Le Pavillon, New Orleans, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel — Hotel in New Orleans

Yikes! Stayed here with my dad to celebrate a recent promotion. Our stay was "okay" until I had someone hang up the phone on me.

The first issue was the room. It was beautiful aside from the fact that the bed was not "made" so much as thrown over the mattresses. My father then went to use the bathroom and the door handle came off in his hand. The toilet also didn't flush, bathroom fan didn't work, and there was a mysterious puddle of water on the floor. After calling down the front desk agent (on May 11th) was courteous and prompt. She sent up an engineer to take a look at the issues. He couldn't figure out where the water had come from, but fixed the toilet and door handle. We also pointed out that some of the lights in the room were broken, to which he essentially responded, "yep." Before leaving he told us that the hotel had recently underwent renovations and that the contractors had done a poor job. By that evening the toilet was barely flushing yet again.

My dad was really excited that the hotel offered PB&J sandwiches and milk between 4 and 5pm, so we went down to check it out. It wouldn't have normally been something I would be looking for, but I thought it was a nice touch. As we approached the dispenser of milk, I could see that it looked slightly gelatinous.

My dad and I each took a tiny sandwich and dixie cup of "milk". He was first to take a swig. He said it was spoiled and threw it out. I thought he might be exaggerating, so I took a bite of the sandwich and a swig of the milk. Even though the bread was stale, l immediately had to take another bite to cover the rancid taste of the milk. Must've been going bad, so they thought they'd get rid of it quickly this way.

Upon checkout, I was told I would need to pay a $20 a day "preservation fee". I settled the bill and left. I thought it was odd as that was not what was indicated when I booked the room. The booking says that the price is inclusive of taxes and fees, excluding the resort fee. Roughly an hour ago I called to address this discrepancy. I wanted to address it with the hotel first before writing a review. I was also hopeful I would get this amount credited back to me. The agent at the front desk did not provide his name when answering the phone, but said they do not charge a resort fee, but do charge a "preservation fee". I continue to point out that the price listed was inclusive of any fees and taxes aside from the resort fee. The bill I was given, also shows my card was debited for taxes as well. I was able to deduce, by the end of the conversation, that based on the total amount the "preservation fee" was in fact listed as a "resort fee" online in error. I stated something to the effect of "Okay, that makes sense" to which I was left with the sound of the phone, slamming down and disconnecting.

During my stay, the biggest highlight was the staff. Particularly the valet staff. They were exceptionally friendly and accommodating. Due to the nature of my work, I stay at least 100 nights a year at hotels around the world. The staff during my stay were some of the best l've encountered. Unfortunately, this last interaction over the phone cemented my decision not to return...

BEWARE OF HIDDEN FEES! Upon checkout they charge a $15 per day "preservation fee". They take this fee out of the security deposit you must give at check-in. We were not told of this fee on our booking confirmation or during check in.

Other fees for this hotel include: $57 per day for overnight parking in an uncovered parking lot. $20 per person per day if you decide to have breakfast at the hotel (the breakfast was very bare bones for a "luxury" hotel).

We were really excited to stay at this historic "luxury" hotel but we're quickly disappointed with our four night stay. Really wanted to give the hotel a chance but the events that unfolded led to this one star review.

The first night in the room we were given, the toilet did not work and had what looked like mold around the edges. The room was not very clean as well. We asked for a new room and the hotel accommodated us no problem.

The new room was much cleaner, we were happier. We had to request for towels every day, since housekeeping continually forgot to give bath towels. Additionally, the shower a little slow to drain but that wasn't a big deal until our fourth night when the shower almost overflowed because the drain was not working. We waited 45 MINUTES on the hotel phone to be connected with the front desk. Eventually we went down to ask if someone could come fix our shower so we could continue getting ready for dinner. They sent up a hotel engineer who came in with a machine to unclog the drain. Eventually the fix was taking so long we ended up having to leave to make our dinner reservation. We spent three hours at dinner, came back and the issue was even worse than before. Black liquid was coming up from the drain (photo attached). So once again we requested a new room. We were upgraded to a premium suite and given a complimentary breakfast. The premium suite was very nice although the sink was slow to drain and the toilet lever kept getting stuck causing the toilet bowl to not fill properly (go figure) but at that point we looked past it and just wanted to get out of the hotel the next day. The staff are not rude but they are extremely nonchalant. They do not greet guests or open doors for guests as they come in and out of the hotel. Instead the bellmen and women just stand at the door talking to each other. Front desk receptionist are not very welcoming. We were never helped with our bags upon arrival or leaving.

What brought this review to a one star was the hidden fees, poor plumbing, and subpar customer service. This hotel is marketed as a luxury hotel, which is why we chose it over much cheaper hotels in the same area. For the prices that they charge, we expected a much better customer experience. In summary, I would say Le Pavillon is an overpriced, well decorated Holiday Inn. We would have been much better off at the Marriott...

The location is unbeatable. The hotel is beautiful because of the truly impressive classic decor. The rooms are fine but the baths are quite small and need some renovations (the shower in our room leaks).

Unfortunately things have started to go south very quickly. First, the pool is closed which was disappointing because it is one of the reasons why we chose the hotel. Secondly, one of the two elevators is not working and looks like a recurrent problem as mentioned in other opinions.

Finally, and the most disappointing thing has been how they treated us as guests. We brought our beloved dachshund with us. He is a very travelled dog that has lived in 3 countries, 4 apartments and stayed in a lot hotel rooms with us. We have never had a complaint.

That being said, we received a call from the hotel front desk that Coco was barking and asking us to be back with him or taking him out. Obviously, as responsible dog owners, we take this very seriously so we ran back to the hotel to do so.

When we arrived, the cleaning lady doing our floor was close to our room so we apologized to her, thinking it might have disturbed her. Our surprise came when she said she hadn’t even noticed there was a dog.

We found the dog terrified under the desk table. We checked Coco’s camera and realized that at the time the hotel called us, someone walked by our door.

We went to the front desk and ask if they could explain what happened. Apparently, guests next door checked in and complained because of a bark. The bark that happened when they walked and made noise. So we asked the front desk if they knew Coco’s bark was something recurring or had just happened that time. They didn’t know, because their policy is when someone complains because of noise, they call. They even told us we could complain about children’s screams and they would call them because that’s the policy! Complaint-call, without even digging into the issue.

Obviously we are not complaining because we understand we our staying at a hotel with other guests and not in a 35-acres ranch in Texas all by ourselves. There will be noises! The doors are extremely noisy!

We asked them to moved us to another room, or move them. Front desk told us our floor is pet’s floor but that they don’t disclose that to the guests complaining because “they don’t have to”. They just decided to disturb us in our vacation apparently.

At this point I don’t understand anything about this policy or management. I said thank you to the front desk, and I am about to get in a bath in the leaking shower while listening to my neighbors’ noises.

A pretty look will never beat great...