Gretel Y.
Yelp
I really, really wanted to give this place 5 stars. The hotel is brand new, just opened on November 1st. It's beautiful, unique, modern, and clean! Great location, it's in the middle of everything. Walking distance from shops, restaurants, and the Bank of American stadium.
However, it seems like they are still trying to figure things out. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by a friendly valet attendant who tried his best to explain the parking situation and rates, but couldn't give us the correct information. It was something along the lines of $32/day for valet or $22 for the day, but it resets at midnight...? So we might be looking at $44 per day. He explained he was unsure and suggested that we ask the front desk. This made us uncomfortable with making any decision one way or another at all. Another valet attendant, Tom came up to us and suggested we park across the street for free but we have to move our car in the morning before security starts checking parking. We went with Tom's suggestion, and it worked out fine. He also helped unload our bags and take them to our room.
On our way to the hotel, we had called to inquire about their restaurant, Angeline's hours. We were told that they have full service until 11pm. Given our ETA, it would have worked out perfectly for us. We checked in after 9pm on a Friday night and asked the front desk staff to confirm their restaurant (Angeline's) hours. We were then told that the kitchen closes at 10pm, which pressed us for time. So, we went upstairs to get settled then headed down for dinner. We later found out that Angeline's serves pizza only between 10pm-11pm. No worries.
Our room was on the 7th floor. As soon as you exit the elevator you could smell the "newness." Our room was beautiful! It was modern and elegant. We also had a great view of the city, especially the BoA building.
We left early the next morning to run errands. When we returned in the afternoon, we noticed a firetruck as well as a group of people outside the building. We pulled up to the valet and was informed that the fire alarm went off, but they do not believe there's a real fire. We were asked to drive around and call the front desk to check the status. We parked at a nearby garage and waited about 15 minutes before calling the front desk. We were put on hold for more than 5 minutes, so we decided to walk to the hotel to check the status. Fortunately, they were letting customers back in. We asked about the laundry we dropped off that morning at 7am and none of the staff members could give us an update. One of them said it may have already been delivered to our room.
When we got back to our room, our room was untouched. It was now after 4pm and house keeping had not been by yet but we saw the cart on our floor. Our laundry was nowhere to be found. My SO had to stay on top of the status of the laundry throughout that afternoon, even after 7pm when it was promised to be delivered to the room. Again, this was a sign that the staff had yet to establish communication amongst each other pertaining to basic services, like laundry for their customers. House keeping finally came by after 6:30pm when I was taking a nap, so the lady was only able to clean the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, room service came by with our laundry. Another 10 minutes later, another room service staff member knocked on our door asking if she could restock our bar for us, which we did not even have access to. It was locked and we were not given a key. So, we declined.
Given the location and the hotel name, we were expecting the extra charges (valet, $12 wifi, etc). However, the most frustrating part of our stay was the lack of communication between staff members. We are willing to give them another chance and are hopeful that with time, the service and communication between staff members will improve.
To recap, here are some of the pros:
Great location
Friendly and helpful staff (they greeted each person that walked by and offered help in any way)
Beautiful and clean building/rooms
Free coffee, tea, and hot chocolate for breakfast
Robes to use during our stay (or $90 to purchase)
Pet friendly - no size or breed restrictions!