Well, where do I begin? I'm in this hotel as I write. I checked in today, and I'm frankly astonished by my experience, so far.
1. The bulk of this review will NOT be about pricing, but I was shocked to arrive at the hotel and to discover that valet parking is *mandatory* (there's no self-parking available), and the fee for valet parking is $48/night. I'm here for four nights, so that'll be nearly $200, just for parking. Of course this surprise fee isn't mentioned when you book the hotel.
2. After dropping off my car with the valet, I was unsure where the door to the hotel was. The valet had driven off with my car, so there was no one I could ask. As it turns out, the entrance is at the end of a stark, undecorated corridor that has chipped tile. Beyond the corridor, one must turn to the right to see the door—but the door is NOT visible from the valet stand. And there are NO signs! The corridor looks unfinished and does NOT look like the path to an entrance. Yet, that's where it is. Would it be so difficult to have a sign that says "Entrance" with an arrow pointing the way?
3. When I arrived in my room, I was greeted by a loud, "humming" sound—sort of like the sound that a generator makes. It was coming from somewhere above the ceiling in the walk-in closet. Even with the door closed, the sound was loud. So, I immediately returned to the front desk to ask to be transferred to another room. My new room (on a different floor) was quieter, so I was content—at first. But about 10 minutes after settling in, that same sound started up again in the new room. The sound comes and goes, so I suspect it's the air conditioning or something. Whatever it is, it's far too loud to be in use in a hotel, and it should be removed and replaced.
4. After settling in, I immediately attempted to connect to WiFi with my phone, but after submitting my room number and last name, I was directed to a page that said the charge for WiFi is $14.95/night. Dumbfounded, I took out my Mac to see if I got the same page, and indeed I did. At this point, I was so frustrated with the various experiences that I was ready to start looking for another hotel. But I called the front desk and asked, "Are hotel guests really expected to *pay* for WiFi?" The attendendant said, "No. The charges will be removed from your bill." I asked for clarification, and she said I should tick the box, as if I'm agreeing to the $14.95/night for WiFi—but that all WiFi charges will be removed from my bill.
What an incredibly stupid system. Furthermore, if this has to be the system, why isn't this explained to EVERY customer at check-in? I'm sure 90% of guests are going to want WiFi. So, if you have an unorthodox system for providing WiFi, why isn't this explained when we check in?! I got a whole spiel about the restaurants and such, but not a peep about the fact that if I wanted WiFi, I'd need to "pretend" to pay $14.99, but then those charges will be removed from my bill. Why on earth would you wait for guests to call the front desk in frustration—and only THEN explain how the WiFi works?
5. I then spent 3 minutes trying to get my television to turn on. At one point, it came on and showed a page that said "no signal," but after pressing the power button again, that display went away, and the TV would not come on again at all. So, I called the front desk, and they sent a maintenance guy to my room.
He brought a new remote and said my original remote probably had dead batteries. Then, once again, we got to the page that said "no signal." He then explained that from this page, I have to press "3" in order to get to the channel menu. But once we're viewing the menu, there's no way to navigate through the menu with the arrow buttons. The menu is a continuous, slow scroll that shows every channel and what's playing. Then, instead of navigating to the channel you want and hitting enter to select it, you have to enter the numerals to select the channel. Yes, most hotels have a clunky system for TV, but this one is beyond clunky. It's antiquated. And the management clearly doesn't check or change the remotes' batteries often enough.
6. The bathroom offers a bar of soap—but there's no soap dish. So where are we supposed to put the wet soap? On the counter, where it will stick and will be difficult to pick up? (Yes, this is a minor issue, but it's an omission. I don't recall ever having this problem in any hotel before.)
OK. Let's exclude that last issue; I just put the soap on a washcloth. But that aside, I haven't even spent a night here, yet the previous five issues have already made my stay a major disappointment.
I'm supposed to spend four nights here, but I don't want to stay here. So, I intend to cut my reservation short and change hotels tomorrow. In more ways than a few, Le Méridien Dallas, The Stoneleigh misses the mark.
