Beach Club at The Boca Raton — Hotel in Boca Raton

We have visited this property multiple times spanning several decades. Both for fun and medical conferences. Traditionally, service, location and accommodations were always exceptional. However, our last visit was not welcoming and unacceptable. I added additional days to our reservation immediately at check in. The original booking was thru AMEX fine hotels site to take advantage of the late check out and daily breakfast. Therefore, the front desk representative suggested adding the extended stay with AMEX to maintain the benefits. I personally confirmed the new reservation with the same employee in hopes of avoiding a room change during the middle of our stay. Unknowingly, the online mobile app for AMEX dropped my last name from the reservation and instead inserted my professional designation to the booking but all other information (address, phone number and credit card number) remained the same. Our nightly charge for our premium ocean view room was more than $1,000.00. throughout our one week stay. David at the front desk contacted us on the original check out day. He left multiple messages which for personal reasons were not returned until a little after 4 PM. He informed us we had to check out or he "would have no other option but to remove our belongings". He maintained the room was committed to someone else and not available to us. However, we were the guest with the reservation for the room but the last name was not the same secondary to a glitch with the AMEX app. I was personally unavailable and could not meet with him. I explained my situation via a phone call. I described the front desk lady that confirmed my extended reservation. Plus, I was able to verify from my mobile app that your hotel had been paid in full for our entire stay inclusive of the extended reservation. David refused to call AMEX on our behalf. Making no headway, I asked to speak with a supervisor and he informed me he was the supervisor for the evening. Simply, he was going to kick us out "because someone else had booked our room-". A quick call to AMEX would have easily unraveled the error and settled the dispute. The irony- David attempting to forcing us to leave a room we paid for so we could then check back into the same room. Equally, he could have asked the associate that checked us in because she originally verified our extended stay. I would assume but cannot verify, she placed a note in the system alerting of the additional stay to avoid a room change. The extension of our stay was to accommodate my wife and daughter. I explained to David my main reason for choosing your establishment was first and foremost peace of mind that my family would be safe and sound in my absence. Instead, I was told they had to leave that evening, personal effects removed and we would no longer have access to our room 250 miles away from home. Your personnel failed us! To add to the disappointment David continued to be abrasive to my wife and daughter upon their arrival later that evening. He offered no apology nor empathy and instead held his ground despite being wrong. My wife and daughter showed him the proof of our payment received and confirmed by AMEX. Rightfully, he did not extract our belongings from our room. Instead, my wife and daughter chose to break communications with David and retired to their room in hopes of a better next day. It truly saddens me that your staff was not capable of handling us with the care respect we extended to all of your staff. We believe in treating others the way we wish to be treated your representative did not extend that courtesy to us. Instead the incident was casually swept away. I was able to talk to David before we left your campus. My discussion with him was calm and strictly professional. We reviewed my major disappointment was from in his lack of caring, poor problem solving skills and I was most saddened by his inability to provide us with the peace of mind my family was secure and safe while away from...

What they don’t volunteer when you book at The Beach Club or one of its associated properties is that it’s part of an overall membership club that caters to both overnight guests as well as those with non-hotel access to the facilities.

For better or worse, that’s just the beginning of the issues with the property.

In no particular order:

Shower had no hot water on the first day. Fix required the mixing valve to be replaced along with a lengthy intrusion to the room while our whole family was trying to get ready for dinner. No one ever followed up to actually confirm that the hot water issue had been resolved. Several hour AC failure during the day with no proactive communication to guests. They were aware of the problem but chose not to let guests know. A series of “You need to talk to X” where X says “You need to talk to Y” and Y says “You need to talk to Z” annoyances when trying to take care of a relatively simple thing. Being told that our reservation for four is only entitled to two chairs at the pool “because it’s a ‘red day’”. I have no interest nor need to know what a ‘red day’ is, but I very much do care if you oversell your property at holiday weekend rates and then refuse to provide service.

Mid-trip, I presented these concerns to a genuinely incredibly nice front desk agent. They were followed up on by a manager later in the day, and some compensation was provided for the items highlighted.

When you pay for a high quality experience, you should spend more time being surprised and delighted than annoyed by various things. Unfortunately, they miss the mark across the board. The continued challenges:

Missing soap/other items in the bathroom weren’t replaced unless a note was left. (May I remind you, this is a $1,000+/night reservation.) It's a "service included" (i.e. no tips) property, but people definitely expect tips. Hard to get attention of a server at the pool… even when you wanted to pay your bill. On one day, no one could get us our bill because they didn’t know where the server was. Zero accountability. The correct answer would simply be “I’m not sure where she is, but I’ll be right back with it.” Overall overcrowding due to the aforementioned issue of trying to serve both their hotel guests and their non-hotel members Jack hammers! Funny how they failed to mentioned at time of booking that there was major construction happening during our visit. I inquired as to why the menu at the outdoor restaurant seemed rather limited. The explanation was that the hotel was closing in a few days (this explains the jack hammers) so they were reducing service ahead of the closure. Oh! How nice of you to inform us when we booked that this very expensive hotel would have active construction and reduced service. (They did not, actually, inform us.)

Long story short, if you’re used to actual hospitality and accountability when things inevitably go sideways, this is not the place. It’s unfortunate, because there is a lot to work with as far as the location and facilities. There is simply clearly not a culture of service, which is expected for any-old-hotel, but not okay for what these folks...

My beau made arrangements through American Express for us to stay, just for one night. Thanks to his card, we were given an early check-in option (that we unfortunately couldn't use), and a late check-out option (which we happily did!)

Upon arriving at the main gate, we were greeted by a very polite young man (whose name I didn't catch), who directed us to the front entrance and said he would see us at check-in. (True to his word, he was at one of the desks in the lobby as we checked in only moments later... secret tunnels, perhaps? Impressive, regardless!) David Duke handled our arrival with efficient professionalism, and in addition to making sure we were well-informed about the site and its amenities, he arranged to have menus sent up for the various on-property restaurants as soon as he noted that we had a dining credit with our reservation. David introduced us to Tyler, who escorted us and our bags upstairs and made sure we were pleased with our room - a very well-appointed king suite on the top floor, with a powder room and two balconies with spectacular views overlooking the pool area, beach, & ocean. (We were!)

We perused the menus and decided to take the shuttle over to Morimoto; even with a large group staying at the beach club for their convention, the noise levels were not excessive nor the lobby crowded when we came back downstairs. Such a pleasant experience! As for dinner, the meal was simply divine. The restaurant staff were friendly and able to accommodate my food allergies without hesitation, and the dishes themselves were impeccably prepared and presented. As something of a foodie myself, I especially appreciated the whole dining experience. We stopped across the way at Serendipity for some malted milk balls (a special treat for us) and a hot chocolate, and then wandered down to the water to enjoy our dessert before taking the shuttle back over to our side of the resort.

In the morning, we meandered our way down to breakfast and the hostess (after asking our preference) immediately seated us out on the patio at a lovely, shaded table that just overlooked the pool area. Our server, Alex, arrived shortly thereafter. He was classy, cordial, and simply a joy to dine with. From keeping an eye on our juice levels, to keeping our feather friends at bay, to procuring the toast I had forgotten to make at lightning speed once our eggs arrived, we have nothing but glowing praise for him.

We travel a few times a month for both business and pleasure, and we were simply blown away by the consistent and impressive level of service we received from the staff throughout our short stay. Please, by all means, share this review with them, and also include the relevant portions in their next performance evaluation - positive feedback is always useful to help reinforce great behaviors!

We have stayed at many properties administered by various groups, and are most eagerly anticipating another opportunity to visit this resort again. We just hope to arrange for a longer retreat next time!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for such an unforgettable experience, Boca Beach Club! We can't wait...