This place is under major construction!!!! They do not warn you as to the current condition of the hotel or the premises. Additionally, they are charging full price for your stay in this construction war zone.
Made a reservation 3 months in advance for a king on the bayside of the hotel. It was not honored. Gave me a room on the pool side, which means you face Highway 101 on the front side of the hotel. I have stayed here at least 3 times a year for at least 4 days a stay. The reason we stay at this hotel is for the bayside view and the lobby view of the bay. Construction has put up a sheetrock wall blocking the lobby view of the bay. Pool side means you face the highway. Very noisy. The only heating and a/c this time of year is when you open or close the windows in your room. Which means you hear all the noise from the very busy 101 and the air traffic at the nearby airport.
Upon check in we were given bad key lock cards to the room. Front desk would not tell us what was going on at the hotel other than there was construction. Later we found out that it would last at least a year. So check before you book this place between now and next Feb, 2014!!!
There is no handicapped parking at the hotel. During my last stay here in Nov the parking lot was closed to handicapped parking. It is still not available today, as the same area is roped off. Outside doors are posted that they are locked at night. However, the doors do not lock and were not locked during our entire stay.
Now the bad news. The hotel is totally under construction in the main lobby area. There is no room to move around and now the breakfast area is the lobby. There is construction dust everywhere. The luggage cart of the hotel, if you can find it, is covered with dust. The lobby is covered with dust and that is where you eat your breakfast. Electrical cords run down the halls so that they have enough power to provide breakfast. At best the lobby looks like a high school cafeteria, tables and chairs all over the place and no place to walk to and from your room.
Construction crews were working until 7:30 pm in this lobby area during our visit. The shuttle bus service to the airport was having to back up from the frontage street to the lobby area to pick up passengers going to the airport. As the bus backs up, it goes beep, beep, beep the whole time it is backing up, all day and most of the night. With your window open (the only available ac) you are constantly awakened during the night. The whole driving area to and from the hotel is a pile of rubble
Now the room. Would you believe that they put fresh towels on a rusty towel rack in your bathroom? Would you believe that the microwave has broken legs on it, that the coffee pot in the room does not work properly, the furniture is damaged and that there is a large burn spot on the carpet. Do not forget that temperature control is an open or closed window, with or without noise from the 101. The maid service left a hand towel under the coffee pot in the room. I wonder what else the use the room towels for in your room service.
Last night we returned to the hotel after a nice meal at a local resteraunt. As we walked down the hall there was a large container catching water coming thru the ceiling of the first floor hallwayst. We went on up to the floor of our room and just as we put the key card in the door, the hotel fire alarm went off and we immediately ran down the stairs to evacuate the hotel. After a wait we were told we could return to our rooms as it was just a broken pipe that caused the alarm to go off.
I don't need some corporate person to send an email stating they will look into things. Why not warn people that the hotel is under costruction and charge a room rate that is for the inconvience of the stay??
Room Tip: Find another location until Feb. 2014 when construction is to be complete.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
February 11, 2013
Dear mas4467,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write about your comments. We are sincerely sorry to hear that you had a unpleasant stay with us. First of all, regarding the renovation announcement, you had mentioned that you had made the reservation 3 months in advance, unfortunately, at that time, we are not sure when the renovation will start. We had started putting the announcement in all of our website and our reservations January of this year.
Thank you so much for bringing up the issue regarding the side entrance door, before the construction started, we used to lock it at night but since we closed the entrance door on the rear of the building, we needed to keep the side entrance door accessible for the guest. We will remove the sign that we are locking it at night so as not to create a confusion for the guests.
Unfortunately, I do apologize that there were days within the period of February 8-February 9, the construction outside the property lasted until 7:30 P.M. We are going to talk to our contractors to keep the construction from 9:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M. as much as they can.
The renovation will also include the guest rooms and a part of this is fixing the Heating, Ventialtion and Air Conditionning (HVAC) system. The items that you had mentioned regarding the cleanliness and quality of the room will be addressed with our housekeeping and maintenance supervisor.
We are deeply sorry about what happened the night of February 8th, this is something that we,as a team member hope not to happen however, this is beyond our control. We tried as much as we can to make it right for each and everybody affected by the incident.
We do take each and every point that you had brought up constructively and that we also do appreciate you pointing these matters out so we may address and correct everything as much as we can. that is beyond our control. Again, please accept our sincerest apology for all the inconvenience that you had experienced during your stay. We regret that this impacted and affected your experience at our hotel. Please do not hesitate to call or email us directly contact though: (650) 347-2381 or reservations@hiesfosouth.com.
Sincerely,
Mary Domingo
Guest Services Manager
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.