Clare S

Review of Four Seasons Resort Vail

I have stayed in many Four Seasons resorts in my l...

I have stayed in many Four Seasons resorts in my life and wanted to take advantage of my honeymoon to show my new husband what the hype was all about ! These hotels have a reputation for excellent service that is unparalleled... that service has been the centerpiece of all my family's vacations. We made lifelong connections with the staff at these hotels over the years. Unfortunately, at the Four Seasons Vail, this was not the result.

My husband had never step foot inside a Four Seasons, it was a special occasion, and we are local... it all seemed perfect! 2020 has been a terrible year and celebrating the miracle of even a small wedding was a huge call for a round of treating ourselves. We are both fairly successful military officers... and unlike other Four Seasons locations, this hotel does NOT have a military discount. Not a huge dealbreaker for us in our quest to have a special vacation, but the reservations staff even recommended other hotels to us, discretely saying other places might be nicer. We should have listened.

When we got to the hotel, we pulled up and the valet was not present. We waited... and waited. At other resorts, I don't think I could get my seat belt off fast enough to greet the valet opening my door, but here, my stomach dropped immediately that the service quality seemed off. We finally got helped, and it was fine. The front desk staff was friendly, but not too notable even when they noticed we were celebrating our honeymoon. For reference, my brother and his wife got married two months ago, and at the Four Seasons Miami, they were treated exceptionally because of this fact.

We got to our room to a plate of chocolates that had probably sat out for half a day... no note. Just a plate. They were nice, but we even had a better greeting than this at an Air BnB a few days earlier. The rooms had just been renovated. Beautiful and high-tech features were definitely a highlight, but the luxury Colorado feel wasn't there. The photos online boasted of a cozy, mountain home suite, and instead we had a modern style abode that could have been a hotel room anywhere in the world.

COVID-19 obviously played a role in the lack of experiences we had while staying here... we do not blame the hotel for that. However, despite this fact, the service does not need to suffer. The worst experience of all was when we went to the spa. The day we arrived, we went down and asked for "a massage together" for the following day, also mentioning how we were celebrating our honeymoon. We booked our time and thought nothing of it. The next day when we arrived, we realized we had not been clear and asked if it was going to be a couples massage... while we are married, we don't get to see each other much since we live apart (long distance for military) and we didn't want to have separate experiences... and we explained this. The front desk attendant quickly said something to the effect of "no, because of COVID we aren't doing couples massages for the safety of our guests and staff... and you did not ask for a couples massage". I believe I mentioned above that my husband had never stayed in a Four Seasons... our specific massage verbiage isn't exactly attuned to the resort life... so we assumed asking for a massage together and mentioning our honeymoon might have implied this? Hardly a fair argument in our opinion. Also, the cancellation policy had not been mentioned at all, which required us to pay in full if cancelling. We were then asked "how will you be paying today?" Our answer... "we won't be." We understand these are tough times and everyone needs the money, but needless to say, after speaking with the spa director, we got our money back... and things felt very awkward. There was no kindness, no apologies, no element of the excellent service I have seen at other resorts. Just a cold brush off.

Overall, it is the worst service I have ever experienced at a Four Seasons across the board. COVID is no excuse. Stay elsewhere!