Dan Weddle

Review of Raffaello Hotel

I've had better service at Motel 6!

I've had better service at Motel 6!
I booked a deluxe suite through expedia for Saturday, Feb.22 and arrived at about 6pm, assuming we had time to shower & relax for a few minutes before going to a show at 8pm. I could not have been more wrong -Stepping into the Raffaello was where our troubles began!
After a considerable (30 minute) wait, the front desk finally got us checked into our Deluxe Suite with a view. While my friend stayed with the car, the concierge helped take our luggage cart into the hotel and up to the room. When he opened the door I was VERY surprised to see a small "king" room -with one king bed! I immediately said there had to be some mistake because I had paid for a two-room suite.
So we went back down to the lobby and waited for the front desk clerk. She asked ME to provide a copy of my reservation and payment info. Fortunately my wife had printed everything I might possibly need and then some and tucked it into a pocket of my computer bag.
They asked me to wait while they "looked into it" and then the manager came out of her office and explained that they had no idea we needed a suite and the only one had just been renovated and they would need to get it ready for us.
We got into our room after 8pm (remember we had arrived right at 6pm) and were made to feel like they had done us a great service but giving us a freshly renovated room!
It was nice but there were no sheets on the hide-a-bed... Strangely enough, there was a knock on the door and pillows and blankets were delivered -Then, another knock to retrieve them because they were for some other poor sucker who was a guest of the raffaello!
The master room was nice and so was the bathroom -with its new, glass shower and fixtures. Only problem was that the water temp was hard to control and the glass door was installed in a way that caused it to get stuck closed! I had to pull the door into the shower to get out.
We did make it to the show but missed the opening act and the first 20 minutes of the headliner. Fortunately we were guests and had all-access passes so we were treated a LOT better at the venue than at the hotel!
We assumed that a late checkout would not be a problem -and the front desk said it would be OK but then started calling & harassing us about 20 minutes after checkout time!
While the Raffaello was a very nice hotel, the overall experience, with the exception of the concierge/door-man (probably the lowest paid employee there), was less than poor! Not at all what I had expected when I booked the stay...
Definitely a One-Star Experience at best.
Almost forgot -Our full size SUV was too large for the parking garage they sent us to after our two-hour wait, so we had to have valet service at a cost of $60 plus I felt obligated to give the guy a $20 tip (it wasn't his fault). Had I been in charge I would have comp'ed the parking, at the very least -We should have received a voucher for a free stay!