I frequently visit LA, and I was excited to stay at The Hollywood Roosevelt for the first time, a hotel that has a proud history in LA. But I was genuinely shocked how little the hotel does to preserve and build upon its historical standing: not from a customer service standpoint, and definitely not from a facilities standpoint. Tired and grimy-looking carpeting in hallways, stained blinds in my room, a chipped tub, grubby floor tiles in the bathroom that urgently need either professional retouching or replacing, excessively scratched up flooring in the room... The Queen room I stayed in (just these past few days) clearly hasn't seen updates in forever.
Also, one of the elevators was down during our three-night stay. We were forced to use the service elevator for speedier movement, which wasn't a pleasant experience or sight. And the hotel never properly apologized about this, or offered as much as a free beverage upon arrival as a "we are sorry" courtesy (that most hotels this caliber would have done to acknowledge the huge inconvenience). When I pointed this out to the front desk, she laughed it off and said something along the lines of, "Well why should we? You still have two working elevators." (Clearly, the downgraded experience of the service elevator isn't embarrassing to them). Perhaps this is an acceptable way of speaking to customers in today's world, where we are expected to pay large sums without the guarantee of good, courteous service. But it didn't sit right with me. Plus, to future Roosevelt guests, I want to point out the huge safety problem the service elevator poses. In regular elevators, you need to use your keycard to access upper floors with rooms. But the service elevator didn't have such a scanner. It's right by the hotel entrance and not once, anyone checked whether we were hotel guests when using it. In other words, anyone can pretend to be a guest, walk into that elevator, and access almost any floor that they please.
Another big issue we had was during check out. We had prepaid for breakfast throughout our stay (which cost an additional $50 per night in the deal that we bought). But because we were leaving the hotel 30 minutes before the start of breakfast on our last day, we lost our final day's pre-paid food. The hotel could neither refund that sum (given it was a part of a package), nor offer us a courtesy doggie bag that most hotels all around the world do offer, something I know as a frequent traveler... You know, a little yogurt cup, a banana, a small pastry, a juice box... I actually didn't even ask for a refund, but just requested something along these lines. (I even said a banana would do). But instead of a polite "let me see what I can do for your guys," I dealt with the rudest front desk person who treated me like I was asking her for a huge favor, not something that I paid for many times over. She cut me off several times during my reasonable request and said "all the food is locked up, we have no access," as if they couldn't reach the kitchen as a courtesy and give us something small for the road. In the future, they should consider doing this. It's truly unacceptable that I lost out on that breakfast and I didn't ask for much other than fruit and pastry. And also, when dealing with reasonable requests like this, they should remember they are service providers and have to show at least a little willingness to provide, you know, service.
Lastly, the biggest reason to stay at this hotel is obviously the pool with the iconic David Hockney artwork on its flooring. Well, the artwork has nearly disappeared from large portions of the pool, and Roosevelt should really, really make an effort to restore it as soon as possible, before it's too late. But they need a whole mindset makeover first in order to do it, believing that they should actually invest into updated facilities and good service in order to live up to their historic legacy.
