Lisa P.
Yelp
The staff, well Kara, who is the ONLY staff I was aware of when I checked in, was AMAZING! She was so helpful, sweet, kind, and professional!
Now for the rooms. The lobby, library are beautifully decorated, warm and inviting. Loved the wine and cheese offered in the library in the evenings. Did not get a chance to experience the continental breakfast offered each morning, but the breakfast room looked lovely.
My first room, which was a standard room, was below my expectation. No drawers! I was there for 6 days so I didn't want to live out of my suitcase. I wanted drawers. There were none to be had. The bathroom had a nice enough sink area and shower, but NO hooks for towels, robe, shower caps, or whatever else you use bathroom hooks for. Speaking of robes, they were provided, which was nice. There are no closets. There are industrial racks to hang your clothes on. That was ok. Fit in with the boutique theme I guess. The "night stands" on either side of the bed didn't have drawers either. They had a very small cubby cut out on each night stand.
I loved the "name theme" of the rooms. Rooms have names not numbers. Each room had photos on the wall of the corresponding name. If you're in the James room, all photos in the room are of famous Jameses.
Upon sitting on bed after finally hanging everything up and putting toiletries and things away, the bed "fell" in at one area. It was broken. In order to contact the front desk, Kara, I had to either call from my cell, as there are no telephones in the rooms, only tablets, or use the tablet to reach her. I decided to go downstairs to see her in person. She immediately helped me move, with a luggage rack, to a king bedroom. The room was larger, nicer AND HAD DRAWERS! The drawers looked like a trunk with really cool lining on the inside. There were also hooks in the bathroom. JACKPOT, or so I thought. I've decided that either the bedroom is great and the bathroom is not or vice versa. Though this bathroom had racks on the wall, the sink and shower were extremely small. When standing at the sink, I couldn't lift my left arm or it would hit the wall! Also, the sink was so tiny, absolutely NO counter space. I had to put a towel on the floor, underneath the sink, so it would catch the water that fell when I washed my face. Very poor design. Also, since there was no counter space, I pulled in the little table that held the carafe of water and 2 water glasses to use to hold my toiletries, makeup bag, etc. There was nowhere to put things! Case in point, the nice Dyson hair dryer they provide is on the desk OUTSIDE the bathroom because there's NOWHERE IN the bathroom to put it! I managed - as the bed was very comfy and cozy and there was a lot of room in the bedroom area. Nice large tv with Netflix, Hulu, etc. Cleaning staff came each day to clean.
Security: Definitely needs improvement. Staff, I was told, leaves at 11:00 pm. NO ONE IS THERE IF NEEDED. I was told they could be there within 3-5 minutes if called. I don't know about you, but I like a hotel where there's someone I can reach immediately who is ON the premises. There are no peek-holes in the room doors, so of if someone does come to your room, you can't see them without opening the door. That could be dangerous! Also, since NO-ONE is there after 11:00 pm, if you order food, YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE LOBBY DOOR TO GET IT. The front door is locked from the outside and can only be opened with your room key, so a delivery has to wait until you come open the door. Again, verydangerous!
Final thoughts: As with any place, there are pros and cons, but security is very important to me. I can say I stayed there, but will not be returning
