Ryde — Hotel in Rio Vista

This lovely art deco hotel has fallen on hard times. ||||Twenty-five years ago, my husband and I had our wedding reception here. At that time, it was a charming, well-maintained, historic hotel with a bar and restaurant that kept regular hours. ||||We decided to celebrate our anniversary with a trip back to the Ryde. We were sad to learn that the restaurant is only open for Sunday brunch these days, but figured we could visit some of our other favorite area restaurants during our stay.||||Brunch had already wrapped up when we arrived shortly after 3 p.m. last Sunday. There were a few folks relaxing on the patio outside the hotel, nursing their cocktails and chatting. An abandoned beer bottle sat on an empty outdoor table.||||I walked into the lobby, which reeked of stale marijuana smoke. No one was at the registration desk, though there were signs of life -- a glass of orange juice and a partially eaten salad on the front desk near the phone and computer. ||||A sign said "ring bell for service." I did. No one came. I rang and called "hello" and rang again. Still, no one came. A sign provided an after-hours number with a 480 area code. I dialed the number and it went to voice mail. A message said the voice mail box was full. ||||I went out our car and told my husband that I couldn't find anyone, but that I was certain someone would eventually arrive. We lugged our bags out of the car, and I flagged down a woman who was walking purposefully towards the lobby. She said that she didn't work there, but that she was planning to talk to Tina -- who does work there. At that time, a couple walked out of the hotel. They said that Tina had been showing them around the property, but she was back at the desk now.||||Tina was polite when she checked us in and gave us our key to room 212 -- one of the two bridal suites in the hotel. I mentioned that her voice mail was full, and she made a point of clearing it immediately after I checked in.||||My husband asked what time the front door to the hotel would be locked, because we were planning to go to dinner that night, and we didn't want to get locked out. Tina said that it was always unlocked, which didn't make us feel particularly secure, but at least we knew we'd be able to get back to our room after dinner.||||Tina flipped a light switch next to her desk -- turning on the 2nd floor lights -- and we took our bags upstairs. That was the last time we saw Tina (or any other member of the hotel management staff) for the duration of our two-night stay.||||The second floor hallway also smelled of marijuana smoke. We reached the door to room 212, which was marked as room 12. Someone had peeled the first number off the door. The door lock was flimsy and when I turned the key, I wasn't sure if it had ever been locked at all. ||||The interior of the room was spacious, with a comfortable queen bed, stained carpeting and a somewhat-grungy love seat. The room has a small closet and dresser with a fine layer of dust on it. Two nightstands, one with a functioning lamp and one with a lamp that didn't work. There were two ceiling fans, and two radiators, but no thermostat for climate control. No TV, but then we didn't really expect or want one.||||They evidently offer wi-fi to guests, but we weren't given a password, and there was no one we could ask.||||The bedroom had three windows with nice views of the river and some established palm trees on the property which were in dire need of trimming. The exterior window glass was dirty. The blinds weren't fully functional, but we were able to close them almost all the way at night. ||||The bathroom was large, with a big whirlpool tub and a separate shower. ||||The room was nice and quiet, except for the road noise from Highway 160. We had ample hot water for bathing. It appeared that we were the only guests in the hotel during our two night stay. This was kind of cool, but also a little unsettling, because for most of our stay we were also the only people in the hotel.||||The bathroom was equipped with two bath towels, two hand towels, a single washcloth and no bath mat. There was complimentary shampoo, conditioner and bar soap, but no hand cream. ||||The water that came from the bathtub faucet smelled strongly of iron, although it was not discolored. The bed linens were clean, but at least one white pillowcase was stained as though it it had been washed with red-dyed articles. ||||We left our room at 5:30 on Monday morning to go fishing, and saw no one else on the property. When we returned around 3:00 p.m., there was still no one around and we discovered that there was also no maid service. Frankly, at this point, we hadn't expected any. ||||We went to dinner that night, and when we returned around 8:15 p.m., the front door was locked. Our room key didn't work in it. There was a woman cleaning the patio with a water hose, so we asked her if she could let us in. She didn't have key either. She called the after-hours number on her phone and handed it to me. I spoke with Tina, who assured me that someone named Patricia would come by and let us in. No information as to when that might happen. There was a strong wind blowing and it was cold out, so we were anxious to get inside. ||||A man approached us from the house next door. He seemed to know the woman who was cleaning the property. He tried the front door to no avail, verifying our claim for himself. At that point, the woman who'd been hosing down the property had found her way into the building, and was opening the front door for us. We thanked her and went upstairs. Halfway down the hallway, someone turned the second floor lights for us.||||The wind roared all night, spraying debris from the palm trees against our windows. ||||We "checked out" Tuesday morning about 9:15. The registration desk was closed. There was a sign saying that guests checking out early could place their keys in the basket. There was no basket. I tossed our key onto the front desk and we departed. ||||There are five or six resident pea fowl that hang out on the patio. They were on hand to bid us adieu -- the only living things around -- as we left. The beer bottle was still on the patio table.||||This is a lovely, old property with a rich history, and it is a shame to see that it's fallen into disrepair. The exterior stucco has some holes in it, and although there are some places where it's been patched, the patching hasn't been re-painted. In the back, a project to install decorative colonnades -- perhaps in service to the hotel's primary use as a wedding venue -- has stalled. ||||It's our hope that someone will take over this property and make the necessary investment to restore it to its former glory. In the meantime, it is a comfortable but lonely way station. Not the most secure or convenient place to stay when you are the...

the room was not as advertised. we ordered a "sunset suite" which is to come with a private bath and sitting area. we were placed in room 216, which, at first glance, seemed to be part of a two-room shared bathroom setup. The single room is TINY for two people and luggage. Our room connected via bathroom to 216A which appeared to us to be another complete hotel room. It was set up exactly the same as 216: a small Queen bed(most likely a double or "full" size bed), a sink with mirror, and a chair. Upon further inspection of the floor plan and trying our key in the other door we assumed that both rooms were ours. the bed we slept in was extremely uncomfortable, the blankets have holes in them, the pillowcases were stained(so were the bath towels), and a bed frame out of the 1940's. the sink that was tucked away in a cut out of the room was above carpeted floor which was wet, had a drape cover half the opening which made it annoying to use, and a 10x10" mirror. the shower took 3-4 minutes to heat up, we were not given a washcloth, 216's door had a broken towel bar, the water pressure was terrible. to remedy the washcloth issue I went searching one of the many open rooms and came across what I assumed to be room 212(the first two was missing and just read "12"), there I found what the website had advertised to be a "sunset suite". A queen bed, albeit still small queen bed, but it had the bench pictured for the sunset suite, and two chairs set up with a table to complete an ACTUAL seating area that we were supposed to have, and a PRIVATE BATH, with no adjoining doors to other rooms, so I found a washcloth in there and took it. The staff seems to be a total of 1 person, whom is extremely difficult to reach and doesn't answer the "after hours" number and the mail box is full so you cant leave a message(the mailbox is likely full of complaint calls). We had arrived during check in hours to find no one at the front desk, and attempted to call the after hours line with no effect, and called the number on Google which made the front desk phone ring which prompted a lady(who I assume is Tina, as that is the name on the after hours number) to appear and check us in. after checking in, and going about our business and in the evening attending our nearby event, we returned to the hotel at 11ish PM to find that the hallway to our room was completely un-illuminated, and pitch black. If you love the smell of the Delta you're in luck! this place and everything in it, reeks of the delta. You will need the two-to-three fans they provide to keep the heat at bay. there is no service phone to call the front desk, even a no-tell-motel can offer a mini-fridge. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone except my very worst enemy. and even then, I'd probably feel bad about it.

Pros - smell of bacon in the morning. Also if a storm had come thru I assume I would have been protected by the four walls and ceiling provided. We only spent one night

0/10 this place needs HELP or...

Many years ago my husband and I came to the Ryde Hotel for Sunday brunch on a hot summer morning. The charm of the hotel lured us, brunch sounded lovely in an art deco dining room, we were hungry. Upon entry, we were told the electricity/AC had gone out, but we decided to stay. Most of the buffet items were gone and not replaced, the hot food was cold/the cold food was hot, but the champagne was flowing and what we did have to eat was pretty good and we left in good spirits vowing to return on a better day and give them a second chance. We even pardoned the well-worn furnishings and sagging foundation and structural problems on the way to the parking lot. So, fast forward to yesterday, and our second try at Sunday brunch for which we were so looking forward to as it was my husbands birthday. We had made reservations through the phone number given on the website for 10:00 am. Strangely it was an answering machine taking reservations, no one answered. That should have been a portent of things to come. So, we got dressed up, drove the 30 miles from Sacramento through the delta, got there early, parked and walked up the concrete stairs to the front door. Mind you, the sagging foundation had been patched since our last visit and the stucco repair was fractured more, never fixed. We enter the reception area and see an office area with bars over the desk, two attendants talking amongst themselves, and no greeting. We walked around the downstairs to bide our time and meet more eager diners as 10 am drew near. After awhile we tried to make eye contact with the folks in the imprisoned office, but they were not interested in their guests and skittered off into some recess behind the desk to avoid us. It's now 10:10 and no staff to be found, dining room is dark and locked. Finally, my husband calls out to an image walking in the dark background who seems to be a cook and informs us that they are having problems in the kitchen and that brunch is cancelled, but we could be given some sort of easy egg breakfast in the back if we were hungry. But the kitchen is down where you cook eggs? Things happen, we get it, but a second time on a second visit? Would have been even more understanding had staff showed some sort of customer service and let us known what was up in an apologetic voice. Maybe even a handwritten sign on the door. We had really looked forward to this experience and had invested some time and effort. Clearly this business is surviving on the laurels of a past and not a future as the hotel seems to go from owner to new owner with deferred maintenance and poor management. This poor, sweet charming spot needs so much work after being run into a hole. A sickening shame! Very disappointing. Considering the visible structural conditions of the building and reading the reviews after we left, maybe leaving when we did saved our lives!!! The Ryde Hotel ghost gets five stars/the current owners get a fat...