The Laurel Hotel and Spa — Hotel in Auburn

Stayed at The Laurel while attending a swim meet and on balance, the experience was very good. The service was friendly, personable, and very professional. They did seem to have some staffing shortfalls, which I attributed to not having enough people available to do things like answer the phone at the concierge or front desk. Although they did not answer phone calls consistently, they would always call back quickly, which was nice.

The property is beautiful, and a partnership between staff and students. Part of the hotel is in fact occupied by visiting instructors, which makes it interesting. Students and staff were on different floors than the guests apparently, and it was not a distraction in any way. Super interesting concept in fact. We hardly saw any other guests until we went up to the rooftop bar after checkin (they have a beautiful pool!) but it was at breakfast on our checkout day that we realized there were actually a significant number of guests.

The rooftop bar was beautiful, and has a working garden. In fact, one of the students, apparently tasked to find a particular type of herb, was up there with his instructor/mentor trying to find the right item. The rooftop bar had food which was a mix of quality. The Mezza platter was very good, while the Shishito peppers were done in a very heavy and doughy batter, and did not taste very good. We did not finish them. These peppers are typically prepared with a very light batter, if at all, which results in a little bit of crispiness in some recipes from being blistered on high heat. This was missing in the peppers we sampled, as they were soggy and covered in batter. The drinks were very well prepared!

The room was luxurious and extremely well appointed. The welcome amenities in the form of snacks were quite excellent. Truly. There were some problems in the room, which we ended up reporting as we found them. The coffee maker, a Nespresso, would not work properly, so the front desk sent a container of coffee up to us. The phone would not work at all, which was quite frustrating. They sent someone up to our room to try to troubleshoot it, and found out it was plugged into the wrong jack! Not sure how that would have happened, but not being able to use the phone was irritating. The handset would also not charge, so the only way to use the phone, once we got it working, was to use the speaker feature. Lastly, the high-tech switches for many of the things in the room were irritating. Not intuitive, and overly complicated. Paint was also worn off a number of the switches, making them hard to read. We basically just ended up randomly pushing buttons, trying to get certain features to work.

Breakfast was exceptional. Both in variety, taste and visual appeal. They had a good amount of staff, appropriate seating, and a dazzling variety of high-quality and tasty options. One of the best hotel breakfasts I’ve had anywhere, and I have stayed in some very nice hotels. Bravo.

All of the staff we encountered were friendly, professional, and generally very knowledgeable.

My reason for not giving the property an overall rating of five was due to the odd combo of things which were undoubtedly five star, mixed with a number of problems that you would just not expect to encounter at a five star property, which I have articulated above. I think the switches need to be examined in the rooms to see if the wear and tear was unique to our room – I suspect not – or more systemic. Also, perhaps re-labeling the types of switches that you have would be more user-friendly. In reading other reviews, I see we were not the only people to mention this. I think an additional person available to handle calls at the front desk or concierge would also be useful, as it seemed like staff was pulled in multiple directions or had multiple jobs. I would enjoy staying at this property again, and do realize that it is an unusual mix of professional luxury hotel with academic training facility. I look forward to my next visit. With a few tweaks, the hotel would be really...

The best hotel in the south. Do not hesitate to stay here.

I have traveled to many luxury hotels, and this one is amongst the finest anywhere. This hotel makes for the best-value luxury hotel destination perhaps anywhere in America. I rarely leave reviews but this hotel deserves it. Let's talk about what you're getting with your stay.

For your rate, it includes access to a premium chef-made breakfast. This is not a typical hotel breakfast with boiled eggs and a to go snack bar. There is a large display with fresh juices, pastries made at the hotel, cheese grits, salmon tartines, and many many more foods that vary by the day. In addition to this, the staff taught us about their extremely unique coffee department. Their coffee is all roasted fresh in the hotel, by the college students. They form relationships with farmers overseas, and the students learn about the entire process. Included in your rate are unlimited espresso, lattes, cappuccinos, teas, etc (they even offered oat milk alternatives). The coffee is available at all hours of the day, and they can even deliver decaf to your room at night. It is the best coffee I have ever had hands down.

This alone is enough to justify the cost difference between other regional hotels and The Laurel. The quality of everything is superb. However, it gets better. Sodas and snacks are available to all guests in the lounge at all hours for no additional charge. A complimentary lunch is offered by request so be sure to ask for it. In the evening the chef prepares and sets out an hors d'oeuvre hour, and finishes the night with a dessert made by the culinary students at the University! Room service, food, and a bar are available at any hour and are very reasonably priced as well.

The hotel itself is modern and beautiful, with wood paneling and gorgeous art throughout. It is a sophisticated urban-style hotel you would expect in Manhattan. It is easy to slip away and forget you are in East Alabama. In fact, you never have to leave during your entire stay. The rooms are GORGEOUS and we arrived to a charcuterie board and a kind note from the staff. One small feature I loved is you can use the night-side tablet to have your curtains open at a certain time to wake you up to the sunlight in the morning. The bathrooms are made out of marble and have a TV inside of the mirror. They have a spacious tub with spa salts.

From the moment you arrive, the staff is eager to make your stay memorable. Everyone was so helpful, and you get the impression they truly love to work there.

One of my favorite parts of this hotel is the rooftop garden. On the rooftop of the hotel is a pool, bar, and garden full of fresh flowers and herbs that we were told are used in the kitchens here. It is a beautiful space to pour out a glass of champagne and watch the sunset. There are plenty of restaurants within walking distance and I went for a morning stroll around campus each morning.

This hotel is so special and I highly recommend it as a weekend getaway or anniversary. Auburn has become a city worth visiting even if you have nothing to do with the school.

For anyone who loves luxury, this is a must-stay! The price to quality is truly unbeatable, and if this hotel were anywhere else it would cost $2000+ a night. Everyone here treats you like a celebrity, and this hotel is private,...

The room itself was spacious and nice, and the dinner we had there after checking in was fabulous. But the dinner was extra. The breakfast the next day was included in the room rate, and it definitely left something to be desired.

First, they had a buffet but if you wanted eggs, for some reason, you had to order them from the staff. This is not good for business travel as you need to grab and go, but this trip was for leisure, so fine, I ordered some eggs.

The toaster they had to use was old, dirty, and broken. The bagel went in, but the coils never came on. When I told the staff, they indicated that the other side of the two-part toaster worked, as if I am responsible for testing all the equipment they put out for customers to use, determine on my own what works and what doesn't, and then use only the working parts. That was bizarre.

Then, once it was finally toasted I noticed they had some butter and spreadable cheese but no peanut butter. When I asked about this, they said they had no peanut butter on the premises. I find that very hard to believe - even cheap Fairfield Inns have peanut butter to spread on your bagels or English muffins.

Last but not least, the eggs that I ordered in the beginning never came. When I inquired about it, the staff seemed surprised and went back to the kitchen to check on it. They came back to me and reported "the person to whom they gave the order couldn't get to to the area they needed as it was really crowded back there and when they finally could get it, they forgot about this order." Huh? Even if that were all true, why on earth would you ever say that to a customer?

Any one item I suppose would be excusable, but when you are paying close to $500/night, you simply cannot accept a complete melt down on the operations and customer service during the breakfast experience. It really left me feeling like I...