Woodcliff Hotel & Spa — Hotel in Town of Perinton

The Woodcliff is a rare gem in many respects...but of late it has also acquired some flaws.

In general, the service level is far above average and is reflected in the helpfulness, confidence, and cheerfulness of staff in nearly every position at the hotel.

And, in general, the rooms are clean, comfortable, spacious, and at least the ones we have stayed in offer lovely views.

Also, when we first stayed at the Woodcliff the dinner and breakfast menus were exceptional.

So this is sounding like it should be a five-star review, right?

Well, it should be. And frankly it would be if not for some recent changes at the Woodcliff, which now seems to have suffered from its own success. Here are some examples:

1. In the past, the breakfast buffet was accompanied by the ability to order à la carte. This was great because sometimes the buffet's variety (scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, etc.) just became a little tiresome after a couple of days of eating the same thing. But now, unfortunately, à la carte ordering is not available if there are any events at the hotel. Why? Because they simply don't have the kitchen staff to meet the demand of a conference, a wedding, and individual guest needs on the same day.

2. On our latest visit, it took us over twenty minutes to get to our room after check-in. Why? Because one of the two elevators had overheated and was "stuck" on the fifth floor, and the one remaining was full of guests going up or down each time the doors opened...so there was never room for our luggage cart. I had to ask the staff for help, who quickly called maintenance to get the second elevator working. But...with so many people crowding the lobby waiting for the elevators, why didn't the staff act more proactively to get the "stuck" elevator back in service sooner...?

3. On this last visit, there was a lot of loud yelling and carrying on in the hallways on the sixth floor well after 11:00 p.m. My wife and I were awoken repeatedly. We assume this was either inebriated wedding guests or the enthusiastic young hockey players who were staying at the hotel at the same time, but having this occur two nights in a row definitely detracted from the enjoyment of our stay.

4. The restaurant, which formerly had thoughtfully prepared and presented meals, has definitely lost its shine. Food not only now comes out verrrry slowly from the kitchen, but is thrown haphazardly onto the plates, arrives lukewarm, and frankly is of a much lower quality than it has been in the past. I actually had to send one of my entrées back it was so poorly done. But, like most other restaurant fare over the past couple of years, the prices have skyrocketed (my wife and I spent over $200 on one meal that should have cost closer to $80). If the Woodcliff could maintain the food quality it had in the past, some of these shortcomings could be overlooked. But alas, this is not the case.

5. The wireless network has become almost completely useless. It is barely adequate to check email -- but you will not be able to upload or download any large work files, or stream anything at all.

6. Probably the worst evidence that the hotel simply cannot keep up with its guests was the toilet in the men's bathroom off the bar that was left in filthy, unusable condition for two days.

There are some other, service-related issues that came up during our stay, but those also seemed to be a consequence of the Woodcliff being extremely busy...and possibly understaffed. As one example, we watched Andy, an amazing bartender who always tries to do right by Woodcliff's guests, attempt to single-handedly make drinks for the entire restaurant and bar (so well over 100 people?) for an entire evening. He is incredibly competent, but he was moving so fast we felt like we were watching a Warner Brothers cartoon. He clearly should have had some help.

Lastly, a positive: The quality of music -- usually a small jazz ensemble -- played in the bar each night is astonishingly good. That alone almost made up for some of the other issues we encountered...

Note: Pre-pandemic, this was one of our favorite brunch spots. Woodcliff's website indicates they still are not open for weekend brunches; however, on my 7/19/23 visit, employees said they are serving brunch every Saturday and Sunday.

‐--------------------------------------------------------

On a quiet Wednesday morning, two of us drove more than 25 miles to have breakfast at Horizons with a friend who was in town from Florida. We chose Horizons for two reasons: pre-pandemic, we could ALWAYS count on delicious food and a good experience there, and we knew after breakfast, we could chat for a bit without feeling rushed out the door.

Both in the hotel lobby and in the restaurant, our greetings to employees went unacknowledged. There were only four occupied tables other than ours, and we saw three different servers on the floor, so it was not at all busy. Although we were not in a hurry, we were surprised to wait 20 minutes after being seated before anyone visited our table.

Our breakfasts were mediocre, at best. I asked for dry toast and it came buttered. We had to ask our server three times for salt and pepper -- by the time she brought it, our eggs were cold. Two of us did not get the breakfast potatoes listed on the menu with our orders. When we asked about them, our server replied, "Most people don't want them, so we don't actually bring them out unless you specifically ask for them when you order." The server said the salmon in the eggs benedict was smoked -- it was not. Coffees and waters were never once refilled unless we asked.

Incidentally, the coffee was so thick, strong, and full of grounds, it was undrinkable. When we mentioned it, the server said that's how it's meant to be and if we didn't care for it, we could either add water to it or go get a coffee from the Starbucks in the lobby, adding, "Since it's free, most people don't complain." (We had no idea it was free and would have gladly paid for a decent cup of joe.)

After paying in cash, our change should have included 62 cents. The server brought the dollar bills, then said, "I didn't include the 62 cents because I would have to walk all the way over there to get it. Are you okay with that?" Since I assumed she would get paid for "walking all the way over there," I told her we'd like our 62 cents. Her silence and exaggerated eye-roll let us know she felt quite annoyed by the inconvenience. When I, by chance, walked past her a few minutes later to go to the ladies' room, she was complaining to another server about having to get our full change.

When we finished our breakfast, around 10:50am, we were the only occupied table in the restaurant. As our server cleared the dishes, I said to her, "We realize you close at 11am. Our friend is here from Florida and we'd love to catch up for a bit. Do you mind if we sit and chat for awhile? We won't need anything from you other than one last water refill." She initially said that would be fine, but literally two minutes later, returned to the table with a second server to say they had to set up for dinner (at 5pm -- literally 6 hours later), so we needed to leave. (We sat at an out-of-the-way table at the unopened bar to chat, which we were perfectly fine with, but it was surprising to be told to leave rather than invited to relocate to a different area.)

Overall, both the food and experience were more than a little disappointing. Over the years, I've organized a number of events at Woodcliff and I've always been happy with the venue. Besides organizing weekend brunches for 20ish guests on several occasions, I've reserved their ballroom and meeting rooms numerous times, bringing in 200+ overnight guests for each event -- guests who filled hundreds of hotel rooms for 2-3 weekend nights for each event. Besides meeting two friends for an unrushed breakfast, I was also scouting the venue for a conference later this year that will bring in around 100 overnight guests. Based on this egregiously disappointing experience, I'm clearly still looking...

We arrived around 3:40pm knowing that check-in was listed as "any time after 4pm", but I thought I would just ask, as it was 22 deg. Unfortunately, the room was not ready.  I understand policy is policy, so we waited in the car & came back in at 4pm. When it was our turn in line, we were greeted by a Front Desk Attendant, let's call her Jane. She was lovely and spoke in a soft tone.  I did notice right away she was new, as she was asking a fellow staff for help. We were told the room we booked was not ready. She did apologize and offered us an alternate room. She stated the HK staff was "running behind", as they were "busier last night" than expected.  I objected to not having the room we had paid for and asked how long the wait would be. She said at least a 1/2 hour, and added that she couldn't bother HK again because she had just asked for a status update. My first thought - couldn't someone have told us this 20 min ago when we went to wait in the car.  Alas, we took the alternative room.  Jane acknowledged that we were celebrating a birthday. She offered to send up a bottle of wine for our trouble.

The check-in was fine after that but I noticed the couple next to us was receiving a lot of info from the Front Desk Attendant. He was professional, considerate, and took time to explain things about the hotel, and made them feel really welcomed. I found myself trying to listen to all the info he was providing.

We left the room appx 6:30pm, no wine. I talked to Jane.  She apologized and said she would make sure it got to the room.  We got back to room after 1am – still no wine.  We also noticed we had been charged over $300 on the credit card, which was not the correct price.

Checking out - Jane was there. I mentioned no wine ever arrived, to which she replied that "he must have taken it to the wrong room", then went on to say that "someone had a good time with your wine".  You should never make a joke at the expense of the customer. I explained my dissatisfaction with this hotel experience. I was polite and considerate.  I referenced there was no info in the room regarding the pool, spa, restaurant, breakfast options, (not included BTW), etc. She said I should have received a text after check-in with hotel info - this never happened. She also indicated there is a $70 hold on all credit cards for "incidentals” – we were unaware. She apologized and said all this should have been explained to us at check-in. Well guess what Jane, that was you. She said she was overwhelmed with the line at check-in yesterday.  I told her that while I understand she is new/learning, our experience was very frustrating, right from the beginning. She did apologize and offered a room discount, which I graciously accepted & appreciated.

Jane did stress that they want the experience to be pleasant/enjoyable, & was hoping we would come back and give them another chance, and try the spa.  I can be a very understanding person -  I just would have felt better about the experience if Jane would not have made several excuses for why something didn't occur. For a hotel that rates itself as 4 stars, offering a spa experience for relaxation, we didn’t find much relaxation with this experience. Granted, this was only one night and I'm assuming from other reviews this is not the usual experience for guests.

Pros - security guard at night was friendly/super funny. Staff member to greet/open door– also very nice/pleasant. Lobby was pretty/inviting. Good amount of parking. Room clean, appeared bug free, bed comfortable, two beautiful, soft, Spa robes available to use & amazing shower. Room recently had some ascetic updates which were nice, however torn mattress cover was icky.  Hot tub bubbly & clean. Views were beautiful.  Apparently, they have hiking trails & can offer snowshoes - I overheard from other guests.

I'm thankful for Jane's apology & room discount. I believe she was sincere & indeed wanted us to return in the future. I think I would give this hotel one other chance should the situation present...