Reikart House, Buffalo, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel — Hotel in Town of Amherst

I stayed at Reikart House a few times when it first opened. Back then, it was considerably nicer than "upscale" and more like a "luxury" hotel. In 2018 and 2019, it was a genuine 4.5-star hotel. In the context of AAA/CAA, think on the high end of AAA four-diamond. For the Buffalo area, it was one of the finest hotels. Until the pandemic, this high standard was maintained extremely well.||||Over the years a few things have changed. And not for the better. The elegant lobby bar and restaurant disappeared as the wonderful adjoining restaurant was built and open. Now, only breakfast is served in the lobby. Then a Hyatt Place owned by the same owner was built behind the hotel. During the pandemic, the standard at Reikart House dropped big time and I stopped staying. I returned recently for the first time in four years.||||Reikart House has improved noticeably since my last stay in 2021, when it was downright awful. While it is a genuinely nice hotel, the overall operating standard, service, etc. is somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars. I note the CAA/AAA rating is now three diamonds. So while it is still probably the finest hotel in the Amherst-Buffalo area, it is a shadow of its former self.||||Things that are missing, not provided or poorly executed:||||1) No pre-arrival email.||||2) No doorman or bellman. Previously, Reikart House has a doorman/bellman. The front desk did not offer any assistance with luggage at check-in.||||3) No welcome letter at check-in explaining anything about the hotel, amenities, services, F&B options, etc.||||4) Butler service is no longer provided. It used to be provided.||||5) They provide a robe but no slippers.||||6) Similarly, the toiletries and in-room amenities are below what you expect. The wall-mounted dispensers containing shampoo, conditioner and body wash are branded Apotheke -- a brand that I've received at Intercontinental and Park Hyatt. That's a nice brand, assuming the product inside the dispenser is, in fact, Apotheke. But like the missing slippers, other toiletries that I would expect at a 4-star or 5-star hotel are not provided. While I did have one small bar of soap and one mini-bottle of lotion, no mouthwash was provided, no dental kit was provided, etc. In short, many of the extras you would expect were missing. Also, the one small bar of soap and one mini-bar of lotion would NOT be enough for two people. Besides the toiletries, there was a stocked mini-bar but it had Kendall-Jackson chardonnay and other grocery store-caliber wines. There are several excellent wine regions nearby. Why does the hotel not have New York wine in the mini-bar? Also, no bottle of water is provided. ||||7) No turndown service is offered. Again, you expect turndown at an upscale-to-luxury boutique hotel, especially in a suite.||||8) The walk-in shower and tiles needed new grouting.||||9) No desk. I was twice told by the GM in 2019 and 2020 (just before the pandemic) that the impractical high-top writing table was going to be replaced with an actual desk. Six years later, no desks.||||10) The hotel used to have a complimentary house car but I don't if that is still offered. This is why a hotel does a pre-arrival email or presents guests with a welcome letter at check-in.||||11) Last but not least, the hotel DOES NOT have a restaurant that's open for lunch or dinner on Sundays. This has been an issue since the pandemic. How is this possible? At least have burgers or something from a limited bar menu on Sundays.||||Now, the positives:||||1) Bonvoy recognition for elites is good.||||2) The hotel has been open since 2017 but rooms are clean and generally well-maintained even though everything is about 8 years old at this point. The only exceptions I saw were the shower, which needed some new grouting, and a few carpets, which had stains (though this is expected after 8 years). ||||3) Staff while below the overall standard were polite and generally well-meaning.||||4) Food in the attached restaurant is excellent. Expensive but excellent. But like the hotel, the service is below the price. No bread offered with the meal. No white tablecloths, which you would expect at the price point. No flowers or candles on the table. They have outside seating but it's not used. The wine list by the bottle is excellent but the wine selection by the glass is awful. How do you not have a New York dry riesling by the glass? I was given a glass of tap water. Never offered bottled water. The glass of water was never refilled. ||||All things considered, Buffalo and the surrounding area is still a destination with a lot of mediocre hotels. While Reikart House is a nice hotel, it used to be much nicer and much better. Owners and management need to...

I gave an overall 3 - which is lower than the rooms/service/location stars of 4. For a business traveler - I would not stay here again. I think if I would've not read about the "Hotel of the Year" award given to this hotel, I probably would've left with a better attitude. #Expectationmanagement The rooms were nice, a little roomier by about 2-3'. But I've stayed in other Tribute's and Hilton's version of this level and found them to be the same. I guess I didn't see why this Tribute won this award across all Marriott properties. Anyways, this hotel does not have a lobby bar/restaurant. It is in the Jazzboline restaurant in the same parking lot. Long travel day and I was looking forward to the fireplace and what I thought was the bar in the lobby. But the fireplace is literally just that with seating area and the bar was part of the restaurant not connected to the hotel - which was closed on Sunday night when I got in. Oh and then also closed Monday for a private party. No sundry store, just a little bar cart with donuts and gum for purchase. As someone who works a lot, I like being able to sit at the lobby bar and work or decompress and not have to leave my hotel. (bit of a blessing in disguise, because I experienced Giancarlo's up the street - amazing Italian food) Bathrooms are small. Towels are a good heavy weight. Coffee options are weak. (hotel of the year... I guess I safely assumed that they would've had decent in room coffee options?) Plugs right by the nightstand, easily accessible. A/C does not have an option to run the fan for white noise, the person above me was doing laps at 2am, and when I turned it down to 64 (the lowest) - even over my white noise app on my phone, I could hear the A/C click loudly on/off. This property does not have feather-free rooms like most other Marriotts. I'm glad I double-checked when I checked in because they did not see it (?) on my account. They gave me 2 foam pillows. Overall, average hotel. I could've paid half of what I paid and stayed at the new Hampton up the street and been just fine. Last work trip of the year, so I splurged... won't do that again. I'm a Platinum and while there were 3 cars in the entire parking lot when I got in Sunday evening, there were no upgrades offered. As far as Jazzboline, I tried their creme brulee on my last night and it was runny and very thin, hardly any under a very thick brulee that was indedible. The bar is not staffed given the size of it. If you want a great bar/restaurant experience, albeit smaller, go to Giancarlo's about .5 miles east...well staffed, no long wait times to be acknowledged, amazing food...

I come to Buffalo seasonally for work and normally stay at the Hyatt Place next door but this time I made the exception from the recommendation of a colleagues to prebook a reservation. The hotel is absolutely beautiful, having comfortable beds with clean rooms and a beautiful ambiance. Upon checking in Friday night of St Paddy's day the Hotel Receptionist had a line of patrons collecting as she spent almost 20 minutes just trying to resolve other patrons issue at the front desk while not acknowledging any of the other patrons growing in number coming in to checked in. When the prior patron was finally resolved and I was next to be checked in there was no apology for the inconvenience for the long wait while also the inconvenience of visualbly holding onto my duffle bag to avoid placing it on the lobby floor. The female Hotel Receptionist instead mentioned some issue about the card reader and how she couldn't accept any cards even after I told her I had already paid when booking my reservation with my corporate card/account on file. As I was handed my keycard and I had asked how much longer the Parlor would be opened and received a much dramatized reply that it would be closing in 15 minutes and they are no longer accepting orders but the bar would be open for drinks. I asked if they could still fulfill a light order after a long day of traveling while I get to my room to set my bag down, wash my hands and splash some water on my face to which that request was quickly denied. I ended up going next door to Jazzboline to get some overcooked chicken and undercooked parmesan risotto. Checking out on Sunday with the same Hotel Receptionist was almost the same identical experience but this time she was on the phone for a lengthy period with no attention to the guest waiting in front of the desk. With an awkward bon voyage apology acknowledging the subpar check in/check out experience, I was left even more annoyed. A memo to the receptionist, please acknowledge your guests and perhaps put...