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I’m just back from my New Year jaunt to New Orleans. It was a good trip – apart from the terrorist attack (to which we were far too close for comfort – walking down Bourbon Street towards the point that the truck entered 15 minutes later – and whilst walking past one of the IEDs that did not explode – something felt ‘off’ so we diverted down a side street.)
Anyway, back to the Kimpton which was a study in inconsistency and disorganisation. I’d used a CSU to get a 1-bedroom suite. After a long flight, I didn’t pay enough attention to what we were given so we spent the first night in an ADA (disabled) room which had all the furniture around the edges and had a care home vibe. To be fair to the hotel, they did move us to a much nicer – same level – suite the following day.
What really got my goat was the junk “amenity” fee of $25+tax per day for which one got WiFi, a couple of beers and a couple of bottles of water for the _whole stay_ – not per day. There were other supposedly valuable benefits like a streetcar pass for 2, and a 20% discount in one of the restaurants (but only for dinner).
IHG One members get free WiFi, so for $150+tax (6 days) I got 2 bottles of water – I didn’t drink the beer. Oh, the hotel says that the evening reception and a free coffee in the morning made up the rest of the fee, but these things happen in other Kimptons that don’t charge the junk fee. Over two rooms it was even more of a gouge of $300.
Diamond breakfast benefit was defined as 2 hot entrees plus unlimited non-alcoholic and non-specialty drinks _including 20% service_ and every day was a different adventure – even with the same waiter: sometimes a coffee was refilled with no problem (usual in my experience of US breakfasts), sometimes 2 were charged for separately as they were ‘cheaper than if you’d had to pay for the orange juices’. One day a croissant consumed in addition to a frittata was charged for, the next not. One waiter insisted on a tip, another said it was included. Each had to get ‘authorisation’ from some kind of wizard behind the curtain – so the wizard saw what was going on.
All of this meant that there was an inevitable tussle at check-out, but after a review (it turns out the wizard is the ‘food and beverage director’) we didn’t pay anything for breakfasts.
Now for some more impactful problems: the air conditioning in our new suite produced a sound like bullets as it cycled on and off. Unfortunately, we didn’t first experience this until late at night as it had been off during the day. Maintenance fixed the noise, but the next day it fixed the room temperature at 76 F, so it was another night of discomfort.
Housekeeping hardly ever got to service the room – even though we asked as we left each morning, they got in on 2 days out of 6 and, curiously, never hoovered-up the debris from the aircon repair. The rest of the time, we made do or just got towels. One day, we were given a drink whilst we waited as the receptionist took pity on us.
I would sum-up the experience as chaotic. The staff are charming but ineffectual and it takes too much effort to get even a mediocre experience. Unsurprisingly, I could not recommend this hotel to HFP readers.
@BH. I’m so sorry to hear you were caught up in the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street. Pleased to hear you had diverted to a side street before the attack happened but it’s still awful and frightening. Many years ago I was caught up in an attack in London and it took some time for me to process what had happened. Even though I wasn’t hurt, I still had flash backs for some time afterwards.
Interesting to hear your views on the Kimpton. We have booked to stay there in March. At the time we looked at the other IHG options and found it difficult to decide, so may be we should revisit them. The Kimpton was also by far the most expensive for our dates.
@LD27 Thanks for your kind words. We were fortunate not to have been adversely affected by the attack. Frankly, even though it happened a couple of blocks away from the hotel, it all seemed remote. The biggest impact on us was the sheer quantity of police and army on the streets during the subsequent days.
Back to the hotel: I really would have a rethink if I were you – especially if it’s more expensive.
Interesting to hear what it’s like after the conversion – I stayed there while it was still staybridge suites, and it was dated and badly in need of the refurbishment that was in progress at the time. Sounds like it’s still not a great option
I was there 2 years ago shortly after introduction of breakfast option for Diamonds.
Got a suite without pushing for it on a basic points booking. For breakfast for 2, we easily spent over $100 each morning and it was unlimited food and drink back then however that $100 was not for anything excessive, just one pastry type item and a hot one with orange juice and some coffees!BH Thanks heavens for Spidey sense! Sounds like our experience of the chaotic IC San Diego where the daily amenity fee is $47!
@strickers Indeed! I’ll never be able to explain that feeling.
The hotel personnel were all friendly and well-meaning, but the outcome was usually blundering.
The cherry on the cake is that a promised investigation of a breakfast charge that quite clearly didn’t belong to us (as it used some US AmEx promo and had been assigned to the wrong room) was justified by sending me an accounting printout. When I asked for a copy of the signed check, they sent a legitimate one with a totally different reference and date. After pointing this out, they sent both bits of ‘evidence’ again. At that point I gave up and spoke to AmEx who instantly credited the overpay without demurring.
EDIT: I do wonder at some of the wide-eyed reviews of these hotels from some American cousins; “they even gave us a free beer and water on checking in. So thoughtful.” This can only be explained IMO by the fact that a nation that typically travels domestically for 2/3 nights is less impacted by an amenity/resort fee than those of us who are there for longer.
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