Chateau Inn and Suites — Hotel in Spring Lake

I did not actually stay at The Chateau but yet had a magnificent three-day experience with them. Intrigued? Keep reading. We had some good friends who booked a getaway at The Chateau. After finding out where they were staying, I called to see if there was anything we could add to their stay to make it more special.

My first point of contact was a really nice guy named Ryan. You know how when you speak to a staff member, you kind of get a sense about whether or not their heart is really into helping you get what you want, or whether they are just doing whatever will get you off the phone faster? Well Ryan set the example for great customer service by going out of his way to be helpful and suggestive. I mean you could just feel this guy putting his heart into helping us get what we needed.

Ryan pointed me to a really helpful drop-down menu on The Chateau website, called "Room Enhancements". It's basically an add-on list of reasonably priced, mixed packages of spiffy things that can be added to the room, such as wine, chocolates, and late checkouts. Admittedly, because of some preference factors unique to our friends, I wasn't finding the right combination. At that point, Ryan went out of his way to be not only suggestive but also creative in recommending a few other options that were not listed on the menu. I let him know that I was a bit undecided and needed to speak with my wife but would call back.

The next day we called back with questions about putting together a more bespoke combination. Ryan was not there but I spoke to an equally nice guy named Sage. He did let me know that the enhancements I was trying to blend together were above his purview and that he would have to turn me over to a manager. It was then that I was transferred to April.

April was beyond sweet! She, like the thread that seems to run through this entire resort, was so helpful and suggestive. Long story short, she helped us create the perfect gift for our friends! The following day, Ryan was on duty again when I called back and wrapped up superbly, by putting the finishing touches on our gift. He had me submit the words we wanted to leave in a note accompanying our gift and then printed them up on beautiful linen parchment paper! Bravo to this entire staff who demonstrate daily the kinds of sadly all-too-uncommon service elements that would make five star hotels jealous!!

To sum it all up, it was the best experience I have ever had at a resort that I have never stayed in...but...

We had blocked rooms for wedding guests and upon several inquiries were told no rooms were available. Ten had been reserved , only seven were booked by our guests.almost right away with a 50% deposit charged. My daughter , myself and my sister tried to book the other three rooms in June, well before the date we were told we needed to book by. Apparently another wedding party was scheduled.and repeat guests expected. We found our guests, as well as others from the bridal party rooms at a much more agreeable, accommodating Inn within walking distance.thos site offered a free full breakfast rather than the Continental one at the Chateau which was free during the week but $5.99 on weekends. Although coffee was available in the lobby, no coffee pots were in the rooms.During a severe NorEaster this and having no elevators was not very comfortable. The rooms were small, bridall suite not beautifully decorated and made darker by the weather. The staff were NOT friendly and the blackout door shade in the bridal suite not effective at blocking the outside lights For the price , our guests certainly had much better experiences at the OTHER inn.There they took my daughter through the rooms to see what guests could expect and happily arranged for welcome bag deliveries. The worst aspect of our stay was a very limited lack of onsite parking as no street parking is allowed overnight. We were directed to the train station down the street and with heavy winds and rain as well as wedding attire requiring additional bags and only one handicap spot this was difficult. The rooms were clean and when making the original reservations we were led to believe the staff moire solicitous but at least the first floor room a d bridal suite were very disappointing. With a group of wedding guests , we found tge staff and service extremely poor considering the event and our many years of travel at accommodations and staff around the world . There was absolutely no contact from, or friendly encounters from checkout, throughout our stay unlike the attention given to guests who had booked elsewhere down the street after not being unable to access rooms we had reserved. Certainly dampened a bridal party's enthusiasm and left expectations promised unmet at this site. Definitely not somewhere I would recommend based on off-season pricing and experience! So glad our other guests were better...

I am extremely dissatisfied with my stay. I booked to stay here after my cousins wedding as they had a wedding block for guests. I spoke to a gentleman the day before check in asking for early check in because I was traveling from out of state and trying to avoid the snow storm to make it to the wedding. Sure enough, it starts snowing as soon as we arrive. When I went to check in, the room was not ready and nobody called to update me. I pleaded with the woman at the front desk, April, and she continued to say "There's nothing I can do". Never in any of my hotel/inn stays has management "not been able" to do anything to accommodate. I explained how we just drove 4 hours through snow and really were looking to just get into a room, and if they could prioritize this room to be cleaned first since we were the only people there and one of the only cars in the lot - nobody else was there yet. She said "all of our rooms are a priority" and that it would be a couple hours. My boyfriend and I then sat in my car with the heat running for 2 hours waiting. I went in to use the restroom and ask if there was any where we could wait. At that point another woman told us there was a seating area we could wait. This was never offered to us in the beginning. There was simply "nothing" that the unpleasant April could do. This is by far the worst customer service I have ever experienced. It should not be that hard to prioritize the guests that are sitting outside in their car, in the snow, versus people who have not even...