Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa — Hotel in Austin

I have stayed at several Omni properties over the years and have always found the experience to be 5-star. And although it is not my hotel brand of choice, my expectations for my stay at Omni Barton Creek (OBC) were at least on par if not exceeding what I had experienced previously. Unfortunately, this was not the case - by a wide margin.

I allow that COVID-19 has negatively impacted the hospitality industry; as a result, I was willing to write this off as OBC getting their "sea legs" back, as it were. However, the lack of follow up on not 1, not 2 but 3 attempts to address these issues speaks to a bigger, systemic issue that were revealed as symptoms during my stay in August 2020.

It began with a reservation process that was clumsy at best. For this quick golf trip, I booked a fairway suite w/an adjoining room. The fine print stated that an adjoining room was available upon request for an additional charge. No problem. I requested and the agent confirmed - twice - I would have the adjoining room. Yet the price he quoted me was the advertised price without the adjoining room, I pushed to confirm it included the adjoining room. He confirmed that it did. Although I was skeptical, I took him at his word.

Upon getting an alert that my reservation was upcoming, I contacted the hotel directly to confirm that I would have an adjoining room. I was informed I would not. I shared my booking experience with the desk manager I spoke to and it became clear he was not interested in resolving this issue as much as he wanted to argue with me. I was not looking for a freebie, but the "customer is always right" mantra was nowhere to be found in this exchange. Keeping in mind that I was already poised to spend over $2,000 for 6-rounds of golf, lodging and meals for a 1-night, 2-day excursion, you would think there would be some effort to rectify the situation. After a spirited back-and-forth, a small discount off the room rate was offered. In my opinion, it wasn't offered as a way of acknowledge a potential error, but this manager's "aha moment" after I threatened to cancel the reservation and stay elsewhere. I encountered someone more interested in "winning" versus bringing calm and customer service to the situation. In fairness, it was not an "angry" conversation but it should have been handled differently, with a goal focused on serving and satisfying a potential customer. Moving on.

Upon arrival at hotel room, the door to the adjoining room was locked. In fact, the door was broken and would not open. Maintenance came and fix the door and after a long round of golf, we had to wait for close to an hour before being able to settle into our room, shower and go to dinner. We missed our reservation at the steakhouse on property and got food to-go in our room (no room service due to COVID). We likely would have done this anyway after golfing in 100 degree+ weather, but the room issue made that decision for us. On the bright side, we probably saved about $400 on dinner and drinks had we gone to Bob's instead of eating tacos in our room.

The next day, we went to breakfast. In short, incorrect order, wrong food delivered to our table, cold coffee, etc. The obvious cherry on top of this fail sundae.

I understand COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on the service industry and I was more than willing to chalk this entire experience up to OBC struggling to get back into a groove. I'm reasonable and I generally assume positive intent. I felt the need to share my experience with hotel management via their online survey that I was asked to complete in the days after my stay. Close to 4 weeks passed and I got no reply. Nothing. I sent an email to the hotel GM. Nothing. Crickets.

Now I'm forced to do what others do and broadcast my experience to an online audience and I'm sure I'll hear back soon. It becomes another example of companies not doing the right thing because it's right, versus doing damage control because they've been...

UPDATE: I went back and it was just as good as the 1st time... and it was packed, so disregard my comment about the lockers... they are totally needed! This time had a BLT Wrap and Chips from the menu, delicious. I also had a facial and the leg/foot massage. One of the best I've had of each. Enjoyed the hot tub, it was a bit loud from talkative women, but not too bad. Overall still a great experience! Ok, here's the original review---I read many reviews for this spa as well as others rated as top spas in the area. I choose this one for the services, private heated pool and location. This is the only one I've been to in Austin, I'm not from here, BUT I've been to many spas in my life, countless. I'll start with the great things; Valet parking is free, makes sense and is appreciated. Would be nice if they offered car service within a certain radius as well. I know there's uber and lyft, but would be nice. Check in was fast, I arrived almost 2 hours early so I could finish a book by the pool and the woman that greeted me at the front desk could feel my energy and that I wanted a no-nonsense tour so I could get to the pool. She was thorough and brief. Loved it. The facilities are clean, quiet, and spacious. I do wish the lockers were bigger, I mean... there seemed to be 40 or so on the women's side, I doubt there are 40 women getting spa treatments at once. Would be nice if even half of the lockers were full sized. That's a minor thing though. The pool is private, heated, and narrow. The size is perfect, but it makes me wonder if there are a ton of lockers why isn't the pool bigger? Lol... so silly of me, but anyway. It wasn't crowded and you can get service out there for food and drinks. I do wish there was some kind of sun block/screen spray available. If there was I didn't see it. I did see a can of "Off!". The pool attendant was astute and didn't bother me about drinks or food until i or my book down, that is much appreciated. The showers are spacious, more than I've seen around the world. Could fit 10 people in one stall! And the water was hot!! The bathroom amenities were also nice. The typical things like lotions, soaps, shampoos, conditioners, etc. My body treatment had a scrub, a Shea butter cbd wrap and massage. It came with a scalp massage, but I declined that portion and she kindly spent more time on other areas. The table was heated and for the first time ever, I was given a heated towel under my neck to allow the therapist access to my shoulders. I've had a towel, just not a HEATED towel. It's the tiny things. The tables were also wide, had a very calm motor for lifting and also the ability to raise just the back or the knees. Really a great massage table. I often ask for light to medium touch and find myself either wincing or telling the therapist they are going too hard during the session. I have no idea why therapists do this, just go super light and allow the person to say harder, not the other way around. That being said this pressure was PERFECT. With more than 50 or so massages in my life, this rates top 10, easily. Only negative I would say... and it didn't bother me at all, was the already included gratuity. It's 22% which is fine... but it kind of left no room to severely over tip as I'm prone to do when service is above and beyond. The guy checking me out didn't give me the option to over tip or leave cash, so I didn't. I guess this review will suffice :-). Bravo, Mokara. I'll be back... hopefully before I leave town!! No pics, cuz I didn't...

I booked a stay at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa on 5/12 for a stay of 6/26-28, opting for the resort credit packages, two spa day passes, and a massage. About a month later, I wanted to add another spa pass, but the front desk informed me they couldn't add it, and the spa passes I had already booked weren't showing up. This was perplexing, so I contacted accounting and was assured that while it wasn't visible online, everything would be correctly reflected during our stay.

However, when I called again, I was told that I had been overcharged. This was confusing, but I eventually received a refund of about $140, and all my packages were reinstated. The math calculations were apparently off, but I didn't fully understand the details.

Upon arrival at the hotel, I verified that all the packages were listed, and I was shown a printout confirming this. However, at checkout, I was told I owed $140, and no one could provide a thorough explanation. Checking out was particularly confusing, with a list of line items that the front desk personnel tried to explain but couldn't. Additionally, I was supposed to receive a credit of about $63, which was deducted instead. Despite being told I wouldn't be charged for it, no one seemed to understand why these charges and deductions were occurring. There was no remorse from anyone; everyone gave their best guesses at what could have happened, but there was and still is no definite answer.

We were later advised to call to book packages for future stays instead of booking online. Throughout the process, there was a lot of back and forth, a lack of transparency, overcharges, a random refund, and a spa package that was dropped and had to be paid for out of pocket. This trip was sponsored by my wife’s job, and everything was pre-paid, making the lack of communication and inconvenience particularly frustrating.

As for the rooms, the bathroom door had issues. Once inside, I realized I was locked in and had to call on my wife multiple times to open it for me.

After seeing the $63 charge on my card and not receiving a refund, I contacted accounting. The person I spoke to asked me to email them, but I have yet to receive a reply.

In total, our stay was over $1800 for two nights, and we’ve received better customer service at hotels that cost a quarter of the price.

For these reasons, I would not recommend the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa.

**On a positive note, the hotel's food was amazing, especially the coffee.

**Costs/charges...