The Alida, Savannah, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel — Hotel in Savannah

Recently got back from a less than stellar stay at The Alida over Labor Day Weekend. Selected it based on good reviews even though it was pricier than other options we looked at. Reception staff was cordial and welcoming, and we appreciated the cookie and cava on check in, but it quickly went downhill from there. We got to the very odd room (two king beds with one night stand, and one chair.) There was no closet per se; there were two hanging areas, one on either side of the window (which had a window seat! Cute idea but very stained - ew). In one short area, your clothes would hang over the coffee machine; in the other side there was room for longer things. However, if you wanted to access the "closet" area where your clothes didn't have to hang over a coffee machine, then you had to squeeze past one of the king side beds sideways to get to it - EVERY TIME you wanted to get at your clothing. There was nowhere to put a suitcase, not even a folding luggage rack. And did I mention this room had one chair for 2 people? (Or 4 people if using all that king bed space??)

We tried to put away clothes as best we could (I just used the other bed as a luggage rack - lame) and discovered the black out drapes were so dusty i immediately had an asthma attack. Sigh. Went to the front desk and asked to be moved - was told "sorry, they're full." Asked them to clean the drapes while we went out so I could get fresh air and breathe. We go out - had an ok dinner on the river walk and came back. Drapes did seem cleaner, but now - they wouldn't shut! Ugh. Only one wand to close two black out drapes and two sheers. Back downstairs - "hi drapes seem cleaner I guess, but they won't shut???" "Oh we'll send engineer right up!" 45 minutes later, super tired and ready for bed, after having driven for 6 hrs to get there, and an asthma attack later, I call front desk because still no engineer. Engineer finally comes, says he can't get new wands to fix the drapes so they will open and close - but he'll get his ladder and close them by pulling them from the track on the ceiling. So he gets a ladder, climbs up and pulls and pulls, and realizes he would get better leverage from the window seat! (I guess I know how it got all those stains!) so the things have to be opened and closed by climbing on a window seat! That seems "safe." (NOT)

Oh and speaking of safe, if you want to use it, it'll cost you $$ even though you're already paying an "amenity fee" to stay at this hotel.

That night, there was door slamming and loud laughing in the hallway until 3:30am!! Couldn't sleep. We heard every conversation and door slam in our room.

So, here's the good & "evil" (to quote the novel & movie):

Good: Location is decent for old town & great for river Each floor has a water dispensing set of three fountain taps for sparkling, still & room temp water. They give you a reusable bottle when you check in so you can get water. The sparkling water is FAB!! The lost square bar on the roof - great drinks, service, food & views! They did write us a hand written apology for all our trouble and comped us breakfast daily for 3 days. I appreciated the gesture, but I would have appreciated a more functional and lest dusty room so much more. Servers at Rhett (the restaurant downstairs) were all good.

Bad: Room 321 - just don't do it!!! Don't charge to use a safe! (Insulting.) Need shades you can open/close without risk of injury! Need better use of space! Need at least another chair! And if you're going to have heavy velvet drapes AND allow pets, CLEAN THE DRAPES! Bed wasn't the most comfy, either. Doors don't muffle ANY sound in...

I just want to start this review with my stay was in the Penthouse suite for my wedding weekend in June. I booked the room through a professional Travel Advisor for weddings and he worked directly with the hotel. I'm a local here in Savannah and I wanted the absolute best for my wedding weekend since I had to postpone 3 times due to Covid-19 and a brain tumor.

Before booking the room, I was told the Penthouse suite would have 3 beds and 2 baths. My entire bridal party was going to stay with me the night before the wedding so it was easy for us all to wake up together and get ready for my big day. I also asked if the room would be serviced while we were all getting breakfast in the lobby so it was picture ready and the front desk told me it would not be a problem and it would be ready by the time we returned around 10AM.

Upon check-in and walking into the suite, the room only had 1 bedroom and a pullout couch. Panicked, my bridal party couldn't stay with me except for one of my sisters due to the misinformation of the room details. There were no extra sheets or pillows, no dishes or cups in the kitchen (we had to run around looking for plastic cups just to get water down the hall from the room), and an espresso machine with nothing to put our coffee in. The day of the wedding, we went down to breakfast and came back up to a room that was not serviced - honestly I just needed the bed to be made but even though they told me the day before it would be no problem, the room was never serviced - not even when my husband and I returned later that night after the wedding!! We had to sleep in the bed my sister and I slept in together the night before!!

We all know how busy brides are especially when planning a wedding where every guest is coming from out of town except for herself and the groom - so I did not have any time to find another option to stay, or to even challenge the hotel on why the room wasn't as promised because 1. check-in was late at night due to my rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, and 2. my wedding day was planned entirely around us all being in the Penthouse suite so there was no way I could change location this late. This included breakfast with family at the Rhett the morning of, hair and makeup teams coming to the suite for the bridal party and myself around 10AM, my photographer coming on site for photos, my transportation to and from the wedding to the hotel, and my husband and I using the room the night of the wedding.

After connecting with my Travel Advisor, he told me that the reason the Penthouse was smaller than what we booked it for initially is because "hotel suites with multiple guest rooms are often compromised a suite + a connecting room. In this case it sounds like there had been an engineering issue with the connecting room to the penthouse that prevented it from being released to you as it should have been."

The hotel did NOT inform me of this issue and still charged me the full $899 per night regardless of it not being the full room I booked in the first place. I splurged on certain things for my wedding including this hotel and I'm shook that they practically robbed me of 50% of what the room actually consisted of without telling me or my Travel Advisor. The Alida needs to not rob their customers - especially brides - of money they have more than likely saved for years to make one weekend of their life...

Really enjoyed the room at this hotel- upscale room, loved the scent of the body wash and lotion (slightly masculine but not overpowering & ok for ladies). Bed was incredibly comfortable - probably the best sleep I've had in a long time! Loved the little nook at the window where you could read, have a drink or sneak into early in the morning while the rest of your family is sleeping. We had a drink there and enjoyed watching the JW rooftop bar where people took a slide from upstairs to downstairs (just 1 level). fyi - there's a drawer fridge underneath the bench seat. We arrived kind of late so bar downstairs was just closing. Gal who checked us in was not very friendly or resourceful. There's a $30 resort fee that gives you $30 worth of drinks in the lobby bar only. It was just on the verge of closing. She knew we were staying just 1night but told us it's closed and we can use it tomorrow starting at 5. Ummm - you know we're here just 1 night so what other options do we have. Use at breakfast - nope. Use at the rooftop bar-nope. Credit the fee-nope. She was pretty useless so we walked into the lobby bar that was preparing to close (it closes at 10pm and we finished check in at 10pm) & just asked for our drink, which was no issue. So...ignore the gal at the front desk and just handle it yourself. Bartender was super nice and quickly got us a drink. Ambiance is upscale and enjoyable. Be aware that they add a tip to the bill automatically, which you'll see when you check out. We didn't realize this so left him a cash tip. Also at check-in you get a plastic water bottle to fill up whenever needed in your hallway. We really liked this and enjoyed the option of cold, room temp or sparkling water. Went up to the rooftop bar for a bit and it was pleasant. Wait staff was very attentive. View was fine, but nothing amazing. Didn't use the bikes as it was raining the next morning so we took off quickly. Says breakfast snacks in the morning, but we didn't see any. Did find some coffee in the lobby bar. Suggest adding some hot water for tea. Had breakfast downstairs and it was also fine. Things sounded better on the menu than they were in reality, but they weren't bad (aside from the breakfast potatoes that were cold) and waitress was attentive. If you use valet parking, make sure to give yourself plenty of time. It seems to be 1 or 2 valets who are very nice and trying their best, but it's slow. We did the text from room option about 10 min before we came down, but seemed they didn't go for our car until we showed up in person and gave them our tag. If you don't want to pay $50 to park, there's some street parking, which we originally planned to do. The side streets seemed somewhat questionable for leaving your car & figured there was a chance someone would try to break in so opted for the $50 valet fee. Who knows - maybe they park the car right in that same spot, but felt like a better insurance to pay the $50 and less frustrating. Staff at check-out was fantastic! They were both friendly, capable and welcoming. Much better than the young gal we had the night before.

Easy walking to town, shops, bars from the hotel. Hotel sits just behind the JW so you don't see water from most of the rooms, just the...