voco The Tiger Hotel — Hotel in Columbia Township

Points of interest^^^

This was our first visit to The Tiger Hotel. My husband & I stayed for 1 night (a Thursday) & paid $158.26.

ARRIVAL/CHECK-IN: I emailed the hotel to advise of late arrival (right around 9:00 PM).

ROOM: As a Spire Elite member, I also emailed the hotel requesting a complimentary room upgrade. We originally booked a 1 King Bed Standard & were upgraded to a 1 King Bed Junior Suite, room #708.

• Amenities: Keurig & mini refrigerator. ^^^Note: The fridge is stocked the brim with drinks. You have to remove (and return them of course) to use any part of the fridge. • Bath: Hot water & decent pressure. Soaker tub appeared to have not been cleaned, so I didn't feel comfortable taking a bath 🙁 • Bed: Decent. Not quite as soft as some IHG hotels, but OK. Linens need cleaned. ^^^• Cleanliness: At first glance (in the evening), the room appeared cleaned. However, when I moved two pillows & crawled into bed I immediately felt something akin to sand (dirt, crumbs?) against my body. As it was already past midnight/too late to call housekeeping for fresh linens, I used a dry cloth to wipe the bed off. In the morning light I also noticed the room is in desperate need of dusting & the soaking tub needs scrubbed (there were little black hairs in it). • Decor: Stylish, but parts of the room were rough around the edges ^^^• Heating: The room does not heat well at all. I'm guessing because it's an older building. We keep our home at 68°; this room was set to 74°, & we were still shivering. Had to bump it up to 77°, then 80°(!). We went to bed wearing PJs & covered with the blanket of course. • Sound: A little noise from other guests, heater rattles & you can hear vehicles outside. ^^^• TV: HORRIBLE. Don't be fooled: 'Guests enjoy HD LCD TVs with a wide selection of complimentary channels.' Seriously, the worst TVs we've ever used in a hotel (the suite had two). Half the channels didn't come through at all; the other half were fuzzy. • View: Nice view of Mizzou columns • WiFi: Unstable. Kicked me off at least 2x in

My family really looked forward to staying here, because it is touted as being the "best" hotel in Columbia. We will NEVER stay here again. We paid $425 per night, in advance and it was non-refundable. Our stay was almost $1000 for 2 nights, expensive to say the least. You'd figure for that kind of cost you get something for your hard earned money, NOT HERE. First, they didn't have the number of guests correct. There were 4 of us and they had us down for 1. Hence, we did not have enough towels, shampoo, conditioner (throughout our stay) and we didn't get lotion until the last day. We did not bring our own, because we were only going to be away from home for 2 nights. There are no blankets in the rooms, you have to call down and ask for one. You have to request a blanket, really? We spent over 8 minutes on hold with the front desk with this request. We had to hang up and call a second time...for a blanket at bedtime! The desk lamp did not work, the safe did not work and the hair dryer did not work! There was no pad of paper for notes about all the things that went wrong with our stay. Had to use a room service door hanger for notes. At $425 a night this seems a bit ridiculous. These were just the small issues. The beds are hard as a rock. The pillows are hard and lumpy. The walls are paper thin. You hear everything from your neighbor's room. The lighting in the bathroom is terrible. There is no way to easily apply make-up or get a close look at yourself. There is no turn down service and no complimentary water in the room. They advertise having a refrigerator, but it is stocked so full you can't use it. It is there only for purchases. The biggest issue that we had was safety. Only guests are able to go up to the rooms as you need your key to access the elevator. The first night we were there, there was a sorority/fraternity party going on in the lobby. When we got onto the elevator 2 young men jumped on with us. We asked them to show us their room key. They didn't have one, refused to get off the elevator until we insisted a third time and one of their friend's got on and said they were not guests. We called immediately to the front desk and told them and they laughed it off as "it's just a frat party." Really, we thought it was about guest safety! We asked to speak to the General Manager on duty Saturday night. Not sure if one was there as we were told that we could only speak with the woman (Malissa) that we asked. Malissa said guest relations was her job. She listened that night, but was not helpful. She was the same woman that checked us on the next day. She told me she fired one of the employees already. I said that was unfortunate and if it was her first infraction that she was nice and we thought that she should be given another chance. The manager seemed frantic. At one point the phone rang while I was standing there and she was beyond rude to the person. She hung up the phone and grunted that it was just an employee. This same manager asked me to please send a detailed email about our stay, which I did on the Tuesday following our stay. There were 16 issues I brought up in the email. I waited until the following Tuesday afternoon to call, 9 days after our stay and 7 days after I emailed. I called because no one from the hotel had called or emailed back a response. REALLY… this is the best the “best” hotel in Columbia could do. They dropped the ball during our stay and clearly dropped the ball again...

Out of all the hotels I've stayed in over the years on the road... this one not only doesn't disappoint but truly stands out.

While the property is incredible, and the rooms impeccably cleaned... it's the staff who highlight the shine of the property. I checked into a beautiful king room with a fully stocked minibar, outfitted with electric shades and a soaking tub that has been screaming my name since I got here.

As much as I love the vibes of this place, nothing could compare to the service. In checking in, Ty at the front desk gave my client and I a full run down of the best dishes being served downstairs. Dishes that I will not publicly admit to eating in the amount we did. Do I have regrets? Yes... I should have taken the rest to go. Amateur move. The recommendations were maître d level. We had one of the best dinners we've had on the road. I feel like my friends will be mad about me talking about the steak before I am finished talking about it. After a long day of travel, I could not be more thankful for a great dinner thanks to Ty. The drinks came later and she was so right about the hurricane.

After a long day of work, we were thrilled to get back to the hotel for a bit of rest. Ty was quick to offer any assistance if we needed it in the most unimposing way. As a New Yorker, I can't stand overbearing staff... This is the place if you want all of the luxury of home without the helicopter vibes of a boutique trying to prove themselves. They've nailed this. Their staff absolutely sets this place apart. I can't believe I'm saying this but for the first time.... I think I'm excited to come back to Missouri?

My only complaint? Everything about this hotel is aesthetically stunning... they should sell more than a t-shirt. I had to go next door to buy a knit sweatshirt from a college bookstore that's fine but not interesting. I feel like they could have an incredible sweatshirt that I would drunkenly buy 5 of. Other than that? This place is what other hotels should aspire to be.

Also did I mention the minibar is stocked with 4 Fiji? That's...