Darryl Dobbs

Review of White Oaks Conference Resort &...

This was a top-notch resort with very clean, extra...

This was a top-notch resort with very clean, extravagant rooms and plenty of amenities. The staff was nothing short of professional and during your stay you feel like royalty. The food at Liv restaurant was truly amazing and the lunch at the grill there was also very good. Breakfast was below average but room service was phenomenal. You pay a premium but you get a premium experience.
The bone that I have to pick with my entire experience was the (expected) nickle-and-diming that they do. Instead of putting together a package that looks as appealing as possible prior to purchase, I would suggest increasing the price and make this truly a wonderful experience. Let's not make the customer do math in their head every time they order something. Our package included $150 credit for dinner and $50 credit for breakfast. I would rather just pay another $100 up front and you just tell me "dinner for two is included, breakfast for two is included". I knew, of course, that dinner and breakfast would end up shooting past the credit amount, I just hate having to even think about it though. Am I being pampered or not?
Dinner was well worth the $190 we paid ($40 over the credit amount). It was amazing. Breakfast, I found it really cute of them to charge $25 for bacon and eggs. So cute! It was like my 7-year-old daughter charging me a "kajillion dollars" for her pretend eggs. I mean, why not offer me a $100,000 credit for breakfast, and then charge $25,000 per egg? Super cute! For what it's worth, the bacon and eggs are (slightly) better at my local greasy spoon (for six bucks).
Bottled water should be in the fridge with a sign that indicates "complimentary". We called down asking for it (expecting to pay) but they brought it up free of charge. Hiding this nice amenity kind of rubs me the wrong way. It makes me feel like they are hiding it from guests so they can save money if guests don't ask for it. Picky, I know, but I just dropped $1000 bucks there so I can be picky.
The spa was nice, but my wife gives me better back rubs. She wasn't happy with her facial, either. Seemed quick and soft to her. But it was relaxing and professional with friendly staff.
To summarize, I don't expect to be back. I can spend $1000 on a quality hotel room and three high-end meals and a spa day separately - and have $300 to spare to spend on a play or gifts or something - in another, smaller city (and have - the Bruce Hotel in Stratford last year was better at half the price).