The Elms Resort and Spa Reviews

This was my second time visiting The Elms and I was a little underwhelmed. My husband and I went for two days after our wedding and the stay was just okay. The hotel did upgrade our room which was very nice but the room we stayed in wasn't very clean. The carpets were very dirty and you could tell the cleaning staff did a quick job after the last people that stayed. I had signed us up for the romantic package but when we got to our room nothing was set up. Prices had also gone up on everything since my last stay. We wanted to use the outdoor hot tub but the water was maybe lukewarm. Not nearly enough for a cold October night. For what we paid I wasn't super impressed. The ghost tour and food at the 88 restaurant were both good!

Quality did not match expectations or price point.
When I arrived at the hotel there was no one at the front to help with luggage, etc. The lobby felt abandoned. My room was comfortable but there were stains on the carpet. I stayed two nights and housekeeping did not clean my room or make my bed during my stay. I was out of the room from 9 in the morning until 3:30 in the afternoon at the spa and my breakfast tray was still in my room when I returned. The spa and the spa services were great! The restaurant onsite was nothing special and seemed to be overpriced for the service and food quality. The cafe and tavern were not open during my stay (Monday through Wednesday). I was told it was because they did not have the staff to open either. I was told that the hotel and spa had just been purchased by a new owner, so I am hoping it was just poor timing of my stay. The hotel and grounds are beautiful and the spa is very nice. Hopefully with new ownership the service, quality, and over all ambiance of the hotel with improve. I would like to give the hotel and spa a second chance in the future as I was told it previously was a great place for a quiet getaway!

My husband was a DJ for a wedding there and I came along to help. Ross and Noah at the front went completely out of their way to help us. They absolutely went above and beyond. Best hotel customer service I have ever experienced!!!

Really nice rooms although the beds are a bit uncomfortable. There are a lot of stairs to get to the lap pool and hot tub but it is definetly worth it once you get down there. The elevator definetly adds to the "haunted" bit of the experience as it shakes slightly and is very small but the stay is enjoyable regardless. The ouside pool and hot tub are only open during the warmer months but have a lovely view day and night. The rumors of the hotel being haunted only make the stay more fun and can be accompanied by a night tour. The relaxed vibe of the hotel makes for a lovely weekend or night stay.

A beautiful resort with a beautiful pool area. The pancakes were some of the best I've ever had! Service is up to par. We were sad because the ghost tour was unavailable that night.
I took some video - posted some screenshots

Worth the trip. Don't miss what the spa and grottos have to offer!

Checking in was difficult and the front desk staff informed me they were too busy too talk so they said they would text or call when they had time(never happened). The carpet in the room was disgusting. I asked to switch rooms and they had to call housekeeping to try to find a room that didn't have stained carpet. The restaurant was not good at all. I actually ordered pizza while still at the table.

Fantastic stay at The Elms this weekend! Great laid back place ; someone else said it best that it has a Dirty Dancing vibe. Hotel is beautiful and open with old tile and stone. Rooms are spacious, clean, and beds so comfy after a night in the lounge, the grounds, or the pool. The pool is where the action is on a sunny Sunday. Best stay is to stay at the hotel and enjoy the amenities.

A former jewel now poorly executed. After 8 hour drive to this out of the way spot they had no tables available for dinner. Then could barely sleep thanks to noises air conditioner which could not be fixed. Checked out at sunrise looking for breakfast!

Our room was nasty! The shower had hair on the walls and the mirror clearly hasn't been cleaned due to the chalky fingerprints on them. The rooms are so small and we defiantly expected so much more from a 3 star hotel.
I've stayed at cheap super 8's that I'd rate better than my experience at this hotel.
I will never stay here again and can't believe I paid so much for such an awful experience

Had lunch. Nice place but no gluten or special dietary options.

Loved it... can't wait to have our wedding day there!!!!!!....thank you so much for helping us out with everything Lacee.....she needs a raise....and a special thanks to Hailey at the from desk, as well as Kiara...I hope I spelled out your name right...but all three workers went well out of their way on separate occasions to make us feel more than welcome. Me and The miss super appreciate it all!!!!!! They all need large raises!!!!!

Wow, very cool place. Loved the room, the gazebo area, the whole place! Sad I didn't see a ghost!

Kevin, The Spa Director, went above and beyond the call of duty. Absolutely, was more than perfect for our bridal party and even Mother Of the Bride. on Sept 8 2012 Kayla Croft and Michael Manteuffel Wedding! Thank You for wonderful service

Great feel to the grounds and facility. Pools are very enjoyable. Staff friendly. K kup coffee maker in room. Rooms are spacious. Great experience over all. Only complaint is the beds they were not comfortable.

Stopped in to visit and was very very impressed with the ball room and the banquet room, very classy. The pool area seemed to be a very popular spot and bustling with a lot if activity. The wait staff was very knowledgeable about the history of the hotel.

The spa was awesome. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Rooms were nice and building had character with all of its history

I attended a wedding at The Elms the staff were super friendly, the area was beautiful. The wedding was held outside in the gazebo. The only criticism I have for the gazebo is to add more fans for hot days. More shading on the terrace would have been nice for the cocktail hour. One last criticism would be that parking was a small pain. Other than that, it was a great venue and would highly recommend to anyone.

I received no assistance carrying in 3 bags and a car seat holding my child. The rooms had a faint scent of smoke. Bed was very comfortable.

LOVE the LAP POOL.. JACUZZI.. FRIENDLY STAFF..SCARY STORIES...LOL N THE ROOMS ARE NICE.

Visited the spa for a special occasion. Fantastic service and get amenities. Staff went above and beyond for a great experience.

Worst place ever rooms dirty, they didnt tell the truth about spa prices!! Food prices on restaurant we very high for what you were received!! The building and grounds are beautiful very miss leading!!

It is a perfect place for a romantic getaway. You would feel rejuvenated after having a massage and spending some time in the grotto and hot tub outside.

Only complaint cold food .
Thank you

The building is beautiful and the staff is very friendly. We recently went to a function and were a bit surprised at the quaelity of the meal served. Very generic and plain however, the wait staff was phenomenal. Not sure if the event was catered or made in house. We would like to try their brunch or another meal but are a bit apprehensive from the event. Any in put would be great.

Stayed for a night for a wedding. Staff was courteous and professional. Venue was lovely. My room was a double queen with stained carpet. Not super impressed with that. The doors and walls feel like they have zero insulation, we could hear every word people said in the hall and in the rooms on either side of us. There was a "Roaring 20's" party going on the ballroom. As our room was on the first floor just down the hall from the ballroom we heard their *very* loud music well into the night. Along with every shout, clap, and dancing related sound. If you are going to spend this much money to stay the night, you might as well book a nicer hotel in downtown KC.

Decided to come here for Valentine s Day and it was the worse experience ever! This hotel needs a lot of help. The restaurant and the upstairs Tavern are both a complete joke! This hotel is so unorganized that I will never ever come back here again! If your reading this don t waste your money.

Really neat old hotel with modern upgrades. The one downside is not having a refrigerator in a standard room. Location is nice and a great area to explore

Our family had a great stay. We enjoyed the paranormal tour given by Jay. He has worked maintenance at The Ems and did a nice job relaying the history as well as some unexplained events. We will go back. The spa was booked, so if you plan to take advantage of that feature, book ahead. The indoor pool was neat. Some parts of the hotel were under renovation, so some parts were more up-to-date than others. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

Also, definitely take the ghost tour with Jay! It was a lot of fun and he tells really cool stories.

Had a great time with Jay learning the history of the Hotel...some cool effects like new paper clipping or old records of famous stays would really ramp up the excitement!!we're hoping to get freaked out!!haha awesome experience so far..looking forward to the gratto in the morning

Amazing! Beautiful place to stay, absolutely breathtaking! Two pools and two hot tubs. Great food! And one of the cooler historic places I've ever been to.

All the bad reviews??

Seriously, one of the best hotels I've stayed at. I was nervous reading some of the negative reviews, but to my delight, my king bed and bath are so relaxing and wonderful. I guess if I had an expectation that spa services would be included, I might be writing a bad review, but I'm a little more experienced traveling that I knew that wouldn't be the case. It's amazing how few people use Google for information. lol Anyway, do yourself a favor and chillax at The Elms.

This is great hotel . Room are clean . Service are friendly , breakfast are pretty good .

We really enjoyed it. The hotel was quiet and our stay very relaxing. The suite rooms offer some privacy to parents staying with kids, and the pork shoulder from the restaurant is delicious! I'd definitely go back.

We liked the grounds, amenities, and the loved building's silent suggestion of history. The employees were friendly.

We didn't like the bed or the thermostat/air conditioning unit in our room. The bathroom door also needs to be left open for ventilation, even when guests are not using the room. The shower's hot water didn't get really hot.
Please know there are weddings held here and if you stay on weekends there are likely to be many people up and down the halls, NOT being quiet. The size of this kind of event also makes finding a parking spot very difficult.

My husband was serving himself at the breakfast buffet and he caused one of the serving spoons to fall off its saucer, onto the floor. He said the server tending the area "huffed", then picked up the spoon without saying a word. I think he could've at least said, "Allow me, sir. That's not a problem at all. I'll be right back with a replacement."

We would return, but only to stay on a Sunday - Thursday night.

Don't stay here unless you have hundreds of dollars to waste and love disappointment. Everything is outrageously expensive. We had one of the king rooms. They wanted to charge an additional $5 for bottles of water??? $13.50 for buffet breakfast or you can pay for cafe food. No microwave or fridge in the room. Even your basic motel has one or both and a complimentary breakfast. The whole reason we went was for the experience at the grotto. Get there and find out it's closed for maintenance! Not even so much as a sorry or compensation. The jacuzzi tub we thought we were getting in the king room was just big enough to fit one person. We've paid less for rooms with jacuzzi tubs that comfortably fit two. The water temperature was less than warm. The water pressure in the shower and tiny tub were just like trickles of water. The shower linoleum was disgusting, see pictures. The outdoor jacuzzi was again less than warm and the surfacing was covered in mold or algae or maybe a mutant hybrid of the two. For dinner we paid $70 for an appetizer, a salad, and some mediocre chicken marsala. If you're going to charge outrageous prices you need to deliver. <br/>We will say the bed itself was super comfy with the memory foam. There was AC...does that count as a pro? That's about all the good I can say. The history is cool and they're trying but fail to deliver.

Gorgeous historic hotel renovated to keep a good deal of history while still providing modern spaces and amenities. I wish we would have had more time to use the multitude of pool and hot tub options, including the stunning indoor lap pool and hot tubs in the basement. Coffee options in the morning were great as well.

Clean and refreshing. I love being able to relax in the grotto before the massage. Their masseuse are always fantastic.

The rooms are clean and we'll kept. The restaraunt is clean with good food and better service.

Cool old hotel full of character on beautiful grounds.

My husband and I were excited to celebrate our third wedding anniversary with dinner and drinks at the Elms. We use to go with friends to the bar for drinks about once a month until recently. When we asked for a table they said they were booked until 8:00 but we could see many open tables. They told us we could go to ge bar and eat or the other bar as well. So we went up the stairs to the bar ordered drinks and asked for a menu. We were informed that we could not order dinner in the bar. This didn t make much sense to us and we were very disappointed. We received our drinks and they were terrible. I returned mine and paid for the other and left. As we left we walked by the restaurant and there were still many tables empty. My husband and I were so disappointed in the service and the lack of service because we use to love this place. We left and had an amazing dinner at Ventana and our waitress even gave us a free piece of cheesecake! After a disappointing and frustrating start to our evening at The Elms we were able to enjoy it after leaving.

This old historical hotel is a beacon in a quiet town outside of Kansas City. The restaurant and bar is beautiful and cozy with delicious food and drinks. The spa is world class! The grotto has everything you need to relax and enjoy time away. The massage therapist are out of this world amazing and listen to your needs. I highly recommend if you are considering a historical treasure in the heart of the country.

Off the path but easy to find. It's also a paranormal destination. We booked a Deluxe Royal room on the 5th floor. On that floor you get happy hour in the 5th floor lounge, free adult drinks, snacks like cheese, crackers and some meats. Spa center is fantastic, just book in advance as they also serve the local community. The room was underwhelming, stained floor, updated fixtures, huge jacuzzi tube, walk in shower. The restuarant requires reservations. Close by convenience store for cheap snack. Bed old but comfortable, parking was tight, but there was a 300 person wedding. Plan on dropping some loot if your hanging in the hotel an extended amount of time unless you want to drive in town. Great place, I highly recommend. Plan ahead for the restaurant or spa.

The Elms offers a unique authentic experience away from the city. Wineries abound in the region, and four award winning vineyards are within shuttle distance from the hotel. Even though this is only the second largest spa in the midwest, it far exceeds the competition in services, staff and prices. The restaurant has a new executive chef from the Cobalt restaurant in Very Beach, Florida, and the food coming out of the restaurant is stunning and delicious. My personal favorite is the pork shoulder with cheese grits. The ghost tour is probably the best tour of its' type in the United States, and there is a lot of history in it. The Library Tavern is the closest thing to a speakeasy that you'll find, and the tavern menu is phenomenal.

They remodeled it a couple years ago and it is much improved from what it was!

Love the historic atmosphere. The staff is friendly and accommodating.

I've lived in excelsior for a long time, this was my first time staying at the Elms. The room was great, the king sized bed was very comfortable, however the pillows were hard as a rock. The outdoor area with the pool and hot tub was very nice, and the staff at the front was also very helpful. The bar doesn't serve frozen drinks, which on hot days would be very nice, but that is just personal preference. The cafe staff was also very polite, however the Latte wasnt steamed quite to where it was suppose to be, so it was more milk with coffee. I had a pleasant stay overall and would definitely return for another night.

I stayed at the Elms the weekend of the June 8th.

My friend and I were excited to get away for a girls spa weekend.

We both had a massage and a facial booked.

We arrived early so that we could take advantage of the grotto before our appointments.

The lady who gave us the tour of the spa let us know that the only thing that was working was the hot tub and that everything else was down and kind of "ghetto" was the word she used.

This obviously was disappointing to us since we had planned ahead to get there early so that we could use it.

After our appointments we went to spend time at the pool. It was overly packed and a lot of the guests were very drunk. It was almost like a college party in the pool.

I will say our dinner at the 88 restaurant was nice.

We stayed over night and the room was hot and humid. The air conditioner when it turned on was very loud and made it hard to sleep.

I normally do not write reviews or complain about a stay but we spend a lot of money on this stay and were very underwhelmed and disappointed.

Awesome vintage hotel with some good wineries nearby. Be sure to check out their restaurant!

I was a little irritated cause I booked a room a month before we came and for some reason it wasn't available when we checked in but they made accommodations to suit us. Wonderful experience!!

The rooms are a little outdated but all in all a nice place. We didnt try the spa, but the pool and hottubs are really nice, the 88 has some decent food and the bar is pretty good.

I love this place both for going to alone and with kids. We usually go twice a year to get away. The food is very expensive but there is a diner nearby ($11 for 3 people). we love the hot tub which is huge the general ambience (superb, think Budapest hotel the movie) and the grounds are gorgeous to walk around. We are too scared to take the ghost tour bit I love that they have one (the tour not the ghost).rooms are outstanding and beautiful, building and lobby are stunning - a great place to write or think if you are na artist, too. I wish they had artist residencies.... a gem hidden north of Kansas City! (not great deals on Groupon for this hotel).

They were prompt about refunding a large portion of our bill because of poor service in restaurant and broken Spa equipment.

The hotel gets zero stars even though the spa gets 5. They are aware of how horrible the rooms are and just say "everyone says that". Another hotel bought them and will be doing renovations.

Beautiful historic location. Love the history. Amenities are nice and upscale.
Rooms are small and could be cleaner. We had to go buy a new set of sheets because the ones in our room looks questionable and there was no way I d sleep with peace of mind. Oh well. Breakfast was good. Spa was completely booked the day we wanted so we ended up staying here but going to a different spa which was cheaper and probably just as good if not better.

Paranormal tour guided by Jay is awesome! The 88 and the tavern is an excellent place for dinner and just to unwind. The live music was fantastic. Chilling by the pool was a big bonus.

The room was very clean, but very small. Room service is abhorrent. Nothing more than cold sandwiches and salads left over from the day in the cafe. The restaurant food was mediocre and overpriced. Staff were very friendly, but that does not make up for the food poisoning and lack of expected amenities.

Was a very comfortable stay.The young Lady Clary was very helpful.Thanks

Me and my boyfriend stayed here for my birthday/Father s Day weekend. Friday night it was pretty calm and quiet which is what we were looking for! We came here for peace and quiet because it s our first weekend in 3 years that we were kid free. Saturday we went to the spa, WHICH WAS AMAZING! The spa is soooo nice and fancy. We ate twice at the restaurant 88 here in the hotel. The food was very bland and over priced for what you got. Better off driving to get food from somewhere else. Saturday night at the hotel there was apparently two weddings. The lobby and the whole downstairs area (including the pool) was covered in LOUD OBNOXIOUS wedding party people. They were even outside in the front being extremely loud. We came here for peace and quiet and tonight we did not get that. Very sad that you pay a lot of money to enjoy this place but end up being surrounded by loud and drunk wedding guests who aren t even staying at the hotel. Would ve been a nice stay if it wasn t for those weddings. If you re looking to come here then either just come for the SPA or come during the week when you won t be surrounded by loud drunks. The hotel also didn t care that those guests were being loud and obnoxious in the lobby and outside. Would be a dangerous situation if you were trying to come here with kids because of the weddings that are not secluded in one area. Also there is no place to get water while you re here other than the $5 water bottles in the rooms.

It's absolutely beautiful here. I really love the lap pool! Just love everything and the staff is amazing!

I love the spa, but the restaurant here has terrible service. We have been waiting for our food for over an hour, people that came later than us got their food before us when we waited for over an hour. Ridiculous service, don t recommend coming to the restaurant.

This was probably the worst experience I ve ever had at a hotel. Our Royal room which is and upgrade to was worse than any hotel I ve been at. The Royal room didn t have a microwave nor fridge, plus the smell. The musty old smell when you walked in was over powering. The sheets were piling and took us 4 calls and a walk to the front desk to get it fixed . The new sheets where just as bad. Put on the bed inside out and wouldn t even stay on once fixed. Duvet was old it was heavy, not light and comfy as it should have been. The smoke dectector in our room would randomly go off. The air was so loud that you couldnt relax and talk in the room. We had booked a two night stay as an anniversary get away. Ended up only staying one night bc of how bad it was. I won t ever come back nor would I recommend this hotel.

Overpriced! Small rooms, no hot water, had to take a cold shower. SOOO Not worth it!

We stayed here to ghost hunt; they were accommodating and really professional. Clean.

Really enjoyed! Great employee's also. Loved the pool

Beautiful ambience. This historic hotel is an amazing Missouri gem. Beds are really comfortable and the facility is gorgeous. We were within walking distance from everything. And the local eateries far exceeded my expectations for delicious!! Best part...everything was affordable. And don't forget to take the tour of the Hall of Waters.

The designated smoking section is one of the best in the country.

Good place to go to when you need to get away from the city.