Hotel Bardo Savannah — Hotel in Savannah

I’m reading this hotel of five because I’ve wanted to stay there since they open last year and it’s been a dream of mine to go there!

The biggest downside which was the amenity I was looking forward to is the pool being unfortunately, closed our entire four day stay there. The day before we left, I got 12 text messages automated from the hotel in a row saying the pool would be closed only two days. Which we were not happy about because we were leaving the next morning driving from Florida, but we were trying to think of the best of it because it was only going be two out of our four day stay.

When we got there, the front desk was very nice. I said I am an Expedia gold member like I usually do when we check in so there should be a room upgrade and some sort of a credit which they said they did upgrade the room and we got a $50 hotel credit. I expressed my dismay about the pool being closed to out of the four days only finding out less than 24 hours before we were leaving so they upgraded the credit from $50-$100.

The room was stunning to say the least! It’s everything I saw online and more. We had a cute pool view oddly enough, but the decor and everything and also the welcome into the hotel was very nice. I forgot the front desk lady’s name who greeted us. I want to say it was Christine but she was very nice. She was blonde. I believe she had glasses and she confirmed where we were parked was safe from the street sweepers. Because I expressed we really did not want to pay $55 a day for valet because we weren’t planning on using the car at all.

Our first night we had reservations and dining at Saint Bibiana. Our waiter Tristan was amazing. Everything he recommended was 10 out of 10 and we had a fabulous meal and everything was savory and worth it. He went above and beyond!

I wanted to use the $100 credit for the meal. There was a quick mixup with the check. They refunded my card and then put it on the room because that’s how we were explaining the credit worked, but we had to go to the front desk to make that happen but the lady at the front desk who I believe was the night manager she had dark hair, made it really simple and said she would take care of it and she did.

I signed up for Yoga and Pilates each day we were there. Liv was a teacher and she was again 10 out of 10 amazing it was such a wonderful class! I love that they’re complementary as well! Only issue I had was the location. It was in a ballroom instead of this large kind of glass facility that they have on the property by the pool where it was pictured at, but it was in a ballroom and it was just not a vibe for yoga.

I signed up for Pilates on our last morning and the class was canceled. I was just kind of bummed about the location of the yoga class and what was pitched online. But again the teacher was 10 out of 10! For whatever the reason the move was for she did an amazing job.

The breakfast in the morning was nice. I wish their menu was a little bit bigger for what you could order. I ordered a breakfast sandwich. It was $12 and it seemed pretty simple.

Also, my suggestion is to have more offerings earlier in the week because we stayed Sunday through Wednesday, so we were going to miss their game night, cocktail class, and we missed the pink room being open.

This hotel has so much and it is the reason I booked this hotel. I just really wish I could’ve experienced all the hotel had to offer.

Highlight of our trip was Franklin if you stay at this hotel get with Franklin. It was so easy to contact him for drop off and pick up when we needed the hotel put us in touch with him when we needed to go somewhere and he was amazing. He was easily responsive on text on phone call and he took us out in the hotel moke for a tour. This guy made it happen. Everyone who we were in the car with praised him. I told the front desk about him. He was the highlight of this trip. He knows everything about the area. He is fast to the point and he’s so personable and every recommendation he gave us was amazing. Franklin is the VIP by far!

Green...

We stayed at Hotel Bardo last week to visit with my in-laws to celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary. Hotel Bardo did not acknowledge the anniversary after being told upon booking and checking in, very disappointing!

Hope others have a better experience because the hotel is very nice aesthetically and very modern. The location is great. It is located across from Forsythe Park. We enjoyed the pool and the outdoor atrium for morning coffee and pastries. Also the close access to the park is great to have morning walks and grab a specialty coffee at the restaurant.

Now the bad (reason for two stars): I booked two junior suites for me and my husband in one suite and my in-laws in the other suite. The rooms are advertised on the booking hotel website as having a balcony or terrace to sit out and enjoy morning coffee with a couch and eat in area. The total for a 4 nigh stay was $2215 each room with a $697 deposit due at booking. Unfortunately, my father-in law fell ill and had to have my nephew drive him from Jackson, MS to Hotel Bardo. I called three days prior to arrival requesting a change in one of the suites to a two bedroom suite. Jeanne was very helpful with making the switch. She was very understanding and professional. I asked her if there was a difference in price and she said "no". We DID NOT request a change to both rooms just one. We arrived on site checked in and given our room keys, again no mention of the anniversary. After a day we noticed we were given the incorrect room for me and my husband and my in-laws were placed in a room with two beds as requested; neither room was a suite that was described on the website and in my confirmation email. The room with two beds was supposed to be a suite according to the front desk hence no price difference.

I discussed this discrepancy in the rooms with the front desk manager Matthew T's. He first wanted to give us a suite on our next visited but we opted to be compensated for the difference in the price of the room we booked versus the actual room we stayed in. Matthew requested I send him the confirmation email with the room we booked. He admitted we were not in the room we paid for and promised an adjustment to the price. Well it has been 5 days and my card was charged for the full price of two junior suites with no response to my emails or phone calls. Very unprofessional in my opinion. At least a call or email with an update of the adjustment would be a show of good customer service.

Then to add insult to injury there is a scratch on my white truck side mirror that we noticed after leaving Hotel Bardo and stopping for gas on Sunday morning. The only parking from my understanding is valet. The Valets are young adults with great manners and provide great customer service but nobody even mentioned the scratch. We were shocked by the scratch on our truck. At that point I decided not to visit this property again. My husband begged me to stay at Perry Lane (very nice) while in Savannah. We stayed at Perry Lane for my birthday back in November and we were treated very special for my birthday. The management team and staff sent a bottle of Malbec and macaroons to our room to celebrate my birthday without any reminder. They also give complimentary rose' wine and water for all guest. Hotel Bardo did nothing for my in-laws' anniversary.

All this to say American Express advised me to file a dispute if we did not receive an adjust for the room we received vs the room charged on my credit card within 10 business days of the charge.

Luckily we took pictures of the rooms for Amex to start the dispute process. This is too much to deal with while trying to vacation after a long (with traffic) drive from MD and getting so much needed time away from work. Needless to say we will never stay at Hotel Bardo again.

Food for thought- I recommend checking your room upon checking in to make sure it is what you paid for and to check your vehicle each time the valet drives it...

We stayed in Bardo Savannah with my partner for three nights over New Years Eve. Let me start with what we have enjoyed: the location is great, next to the park and few small shops around it, some street parking opportunities. Hotel is freshly renovated, and colour schemes are very pleasing to look at, even if the overall vibe is somewhat nouveau riche. Also, hotel gym has two small rooms and good collection of equipment for a hotel gym. Pool is also new and pleasant, though I enjoyed it because I was the only swimming in December. I can imagine it gets crowded.

These points are where good things I can tell about bardo end.

Upon closer look, furniture in the room is not the highest quality. But the real problem is, that cleaning service is very poor. Our floor was never vacuumed in three days, and it was sand all around after our trip to the beach last day. Sometimes, water would be forgotten. Why would we not ask the receptionist? The reception was another big issue with this hotel. The attitude was like they are constantly in hurry, trying to get rid of you and your concerns asap, unfriendly and never ever we got an apology or so for their shortcomings. Communication bordered rudeness, and I didn’t have a feeling anyone was really interested to help me with my concerns. I spoke to reception twice: first, I booked a fitness class which is proudly advertised like a part of your experience with Bardo, and the same day I got a message that my registration for class was cancelled. I had to speak to reception staff three times to clarifying the reason and confirm that class doesn’t take place; only to hear when I showed up third time that there were some „personal circumstances“ which didn’t sound convincing to be honest. And if so, why not notify me of that after me inquiring for the first time? Second issue was getting an additional blanket. We just literally got a blanket without cover delivered in our room, and after three times speaking to staff, the situation didn’t get better. So we just accepted our failure with communication and did bed ourselves - nothing bad about that, but for 440$+ night I expect more attention to my concerns, especially considering services. After this experienced lack of hospitality, we decided to abstain from booking spa, so can’t comment on that.

Fitness room had broken water machine, however, there were some bottled water to substitute.

Walls are thin and one night I was able to hear my neighbour snoring so loud as if they were in my room.

Another major no go was breakfast. It was only few frozen baked pastries, coffee and tea, and some fruit. All else one is expected to order and pay additionally 15$+. I understand the concern for food waste with buffet breakfast, but honestly, having been to some many hotels which place themselves in this category, one may expect buffet or made to order breakfast complimentary. My impression is that Bardo is led here not by environmental-friendly considerations, but by cheapness. The breakfast is hosted by two people, who seem completely overwhelmed, and for a good reason, and exhausted. It is hosted in what is the lobby bar in the evening with very limited seat capacity at normal tables, so most people trying to get their not complimentary breakfast sandwiches from coffeetables, which is a poor sight for a hotel with claims as high as Bardo‘s.

Overall, if service can’t keep up, other things will not matter - and this is my impression of Bardo. It is memorable only with regard to failed expectations. And, of course, not even a small surprise from the hotel for New Year Eve, but well, maybe we are too European to expect this type of hospitality with attention to details...