The Beverly Hills Hotel When a hotel becomes far less than hospitable
If zero rating would be allowed, this hotel would earn it easily. But alas, the lowest any rating site offers is 1 out of 5, so we’ll settle for 1-star review based on our experience today, which was, quite frankly, shockingly bizarre.
We came into The Beverly Hills Hotel for some desserts and drinks at 4 pm on Thursday, March 25, 2021, just to chill for a bit and take a break from the malaise of the world. We stopped a staff member at the hotel and asked where to go as we didn’t know what was open during these surreal times. He told us that there are two places to choose from: The Cabana Cafe by the pool (which I’ve been to many times) or the Pollo Lounge. He recommended going to the former.
We walked down a bunch of flight of stairs to be greeted by mostly an empty restaurant, and was told that they are…closed. They closed at 4 p.m. Clearly some staff members weren’t notified of the hours. We were told that our best and only option is the Pollo Lounge.
We walked up the flight of stairs to the Pollo Lounge. We were greeted by a young woman. We told her that we would like to get some desserts and drinks. She then picked up a menu and told us verbatim: “Due to State mandate, you would need to order an entree.” Say what?!? We thought that we misheard, but she repeated the same thing. We simply walked out. I’ve never seen such a thing, and this “mandate” sounds absurd and made up.
I’ve been to The Beverly Hills Hotel many times. It is a very expensive place to eat at. Expect to easily pay no less than $100 per person for a basic lunch. I was sure that desserts and drinks would cost no less than $75-$100 minimum for 2 people. Clearly this hotel has zero interest to earn money at a terrible time in the world. Moreover, if the management had any common sense, they would know that often, you can either “upsell” items in the menu or, even more often, people begin to look at the menu and order other things. Perhaps this hotel has met its yearly revenue goals and just could care less about being “hospitable.”
Since this hotel invoked a “mandate”, I immediately called 3 other high-end hotels in Beverly Hills after leaving this hotel. I was specific to let them know that we are coming in for desserts and drinks. Each hotel never even mentioned any “state mandate” and were ready to take down a reservation.
We decided to make a reservation at another well-known hotel where we had a wonderful time, enjoying our desserts and drinks. Perhaps it’s time for this hotel to change the type of business it’s in. After years of coming to this hotel, I won’t be back. Thank God for competition and great hotels in the area.
P.S. Despite leaving a message for Kaitlyn Demasi, Director of Restaurants and Bar at the Beverly Hills Hotel, neither she nor anyone from her staff called us back to address what transpired which only highlights the lack of customer service, and complete disregard to patrons. Absolutely shameful.
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