Top 10 Posh Boutique Hotels

Impeccable hotel, absolutely five-star rating

Over the phone, I booked a “Big Dance Weekend Package” that was to include 2 nights, tickets to all the dance events, 2 breakfasts and parking. After booking the package, the agent insisted that I needed to purchase 2 dance tickets for an extra $278 total. Even though I pointed out that the website stated that the tickets were included, she was insistent. Not wanting to miss out initially, I made the purchase. A few days later, I called back to again question the need for the tickets and a different agent confirmed that the 2 tickets were not needed and she submitted a credit card refund. After a week, no refund. I called back again and went through the same conversation. They confirmed that the refund had not been issued and they offered no explanation but did apologize. They again promised a refund but it took another week for the refund to actually show up. If I had not bothered to call them -twice- I would have been overcharged and they would have done nothing. Upon checkin, we got our 2 electronic keys and neither worked. Fortunately, a hotel employee happened to be in the hallway and he let us in. I walked back down, explained the issue and the attendant re-programmed the same keys. Result: no joy. I called down and they sent someone up with 2 brand new keys that finally worked. Why they didn’t just give me 2 brand new keys the first time is a mystery. At the breakfast buffet, in the waiting area to be seated, both tanks of coffee had run out. Instead of bringing 2 new tanks and replacing the empty ones, the staff chose to take the 2 empty tanks away, presumably to fill up, and left nothing for the guests. It took 20 minutes for the replacement tanks to arrive. How hard is it to replenish coffee in a customer-friendly way? These types of missteps are common at common hotels. GPI is not a common hotel. They should not be commanding premium prices for everyday performance. The hotel does offer a unique charm, atmosphere and experience that can be found in very few places. But the expectations they are setting are not always met.

I've been a Marriott guy for decades, and have stayed at many of their various branded properties. As is typical for a Marriott property, the service at the AC was very good. I was underwhelmed with the size, layout and appointments of the room and bathroom. It more closely resembled a Fairfield or an Aloft, except the shower wasn't as nice as those. (At a higher nightly rate.) As has become a standard Marriott practice at their mainstream properties (below a JW type category) most of the properties have gone away from individual toiletries and have plastered three plastic pump bottles in each shower...shampoo, conditioner and body wash, often with some minty scent...wonder who got a big raise for those cost savings at the expense of customer satisfaction? BTW, the Fairfield that we stayed in Gastonia actually had both the pumpers and at least bar soap...at 1/3rd the cost of the AC. The rooftop bar was a nice area with great views of the city. Drink prices were very premium priced, and the pours were very meager. Bartender attitudes were very underwhelming. (e.g. asked for a side of ice water with my dram of Scotch and was told there was a ”water service at the end of the bar”...it was a glass container with a tap. No ice, and a stack of small plastic cups. That's the ”service” you get for a $16 small dram? Not impressed.