I had the worst experience ever there! The only option for your car is valet, so I left my car with the valet attendant. When I picked it up the next morning, ny seat would not move back. What had happened was that I have an electric switch that moves the seat back, and instead of the valet attendant moving it back with the switch, he thought it was manual. So he accidentally yanked the cable out from under my seat, thinking that it was the bar to pull to move the seat back. I know it broke at the hotel, because my husband drove the car in who is 1 1/2 feet taller than me, and after we picked it up the seat was all the way forward and would not go back. My car will cost $1000 for me to fix it, and I have spoke with the manager a few times and she will not take responsibility for the accident. So bascially the hotel was not bad itself, but since they give you no option to self park, there is a great chance this could happen to your car as well. Be careful!!

Having stayed at the Derek a few years ago on a previous business trip and being suitably impressed I was looking forward to staying there again last week. However, the hotel has certainly lost its cutting edge style and service. The rooms are looking very tired and are in a real need of refurbishment and the bathrooms are not as clean and pristine as they used to be (and are very small - no separate shower). I would much rather stay at the Icon (stayed there last month) where the rooms are bigger and fresher, the bathrooms are huge and spotless, and the bar is very cosy, trendy and excellent for people watching.

Rooms are about average. Very danish modern looking furniture. Room was $129 weekend w/o breakfast and $144 w/breakfast. Breakast was one $25 coupon per night which included tip and tax, American breakfast for ONE is 25 bucks. I would not buy is if more that one in the room Suggestion for breakfast is turn right out of the hotel and go to the Central Market down the street (one of the greatest grocery stores in American with tons of breakfast, lunch, and dinner items). Must use mini bar of cokes, etc. Staff was nice. Parking is a major issue.

Hmmm. Where do I begin?
How about the valet who is rather gruff and didn't offer assistance out of my sports car nor a smile?
Then how about the entrance and lobby with the video of a FAKE log fire in the quite large natural fireplace? And the ackward placement of lobby (?) furniture with the guy in the corner playing chess with himself and the geek on his laptop (get this boy a room!) and the Concierge interrupting my question in mid-sentence by replying with directions to the ladies room when I was inquiring what had happened to the cool Harley motorcycle that used to be in the corner of the library and was a cool place to sip a Lemon Drop and chat about the latest Enron rumor?
Or was it the cold corn tortillas served with the cold fajita meat and veggies at the buffet dinner I didn't care for?
Or was it the lack of silverware and napkins at the buffet dinner? Sure there were plenty of attendees but they knew that from the get go.
Or was it the absence of waiters to fetch the silverware and napkins. And where was the Director of Hospitality overseeing the dinner buffet and meeting?
Aw, thank goodness I had checked into the wonderful JW Marriott earlier before coming to the Derek for our business meeting. The Derek used to be THE place to stay because of the ambiance and uniqueness. That's now replaced by lackluster in both decor and employees. >sigh<