We have stayed at the River Street Inn twice. Our first stay in February was wonderful. The second in September was not.
The room was smaller than the one we were given during our previous stay, though the price was much higher. I assumed the pricing change was due to the time of the year (fall vs winter) and was not much bothered. However, I was surprised by how tiny our room was compared to the one we were given previously. I had assumed all the single rooms would be near the same size.
More troubling, though, it was also clear the room had not been thoroughly cleaned. We found the following at various places in the room: an earring, a popped button, and not one, but 2 different narcotic pills (we looked them up online to ID them).
Although we chose to not make a big deal of it and complain, someone on our floor had complained about the housekeeping staff and they retaliated by reporting that we had smoked in the room. There are no trashcans or ashtrays in front of the hotel, so when I put out my cigarettes outside, I put the butts in my purse rather than litter. I cleaned out my purse in the room each night, throwing the butts in the trash can.
Housekeeping reported to the front desk that the room smelled like smoke and they had verified "evidence" of smoking in the non-smoking room on the first night of our three night stay. A $200 charge was added to our bill . No one mentioned the allegation or charge at the time. They did not even mention it when we checked out. I only knew about it because the bill was much higher than it should have been so I closely read the charges.
When I disputed the charge, the first thing the front desk clerk asked was if I had complained about the cleanliness of the room, which is how I knew the two were related. I stated that I hadn't complained, although the room was dirty, and I did NOT smoke in the room. I explained about my efforts to not litter the property, and even pulled the butt I had just put out (outside) from my purse to demonstrate that I was telling the truth about the origins of the smoking "evidence". I was basically called a liar to my face and the clerk refused to remove the charge. Another employee told me "you're not allowed to have cigarette buts in the room." I said that was ridiculous, I could throw away whatever I liked. I asked if this was a "non-smoking" room or a "no trash" room.
The clerk and other staff were unhelpful and unpleasant. When my husband told her that we were repeat customers, but would not give them our business again, her response was "Okay." There was no manager on-site, so I had to call from home the next day to complain.
I will say that the manager I spoke to the next day was very nice and immediately removed the charge.
Finally, guests are required to park in the parking garage across the street. Parking had always been free for guests. I don't know if they changed that policy since our last stay or if we were punished for our complaint, but our $25 parking fee was not waived even though we were guests of the hotel. At no point were we warned that parking was now an additional fee.
It is a nice hotel. There are free wine and hors d'oeuvres every night from 5 - 6:30. It is in a great location and decorated beautifully, but unless there is a complete turnover in staff, all the way from the housekeepers to the front desk, we will not be staying there again. It's a shame because we enjoyed our first stay so much.
