet" from Hotel Tonight, even though it should be instantaneous and the reservation was placed an hour prior. She proceeded to "finish something up" on her laptop for 10 minutes while we waited to check in. HELLO! Welcoming and checking-in your guests should be your #1 priority. We immediately felt unwelcome and unwanted. If there are such pressing matters that your guests need to wait in the lobby for 10 minutes before you attend to them, then hire more staff. Pretty basic stuff.
After being shown our. room, we were happy with it overall. Quality bed, nice design, Molton Brown toiletries. It still very much had a "motel" feel, however, because that's exactly what this place is--a renovated motel. While a good amount of care was taken to renovate the property, it still does not escape the motel vibe it once was.
We came back from a nice dinner around 10:30pm. Our keycard no longer worked...we saw the lobby was now closed at 9pm (another surprisingly bad feature for a $500/night property). Fortunately there was a number there posted to contact. I called and it was the same unwelcoming and arrogant woman that checked us in. After explaining our keycard wasn't working, she let out a long sigh and said the lobby closes at 9...but she will come and assist us. After waiting another 10 minutes (I assumed she was driving from nearby to assist), she came out of a door right next to the lobby. Another needless wait. She explained to us that keycards can become demagnetized if they're in a pocket next to a phone, implying this was somehow our fault. She then said we may have not pulled the door all the way shut. She tried our keycard and it did not work. With an insincere and begrudging apology she made a new room key.
All in all, I would give the facility 3.5 stars, given the price point. If this were a $100-200/night property, it would be 5 stars. For service, it was so bad I was beyond the point of anger--it was literally astonishment. There is not a shred of hospitality to this property, and beyond that, a palpable condescension to the point where it is truly bizarre. I can only assume that there was either a recent family tragedy or the business is going bankrupt.