Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort & Spa — Hotel in Grover Beach

• YOUR SAFETY IS NOT THEIR PRIORITY:||On October 30th, a man entered my room with a key card and without knocking.  As a woman traveling alone, having my private space invaded like that was deeply upsetting.  So, I called the front desk, reported the incident, and was brushed off when I asked for a “Do Not Disturb” sign to avoid another intrusion.  The male staffer said, “Housekeeping does not come to your room unless you ask.”  If that was true, how did a strange man enter my room unannounced AND housekeeping knock on my door before checkout time?|||| I have been asked to relive this intrusion over and over by management as part of their “investigation.”  For over 3 weeks, I have been requesting a resolution to this problem.  What I got was delayed responses and re-traumatizing questions I had already answered.  Ultimately, Sycamore Springs management concluded that since I did not complain about the intrusion AGAIN at check-out, I must have enjoyed my stay (instead of the fact I was in a hurry to get back to my cats who were sitting in a locked car).  And because their “investigation” did not lead to evidence that satisfied THEM, the intrusion must not have happened at all.  So, they have refused to honor my request to refund my stay.||||If Sycamore Springs recorded the calls made from room phones to the front desk, they would have heard my complaint.  If Sycamore Springs kept track of who had active key cards for my room that day, they would have known who entered my room.  But since Sycamore Springs does neither, be prepared to be victim shamed if your safety is put at risk and you bring it to their attention.  And be prepared to pay for your entire stay despite your safety and privacy rights being violated. ||||* NOT A PET-FRIENDLY HOTEL:||I asked for a “pet-friendly room” when I made the reservation.  My two cats and I needed somewhere to briefly stay while relocating.  After I checked out of Sycamore Springs, I went to get groceries and my card was declined.  When I looked at my account, I saw a charge from Sycamore Springs for $338.25.  Since I paid for my stay in-full upon reservation (along with a surprise $100 deposit I paid at check-in that I was not told about until I arrived), there should be no further charges.  I called Sycamore Springs and learned I was being accused of and charged for “pet smuggling” two dogs.  I was also informed housekeeping found and have pictures of “a lot of dog hair that required extensive cleaning”.  I do not have dogs.  And, my two cats hid in their carriers 90% of our stay, making this “massive amount of dog hair” impossible.  I explained that a mistake has been made by Sycamore Springs, and the staffer told me a manager, Laura, would call me that night or the following morning at the latest.  Laura called the following night and left a voicemail detailing why I was charged for cleaning up after 2 dogs (that I made clear I do not have) in a No Pet room (that made clear I did not request).    ||||Instead of ASKING for my side of the story in the first place, Sycamore Springs management chose to assume wrong-doing, ignore my rebuttal to these charges, and take $338.25 from my account without warning or merit.  The only reason this money was refunded to me 12 days later is because I happened to see the charge and protested it. ||||If Sycamore Springs recorded calls for quality assurance, they would know I asked for a pet-friendly room.  If Sycamore Springs had “No Pets” signs like they have “No Smoking” signs in their rooms, I would have gone to the front desk and said “there’s been a mistake.”  But since Sycamore Springs does neither, be prepared for massive additional pet fees charged at their discretion because you brought your pet to their “pet-friendly” hotel.||||* FALSE ADVERTISING:||I asked for a ‘pet-friendly room with a fireplace.”  As mentioned above, Sycamore Springs was not friendly to me or my pets, despite heavily advertising how "pet-friendly" the are on their website. In addition, I paid extra for an actual fireplace and got a flatscreen TV image of a fireplace instead.  When I brought this to management’s attention, I was told it was a “gas-powered unit.”  It was an electric wall-mounted screen image of a fire that gave off less heat that the actual TV.  I stayed at Sycamore Springs for my honeymoon years ago and had a real fireplace.  A TV is not a fireplace. Sycamore Springs used false advertising to charge more money for a fireplace AND more money for pet fees.||||* IN CONCLUSION:||At Sycamore Springs, the management relies on employees who all, coincidentally, have no memory of guest complaints.  Their goal is to remain unaccountable and paid in full (and paid a lot more if you have pets).  So do not expect guardrails or conventional business practices to resolve any issues YOU may have.   ||||This is all very unfortunate because I remembered this hotel so fondly.  I do not know why they have changed, but Sycamore Spring’s disregard for their guests (personally and financially) is not acceptable by...

The worst customer service and hotel experience I have ever had. If I could give them five brown stars, I would.

We arrived quite late, checked in and the first thing we noticed when we got to our 2 bedroom suite was how incredibly hot and dank it smelled. We adjusted the thermostat , turned on all the fans & opened the doors and windows to try to let some cool air in to ventilate the stale air. It was difficult to sleep considering how hot the entire unit was and could hear every noise from the adjoining wall. The next morning we woke up early and decided to get out of the still muggy room and check out the beach returning later in the afternoon about 3 o'clock. Immediately upon opening the door, we were blasted by even hotter air rushing out the door; it was unbearably hot-mid 90's at least. We called the front desk to let them know something was wrong, and we're surprised to find out that there is no AC in the unit. The front desk person said they would send somebody over with fans, bags of ice and bottles of water. It was so stifling hot we were laying & sitting as still as possible trying not to make it worse. My husband went to the front desk to let them know that we couldn't possibly stay in the room with it being well over 94* in our room. The only terse suggestion Laura the manager gave us was to move us into a single room with two queen beds. This was not an option as we were two adult couples; which was why we had booked a suite with two separate bedrooms. We did everything we possibly could to cool off, putting ice in towels & wrapping it around our necks, having the fans directly on us, & putting cold, wet towels on our heads; it was absolutely stifling. Even with the fans and ice, etc. the coolest it got was between 86° and 87°. Even turning the light on was not an option as it immediately made it rise to 89° in the immediate fan area. I walked into the master bedroom to get a wet towel and noticed there were bugs all over the floor. I had noticed ants earlier in the day (which they did nothing about), but now there was a multitude of long creepy crawlies that looked something like earwigs all over the floor & bathtub. These conditions were absolutely uninhabitable with over 90° heat, unsanitary conditions, including spiderwebs all over the windows, dripping with live spiders from the lamp next to the bed, and the bathroom infested with ants and other bugs crawling up through the bathtub. I went to the front office and told Laura the manager she needed to come and see for herself, which she did. She looked me in the eye and said she was sorry, "you're right ". I asked her if the room had been sprayed for bugs to see if this was a preexsisting known problem when we booked, and she said "No". This is an absolute lie, as the room had obviously been sprayed for bugs, You could see them dying around some of the edges. I told her we wanted a full refund and we were leaving immediately. She said OK and she was going to talk to her manager/supervisor. We packed up within 10 minutes and were out of there.

I ended up with the bites on my face, scalp and neck.

What could've been a wonderful weekend Retreat turned into an arachnophobic's nightmare.

After we had left, the next day, we discovered They only refunded us for one night.

This is by far the worst customer service and hotel experience I have ever had. If I could give them five brown...

My daughter and I reserved a room at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort & Spa for a much needed time of rest and relaxation. My husband had passed away a few months prior and we wanted to go somewhere healing and nurturing. We planned the trip to arrive early, swim in the pool, get massages, eat in the restaurant and relax in our room. We arrived at 12:30pm and went to the front desk to let them know we had arrived. Our first disappointment was finding out the pool was closed for maintenance. After adjusting to that we went for a walk instead. They told us they would text us as soon as the room was ready. On our walk I got a call telling me my massage at 2:15pm was cancelled because the therapist was ill and they couldn't find a replacement. By now we were not only disappointed, but agitated. Two reasons we had come to Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort were not available to us. About 4pm we still hadn't received a text that the room was ready. We went to the front desk, waited in line to find that the room had been ready for awhile and no one sent us a text to let us know. We moved into the room to find that the toilet wouldn't flush. We called the front desk and they assured us they would send someone to fix it while we were at dinner. We went to the restaurant for dinner and opened the menu to find a completely different menu from what we had seen when making the reservation. Nothing was appealing to us and when I selected a draft beer they said the draft beer was broken. We went to our room and tried to make the most of our private tub. Got into our PJ's and found out the toilet still didn't flush. We went to sleep and both woke up early, eager to pack up and leave. The toilet was filling up which was another reason to get out. At the front desk they asked about our stay and we told them. The manager on duty was shrill, unsympathetic and shifted blame to everyone else. Instead of trying to do something to make up for our complete disappointment and horrible experience, she simply didn't charge for the "resort fee" which amount to practically nothing. Needless to say, I wouldn't recommend Sycamore Mineral Springs...