43.3520, -73.6973

Let's see... Did we have a great time? Yes. But, not from any merit or skill in how this place is run. Entered the roughly $600/n suite to discover food in the cupboards, a balloon bouncing around and later glowsticks in the couch. We had a bunch of kids too, but it makes you wonder how well the room could have been cleaned? Looked clean, we weren't going to complain about that. We had three regular beds, a bunk bed and a pullout couch. So one would expect at least 5 people would often stay in a suite of this type. But the toiletries and other amenities were stocked for 2. We weren't sure if the super thin "comforters" on the beds were comforters or if perhaps the room was unfinished, pointing back to the leftover items from other guests. So we decided to call down and ask. Except, the phone didn't work at all, even checked all connections. No dial tone. There are two phones, the other one has a dial tone, but the front desk button doesn't work. No problem, just call with cell phone .... first I listened for 5 minutes for someone to pickup, then called again, waited 17 minutes. No one ever picked up for the "reservations" line We head down to ask in person and an eagle eyed member of our party noticed a flyer near the elevator stating that the phone system had changed. These people didn't update their in suite phones? Just put up a flyer in the halls? Wow They say they will send someone up to check for us, a wonderful member of the housekeeping staff arrived and confirmed the flimsy "comforters" were the comforters, we had to use gestures and smiles as there was no English recognition. She hooked us up with more toiletries. The water park and restaurant were great, the arcades were abysmal little kid casinos and basically just promote gambling and having kids torture their parents. Early one morning, I wanted a drink, maybe some of that complimentary lemon water I see at every hotel ever ...they don't have that, but they do have a vending machine in the main lobby. I purchased my first and only $5 12oz soda there.. so instead of providing hospitality they are shafting their guests at 200% gas station prices? There were other elements such as the closed fitness center with COVID excuse .. at a water park? Clearly they are shaving every detail of hospitality possible and management is either checked out or incapable of running an organization of this size. Individual staff at their coffee shop, water park, restaurant were exemplary and showed the contrast of how poorly the hotel is run.

Let's be clear about this: we had a great time. That part is true. But the reasons the trip worked had nothing to do with how this place is run, and the reasons it could have failed were entirely due to management.

The suite was advertised and priced at roughly $600 a night. When we got in we found food in the cupboards, a balloon bouncing around the room, and later found glowsticks in the couch. The room looked clean enough on the surface and we weren't going to make a whole thing of it. But when you're paying $600 a night with a group that includes several kids, that's the moment you start asking how rigorously the room was actually cleaned between guests.

The suite had three regular beds, a bunk bed, and a pullout couch. That's accommodation for at minimum five people. The toiletries and amenities in the room were stocked for two. Not a staffing oversight — a policy decision. Whatever math produced that decision, it's the math of a hotel that has decided its guests aren't worth the full preparation.

Then the phone in the room didn't work. No dial tone. The second phone had a dial tone but the front desk button on it didn't work. So I tried calling from my cell: waited five minutes on hold, called back, waited seventeen minutes. Nobody ever picked up. Later we spotted a flyer near the elevator explaining that the phone system had changed. They updated guests with hallway flyers and left the suite phones nonfunctional. That's the level of organizational competence operating here.

We went down in person and a staff member from housekeeping came up to help. She confirmed that the thin blankets were, in fact, the comforters. She got us extra toiletries through gestures and goodwill because there was no shared language. She was excellent. So were the staff in the coffee shop, at the water park, and at the restaurant. Every individual member of the staff I dealt with was doing their job well. The contrast between the staff quality and the management quality was the defining feature of the stay.

The water park is the reason to go, and it delivered. The arcades are what arcades always are — kid casinos that convert parental guilt into tokens. The fitness center was closed with a COVID excuse at a water park. Make that make sense.

The morning I wanted a cup of water, I discovered they don't do complimentary lobby water. They have a vending machine. A $5 twelve-ounce soda later, I had my drink and one more data point for the pattern: every decision at the policy level at this place is oriented toward extracting money from guests who are already captive, rather than toward giving those guests a reason to come back.

Three stars because the kids had a blast in the water park, the individual staff were genuinely good, and those things matter. But the hotel operation is run by people who are either not paying attention or don't care. Both are equally bad at this price point.