Some things have improved since our last visit -- for one, it's now an IHG property, and there is an operations manager (Yvonne) who is almost everywhere, and interested in everything.
The best thing about the hotel is the location on the Bay – views from bayside are spectacular. It's on Balboa Ave., easily reached, near restaurants, with a red tourist double-decker bus stop across the street. Cabs are easily hailed. Note: cabs are much less expensive than the private taxi the hotel will provide ($10 to downtown vs. $3 from local cab). Very important -- there’s a crosswalk and light at the rear of the hotel on Balboa Ave. It is virtually impossible to cross the road safely without the crosswalk.
There are some serious challenges facing the hotel. The hotel has 25 floors, but only two elevators (plus a service elevator). One of the two guest elevators was often out of service. One evening I was stuck in the elevator on the 24th floor for about 20 minutes. Apparently, this is not an unusual occurrence. Even when both elevators are working the service is slow and inadequate. (After I mentioned being stuck to Yvonne we received a written apology, a snack tray, and a bottle of red wine!) The elevator problem really is an Achilles heel.
We have found it challenging to get information from the front desk. The concierge was often busy or absent, and the desk was out of city maps. When pressed, they gave us the red tourist bus map. This was helpful, but a city map would have been better. I went down in the elevator with a guest who was trying to find flavored ice for a family member with a stomach problem. The desk clerks were not able to provide any assistance. I found out later that there was a case in the hotel restaurant that had flavored ice; a small convenience store about two blocks away had popsicles. They should have known about both options. It would be very helpful if the hotel information book included information on convenience stores and restaurants close to the hotel.
We left our room several times in late afternoon, before the room was serviced, and were pleased each time we returned to find that the maid had been there. Linen service, however, was spotty – some towels were missing virtually every day. Personal hygiene items were sort of random – for a while we had six shampoo bottles, but nothing else. There is a $2.00 per day surcharge for maid gratuity -- wonder how much goes to the maids?
Service in the restaurant is often described as very slow – we found it to be slow in the morning, with coffee refills very hard to come by. To our surprise, the service two evenings we chose to eat in was OK.
We had an early morning birding trip and had twice discussed getting a breakfast snack bag with the desk clerk. Both times the man took our names and room numbers, and told us the bags would be ready for our 6:15 departure. They weren’t. Neither the desk clerk or kitchen knew nothing. We were out of luck.
An inexplicable problem: our room keys never worked more than two days before we had to have them redone.
The hotel has a terrific pool, quite large, great for lap swimming. The visuals are lovely -- nice lobby, attractive bar and restaurant, and lovely location. Service needs work, and elevators need replacement.
