"What We Did Not Like:
The road in front of the hotel is under construction, which made it very difficult for our taxi to drop us off and pick us up in front of the hotel. Also, it was very noisy (jackhammer; excavator). While I’m aware this is a temporary issue, it was not pleasant.
To get to our room 507, we navigated a maze-like series of hallways, one of which was dark. Whomever was responsible for the design in that area opted for “glow in the dark” wall art; thus the hallway was not illuminated.
In addition, we had to step down and then step up two sets of stairs just before we accessed our room on the 5th floor. No handrail, and definitely not handicapped friendly.
The parquet wood flooring in our room was badly scratched/damaged.
The first night we were at the hotel, there was a fast-moving rainstorm in the middle of the night. We woke up to puddles of water on the wood flooring—-presumably from the leaking windows or ceiling above the room.
The absence of convenient electrical outlets and no built-in smart phone charging outlet was an inconvenience. We had to push the bedside tables forward to use the electrical outlets on either side of the bed, or use the one outlet in the bathroom.
Our “view” consisted of fake ivy along a tall wall with a small outdoor table and chairs. It was hardly the “view”mentioned and pictured in many of the other rooms online.
The bathroom was very small. The toilet was so close to the bedroom, that when my husband flushed it in the middle of the night, the noise woke me up. There is a hand-held “wand like” option to bathe in the shower. When I turned the shower on, cold water came out of the hand-held device (which the housekeeper had positioned in the direction of the bathroom) and sprayed me and the entire bathroom and floor. The experience was shockingly NOT as expected. There were no instructions as to how to use the shower, which had two separate knobs—-one to switch from ceiling shower to hand held, and one to control the temperature of the water. Trial and error eventually resulted in a satisfactory water temperature.
The first day we checked into the room, there was an extra roll of toilet paper in the bathroom. The next two days of our stay, there was only one roll of toilet paper—no extra roll. The texture of the toilet paper was “rough.”
There was no night light in the bathroom. To illuminate the small bathroom for middle-of-the-night bathroom trips, we used the lit-up make-up mirror with a towel over it to give us light, but not too much light, since the small bathroom was so close to the bed.
There is no phone in the room. We were told at check in that the hotel communicates via a “WhatsApp,” which apparently all guests are supposed to use if they want to communicate with the front desk. What if some guests opt not to use that app?
The thermostat on the wall to control the temperature was small and somewhat challenging to use.
And last but not least, even though we were supposedly on the highest floor, there seems to be a stairway and viewing area above the room we were given. Picture trying to sleep with heavy stomping on industrial metal stairs, and then more stomping above your bedroom until 11 p.m. That is NOT my idea of a peaceful room.
What Was Good:
The convenient location to the beautiful Galleria. The excellent breakfast. The friendly employees. The comfortable bed and plush towels. The room’s air conditioning."
