4 years ago
Nice place, nice people, but falls short on execu...
Nice place, nice people, but falls short on execution. The setting is really nice and the general design makes it a place that could be phenomenal. However, the service, the details, and the attention to customer needs leaves a LOT to be desired.
Pros:
+Distance to airport is great.
+Shuttle was timely, brand new and very comfortable.
+Campus is nice with running brook, woods, and separate buildings, like you would expect from a retreat.
+The exposed wood beams, size of rooms, and various areas for gathering is really nice.
+The gym, the spa, and the outdoor hot tub are well done and very accessible.
+The breakfast bar was better than many and worth the effort to grab a bite.
+The lounges with snacks and water is a nice idea, especially if you need to get out of your room.
+The beds, linens and pillows are very comfortable and clean. Views out all windows are of the surrounding woods.
+The bathrooms are spacious with large tubs.
Cons:
-The shuttle has media players that are not used, and during the drive to and from they could be orienting guests to the various aspects of the hotel top make it less confusing when you arrive.
- The arrival is to no one manning the doors or offering to help with luggage.
- The checkin process is slow and cumbersome, especially if they lose your reservation.
- The large spaces, rather that feeling cozy feel loud and clunky (a small group of drinkers in the bar area make the area sound like a raucous fraternity) - not serene and calming.
-The breakfast eating area is equally clunky and loud - no draping or acoustics treatments to give the impression of intimacy - feels like a hotel ballroom.
-The bedrooms lack a mini fridge to put in personal items to keep cold and private.
-Coffee is well stocked, but almost no tea.
-Ice is not freshly available but packed in bags in a common freezer having been sitting for who knows how long.
-Water bottles are not available for "green" reasons but plastic bags are used for holding ice - the hypocrisy is palpable. And the number of paper cups used to deal with no common vessel to hold water is mind boggling.
-The curtains in the showers are too short to reach from wall to wall and the shower heads are barely tall enough for 6'0" tall people.
-The one outlet, and layout of the bathrooms make them not conducive for a family trying to get ready for the day, likely a couple would have a hard time as well.
-Charging to the room was not possible while we were there.
-Paying for items in the store is slow and painful.
-The living rooms do not have fresh ice, are devoid of fresh fruits or vegetables and other than cheese sticks only have carbohydrate laden options (sugared yogurt, chocolate balls, potato chips).
-The gym lacks a steam room and/or a sauna.
-The fireplace in the main area has little to no gathering area around it and it is mini sized compared to the space in general.
While the visit was comfortable and relaxed, it felt more like going to a group ranted retreat space than a customer focused destination location. The most disappointing is staff explaining away a customer request using sustainably as the excuse when there is obviously little though about being truly sustainable - arbitrary at best.
Perhaps the management doesn't realize how little it would take to make this nice place exceptional - but first they will have to decide to pay attention to the details.