Andre W.
Yelp
Unmet expectations....
The Good: Overall lovely facility and staff. Great decor and room design. Awesome friendly room service/cleaning staff. Great proximity to the mall and other attractions generally within walking distance if you so choose. Good security precautions for its patrons. Good gym and flexible access.
The Bad: Way too overpriced. Everything has a significantly hefty expense tied to it. Confusingly ambiguous rewards program.
The Ugly: Let me start by providing a bit of context....(be forewarned, passionate but wordy review).
I booked my stay at the Live! Hotel (Maryland) months in advance (6 to be more accurate), in anticipation of my reunion with my wife after being stationed in Korea for a year unaccompanied. This trip was our reunion staycation trip and a way for us to reconnect after being apart for so long without the kids or other welcome but unsolicited distractions. I booked our stay through "Booking.com." I chose the deluxe king suite for an 8-day staycation. Right out the gate I was locked in at a rate of $199+ per night plus taxes and fees. My total cost was a whopping $2300+, so needless to say, I had expectations.
I really should've opened my aperture a bit more and checked Yelp's reviews as well. I may have chosen differently having only found those once I was in the room. And due to my initial frustrations. We arrived at 12am straight off my flight from Korea. No major issues checking in other than the front desk concierge having a bit of trouble locating my reservation. No significant issue there either, I had my confirmation data from Booking.com available and he quickly located my reservation and determined this was simply a matter of a mixed naming in their system. No major concern, although I had to pay in-full at the time of check-in and charged an additional $150 (refundable) holding fee, we were given keys and instructions on how to get to the room by using the primary elevators located just around the corner from the front desk and instructed the keys would access the floor selection in the elevator and the assigned room.
I usually take pictures of the room as I enter it to capture the location and the space prior to completely occupying it. But I was way too tired to do that. It was beyond late and I was coming off of a 14-16 hour series of flights. But, I did make a few initial mental notes. Some of which became significant inconveniences throughout the stay (pictured with this review).
Notably, I was expecting a welcome package of sorts. Something that told me more about the hotel, It's history, other amenities, and a how-to regarding everything from laundry services to room services. This is a reasonable expectation, after all, even 3-star and below hotels furnish you with this basic data. Be forewarned, this does not exist. There is, however, a helpful Baltimore guide book and a less helpful trifold pamphlet with numerous places to go between here and DC (essentially a key site location guide). Not that there's anything inherently wrong with this, it just wasn't helpful to me for the purposes of my stay here.
What would've been infinitely more helpful was an explanation of everything connected to the hotel. Or even better yet, a scannable QR code in the room (on anything, or everything) to explain how this all works. For instance, there is no laundry room here, there is no microwave oven, the iron in my room was cheap and broken to boot with scorching on it, so there was no ironing being done there either. The only sink is the bathroom sink, if you purchase food to eat in your room, there is no way to store or reheat it. So this quickly became a cost trap.
This was all topped off with randomly loud (intense) outbursts at frequent intervals from a seemingly drunken lover's quarrel next door, on day-4, which lasted for hours. It was impossible to sleep between 12 and 3am. And then another generally loud group the following night. I wondered if these people were deliberately placed on this floor!? Which made me question why we were placed on this floor!? I generally do not complain. I solve problems, not spend exuberant amounts of time and energy deliberating over them or arguing them. But goodness!!?
I booked this hotel because it was different. I am far from a gambler, that part was more for my wife to experience and enjoy. But I wanted the ambiance of a luxury hotel in a lush romantic and convenient setting and I received far less on that front. Expensive does not equate to luxury. Luxury equates to luxury. I was not expecting a Bugatti or a Rolls Royce. It's not lost on me that I didn't pay for that. But I did pay for the Benz, the Caddy, the Porsche version of luxury. And I didn't get that at all either. Disappointed is an understatement to say the least!!
