The Don CeSar — Hotel in Saint Pete Beach

If a new station sees this - feel free to reach out! As a 2nd time visitor to this hotel - it will be my last. I am single mom traveling with my disabled teen daughter stayed 4 days and 3 nights. Due to construction still going on, I learned self parking was not available as that lot is an active construction zone and the entrance is blocked off. Only valet parking is available. We valeted our car several times the 1st day with no issues but on day 2 of our trip, a valet attendant named Spencer began targeting my disabled daughter and myself. When Spencer retrieved my car on day 2, he WILLINGLY accepted my tip then processed to randomly tell me I could self park going forward. Confused - I questioned how I would do that with the entrance blocked off. Spencer said to go through the exit, and if anything issues tell them he said I could.” Weird. We did get back to the hotel late that night from dinner, I wasn’t sure if the valet hours being 24/7 after such contradiction info and thought maybe that info was give if they closed early or at dark. As Spencer said, I entered the self parking lot. I was met by different valet attendant who told me I wasn’t allowed to park in there and it was off limits to guests. He also said they wouldn’t be able to get my car out with the construction crews. I retuned to the valet and let them parked my car with no issues (and no sign of Spencer). Day 3 - valet retrieves our car around 1pm and no issues. Returned to the hotel later that afternoon, a different valet took my keys, he raised no issues. As we were entering the hotel, there stood Spencer holding the door for other guests and spencer says to me “I TOLD you to self park”. As a hotel guest, I have never in my life had someone try to assert their dominance with me over self parking when it’s their job to valet. I informed Spencer self parking was closed. Spencer then mumbled “you’re car is so disgusting none of my guys want to park it”. I asked him what did he just say and he said it again even louder while continuing to hold the door for other guests that were coming in and out. I immediately let the front desk know and told the valet I gave my keys to - hold on with valetting my car. My daughter and I both felt extremely threatened and unsafe by this behavior. Spencer continued to utilized aggressive bullying tactics in an attempt publicly humiliate us (paying guests of the hotel) in-front of OTHER guests at the front entrance of the hotel even after the front desk tried to intervene. Spencer, the front desk clerk and the valet that had my keys proceeded to ALL go outside to look INSIDE my car to take a group opinion poll on whether it was clean infront of everyone. The front desk clerk was trying to be helpful but couldn’t do much - she asked me what I wanted to do and I told her at that point I wanted to leave and go home. She wasn’t going to be able to refund me for my stay. That is when the front desk clerk offered to wave the DAILY VALET FEE I didn’t even know I was paying for! I told her I had no clue I was playing that. The Don Cesar that in my stay AND had been tipping. As we were trying to talk, Spencer continued to unsolicited insert himself in this situation, invading my personal space to the point I had to loudly tell him to get away from me and my daughter because I felt extremely threatened and unsafe by house close he was standing to me. The front desk lady talked me into letting the other valet attendant valet my car while we tried to resolve. HOWEVER - the valet proceeded to grab a beach towel and place it in the front seat of my car. I have no idea why we were targeted by this man and denied valet services we were paying for to intentionally lure two females into a publicly closed and off limits parking lot. He has single handled traumatized my child who’s disabled is covered by the ADA he was denying services to. As a child with a disability she wants to know why services were denied to us when that’s Spencer’s job. She also cried all night and couldn’t fall asleep until 1:30am because she didn’t feel safe and was terrified since being randomly targeted and scared the valet would continue to target us by doing something to our car preventing us from getting home in the morning. Fearful for my safety I also didn’t sleep that night knowing the valet knew our room number after delivering our luggage the first night. I tried very hard to resolve this with the hotel front desk manager the following morning. I paid for a night I couldn’t even sleep due to a hostile environment created by staff, my child was traumatized and even though we’re were checking out that day we planned previously on going to the beach for a while. Our entire vacation was truly ruined. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my personal belonging with a valet service that talks badly of us when we walk away after checkout. The hotel enables this belittling behavior of their guest by not stopping it and telling guests valet is 3rd party vendor so they can’t do anything even though the valet fee is being paid for directly to the hotel for the service. As a guest I do not care how they hire their employees as long as they have more human decency than Spencer. Hiring is an in-house problem a hotel manager should handle afterrrrr resolving the guests concerns! Not a fall back excuse. I tried calling Andrew (front desk manager) as we were leaving because despite being told security was watching my car overnight when I got my vehicle back the over head lights in the front seat were both on and my center console open. He will not return my calls. Barbara - I reached out to you via linked in and haven’t heard anything either. We also were charged $300 extra to stay in an ADA room - I asked to be refunded this as it is illegal in Florida to charge a disabled person for that and was denied. I was told that wasn’t an ADA room in their system even though it has a doorbell with a note saying for hearing impaired. Barbara - I reached out to you via linked in and haven’t heard anything either still. I would like a full refund at this point considering we weren’t even safe enough to sleep or leave our car at the hotel without it being gone...

First let me say that my company had our Award trips at the Don for many years back in the 80's. In those days I was not a high ranking employee so I always had a substandard room tiny with the oldest furniture and fixtures in the place. The nostalgia of the property motivated us to book our 47th Anniversary trip to the Don for 4 nights and 5 days. We booked a Junior Suite to make sure we wouldn't relive the tiny room memories. The room itself was wonderful, large with a large bathroom and double sinks, what I was not prepared for was the perfect view of the overpriced self parking lot for $400 dollars per night.

Unfortunately we did relive the experience of being told our room wasn't ready at 3:00 pm and they would call us or text us when if was available. An hour later we went back to the front desk and were greeted by an apology that the front desk attendant had forgotten to text us the room was ready. When we entered the beautiful room we immediately saw that our view was the parking lot. We called down to the front desk and asked why we did not get a Gulf view which I was sure I had booked. I was told there was not Gulf view suites available but they could put us in a gulf view regular hotel room. Needless to say we opted to stay in the suite without a view! We live in a High rise Condo overlooking the water so we were very disappointed to have to settle on a parking lot view for the cost of pampering ourselves for the week. Tip to avoid our mistake: ( when making reservation note that if it doesn't say Gulf view you will be looking at a Parking lot, also take a good look at the pictures of the room you are booking if there is no pictures of the bathroom beware you will be staying in a room with a closet for a bathroom.)

We found that everything on this property is overpriced and nothing comes with the service you would expect from a 5 star resort. 6 oz glass of wine is $15.00 can of domestic beer $7.50. 74.00 for a shrimp cocktail 5 pieces, a cesare salad with no dressing on it and a slice of cheese cake. (no I didn't order the salad with no dressing they just forgot to put it on!)

Poolside $57.00 for 1 wine 1 beer and one Quesadilla it only took an hour after we ordered to get our drinks and 15 minutes later the food came. Then when it was time for the waitress to leave she was right there waiting for me to sign the bill so she could get her tip before leaving. Pool side notes not one of the tired umbrellas around the North pool had a pin to hold it up, the furniture is tired and the tile around the pool had a layer of scum on it for each of the 4 days we spent there. The beach attendants are great in setting up your umbrella and 3 chairs but they all will walk over and by any garbage left of the beach under the chairs or tables rather than picking it up.

The Society table restaurant is priced as if it is a high end restaurant but falls pitifully short when it comes to service. Our waiter took probably 10 minutes to recognize our presence and when water or a refill of a glass of wine was needed he was no where to be found and forget about getting a refill for our after dinner coffee. After delivering the bill again he was no where to be found and there was no acknowledgement of our departure after spending $284.00 The food was good but not noteworthy.

Parking is outrageously priced at $28.00 per night plus tax, plus resort fee tax. Resort fee is $40 per night plus tax plus resort tax. I can understand based on their location and the size of the lot not wanting to make it attractive for non hotel guests but it would seem that at a price of $400 -$2000 per night they could give a break to the guests or restaurant patrons. The Valet parking is $38.00 per night just for information. I thought were were suppose to get a resort credit of $50 but that did not show up on our Folio.

The only thing thats luxury about this place is the price tag. The beach itself is a beautiful white sand beach with warm water and little turbulence. Unfortunately we...

I wanted to share my recent experience at this highly-rated hotel, especially since it was meant to be a special occasion. Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of the issues we encountered:

Parking Situation: The hotel’s parking arrangement is problematic. There is very limited parking space available, and guests are advised to "drive around and wait for someone to leave." Even if you’re granted access to the parking area, there’s no guarantee of a spot. This can be particularly frustrating if you arrive during busy times.

Valet Service Policy: We encountered an issue with valet service. The parking attendant refused to assist us with valet parking, stating that "one vehicle per room" was the policy. Since we were staying in the penthouse with 7 guests and had registered three cars, this was a significant inconvenience. To resolve this, you would need to contact the front desk in advance to request an exception. Unfortunately, we were already parked by the time the exception could be arranged, and we had to carry our luggage up to the entrance since the attendant wouldn’t allow us to unload. This was both inconvenient and exhausting.

Billing Discrepancies: We agreed on a flat rate for an additional night in the penthouse. However, upon checking out, we discovered that the bill was considerably higher than the agreed-upon rate. The price on the signed form did not match what was discussed verbally. It’s crucial to carefully review any agreements and confirm the pricing in writing to avoid unexpected charges. Typically, we do this. In this circumstance, we had faith that the Don Cesar would put the price in the agreement as stated. We would not recommend trusting them to not alter before signing, so please be careful.

Spa Scheduling Issues: There was a mix-up with our spa appointments. Two of our friends, who are not a couple, were mistakenly scheduled for a couple's massage. Despite assurances from the staff that they would be able to use separate showers and changing areas, this promise was not honored. They were not provided with separate facilities or tubs for their treatments, which was a significant letdown and quite honestly uncomfortable.

Inaccurate Treatment Pricing: The pricing for spa treatments was not consistent with the rates listed on the hotel’s website. The spa refused to honor the website’s rates, claiming that the posted prices were outdated and that we would need to pay the new rates, which were not yet published. The manager offered a 10% discount, but it was still less than the advertised price, which was frustrating and disappointing, especially because the forced couple's package was subpar. The massages were great, but the entire experience was lacking greatly.

Lost Items: After checking out, we left an expensive bag with the front desk to pick up later when returning from the spa. Unfortunately, the bag was lost, and it took 45 minutes for the staff to locate it. This added unnecessary stress to our stay.

Overall, while this hotel has a strong reputation, my experience was marred by several issues, particularly during a special celebration like a 40th birthday. If you decide to stay here, be prepared to carefully manage and confirm all aspects of your stay to avoid similar frustrations.

Edited 8-23: Response to Barbara

Quite frankly, I won't return. I won't risk another hard-earned vacation based on the customer service in person.

However, the birthday girl and room name it was under may reconsider. She goes there several times a year, and this hotel was chosen because it was her favorite. She was devastated to have been treated in such a way and the dismissal by the staff.

If you truly mean what you say, I would recommend reaching out to the family, since it was her 40th birthday and any apologies should be directly issued to her for the experience...