The Raphael Hotel, Autograph Collection — Hotel in Kansas City

The Raphael service was impeccable. From the valet through the bellman to the desk. All the staff encountered were well versed regarding the facility and nearby city area. The room was ready ahead of time (always desired!) and prepared for our arrival. Nothing was amiss regarding the room preparation. My wife and I were celebrating a short excursion to Kansas City and looking forward to a fine romantic dinner. The Raphael far exceeded our expectations in service, cuisine, and especially the atmosphere! We were met by the staff and very courteously escorted to our very private table. The booth was lighted exactly for a couple looking for a romantic setting. It was as if we had a private setting in the back, a shadowy area, of Rick's Cafe' Americain in Casablanca. You know the table, the one where you love to be at and can observe all those around you but in privacy. Yes, the Champagne cocktails were wonderful. Live Jazz played softly in the background. The menu possessed a plethora of excellent dining selections. My amazing wife (whom I adore) selected the Chilean Sea Bass, I the Prime rib, rare. Our selections were prepared with additional time and care. Her Sea Bass was presented with impeccable plating. Just the right serving size with a slight crust on top. Moist and yet very flaky. Perfect to her palate. It does not end there. The Bass was served on a perfect bed of whipped potatoes with three asparagus. The asparagus were exquisitely prepared with the perfect size and "crunch". Needless to say I was blessed from my wife, with many glances of pleasure, with eyes and a smile telling me all I needed to know. Thank you Raphael, and the Chaz restaurant!! My dish of Prime Rib was also perfectly plated. The steak wonderfully prepared, tender, and full of robust flavor. The whipped potatoes and the asparagus just flawless. I paired this meal with an Argentinian Malbec. A glass, inky dark in color. The tears wanted to cling and not let go of the glass. The nose was nicely robust with blackberry, plum, and a hint of wonderful leather. The palate absolutely did not leave you wanting! Direct, wonderfully complex, but not overpowering, a hint perhaps of chocolate. The finish just held on impeccably! Whether you are staying at the Raphael, or just looking for a romantic setting to pamper your partner, the Raphael and the Chaz are the place to go. We are already...

I booked a Guest room, King, Plaza View with the fine dining package. This was our first time visiting your hotel. The positive - Very impressed with the staff and the appearance of the hotel. The staff (hotel and Chaz) was very welcoming and friendly. The hotel and room were very clean and comfortable. Now the negative - I called and made my reservation - I also called and emailed with the staff a couple more times prior to check-in to make sure everything was ready to go. With the plaza view, I asked for and was told that we would be on one of the upper floors. When we checked in - we were given a room on the 5th floor. I was a little disappointed but realize that sometimes plans change. Unfortunately, when we got to the room - I asked my wife to look out the window and I saw the deflated look on her face - we were in a room on the back of the hotel overlooking the uncovered parking lot. Not a good first impression. I called the front desk - they had to investigate and ended up having to call me back. Upon the call back - they said that they took the liberty to upgrade me to a suite - I appreciated the thought – but why wasn’t I asked? Also, for one night with the two of us - I would rather have the plaza view. So, we got moved to room 701. Again, we were excited about the new room with the plaza view. Just for clarification, my frame of reference are the pictures on the website that show an example of a room with "plaza view". We got to room 701 and with anticipation looked out the window – just to be disappointed again! Expectation – pictures online of the plaza view. Reality – 80% of the view was the other side of the hotel – 20% was of the plaza parking deck. In order to see any real part of the plaza, I had to move the table and chairs out of in front of the window and stand with my head nearly touching the window to get any real view of the plaza. Unfortunately, the ‘wow factor’ – ‘this is awesome’ moment was lost! Our conversation was consumed with - this can’t be right – but we didn’t want to complain again or get moved again. Positive – shortly after the move to 701 the hotel staff brought a bottle of wine and a card to our room! Sometimes we willingly pay more money for an experience, simplicity, or quality. I thought this package would be all three. Unfortunately, when we left the hotel – we both said – that was nice but not...

The stay at The Raphael Hotel Autograph Collections would have been perfect except for one issue that kept me from marking a 10 to only giving an excellent to giving a fair mark. This was an Anniversary and the hotel was beautiful, clean, courteous and very friendly staff as well as excellent service. Now for the one thing that messed the stay up. My wife and I were there for an Anniversary that marked the day we met. While enjoying our Premiere Suite we were in the jacuzzi sharing wonderful memories together. We had the bubbles going and music playing. Just her and I. No children, or distractions.everything going just like the day we met. It couldn't go wrong. My wife asked me to hold as she was going to open the door and head to the bedroom to slip into something more comfortable and as she was just closing the bedroom door I was closing the bathroom/jacuzzi door. Before I had a chance to close it maintenance and another person, I'm guessing a part of staff opened our door and just came in. Luckily we had just closed our doors and we weren't exposing our naked bodies to them. I grabbed a towel and wanted to know what this was all about. They wanted to know if the room had water all over. That the room below had water dripping down there. So they head in to the room with jacuzzi just to find barely if any water at all on floor. We never heard anything back from them or how much water leaked. Not a word. In fact we didn't hear anything at all. So basically the only thing that did was put a damper on the rest of the evening. What was turning into one of the best stays anywhere we have been turned into one of the worst. If it was just me I wouldn't get into detail and maybe not even be writing this review. Fact of the matter is it wasnt and I am still hearing how I messed up our anniversary to this day. Yes she blames me. When in all reality it wasn't. It was a Hotel issue.

Thank...