Ocean House — Hotel in Westerly

I never expected to have to write a review such as this for the Ocean House, however I feel I would be doing a disservice to future guests if I did not share my candid experience from a recent stay at the property last month. I had truly high hopes and am sad to say the reality fell far from expectations, especially for a property that boasts its Forbes Five-Star designation.||||Prior to checking in (around 12pm), I phoned the property to let them know that I would be checking in late (around 11pm). During this phone call, I let them know that I would also like to upgrade the room to one with a king bed. I was assured this would be taken care of. Upon my arrival, I was frustrated to find that this change had not been made. The employee at the front desk informed me that I would have to wait about 40 minutes for the room to be prepped (mind you this was at 11pm after traveling 6+ hours to get here). On my way to the room, I was also reminded that “Oh, this just will be another $100 per night.” While I knew this, I don’t feel this comment was in good taste after the inconvenience.||||Once in the room, I was overjoyed to finally be in what was described as “one of our best King rooms.” To my horror, what I found was a room that was FAR from Forbes Five-Star quality (see attached pictures). I like to note here that I have stayed in some of the nicest properties that the world has to offer, including the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal (rated the #1 hotel in all of Mexico), the Four Seasons NYC, and the Waldorf Astoria Maldives – all of which have also obtained the prestigious Forbes Five-Star designation. As such, I feel that I can make a well-informed and fair comparison.||||The bathroom was the first place I began to have concerns. I found that several areas had built up grime and dirt on the floor tiling. There were also several spots where it appeared that a blue paste-like substance was covering the grout and molding that had been left to dry and not cleaned. I also found small bits of trash left on the floor, for example an elastic band just left in the open on the floor. Moreover, the mirror on the back of the door to the bathroom had clearly visible smudges that appear to reflect that the mirror wasn’t even wiped down in between guests. Additionally, I found water and soap stains all along the marble edges of the tub, again, reflecting that the bare minimum of a wipe-down hadn’t been done.||||Inside the main room, the trend continued. I was dismayed to find stained carpet in several spots of the room that hadn’t even been attempted to be hidden. Numerous areas on the wall and floorboards had dark black smudges and streaks. There were several areas on both the floor and ceiling molding that were visibly chipped. The desk chair was visibly damaged and in a state of disrepair. Further, many areas in the ceiling of the room had large cracks which look to have never been addressed.||||The service challenges continued into the next day when I phoned down to the concierge requesting some ice. What I thought to be a simple request turned into two phone calls and ice that wasn’t delivered for over 30 minutes. I could understand if it was the height of the summer season, but again, this was a random weekday night during the off-season in early May. I’d also like to note that, at least during the off-season, valet here is not 24/7. After 11pm valet service is not offered, nor, it seemed, are in-and-out privileges as there would be no one to retrieve your vehicle.||||I can’t express how deeply saddened I am that this was the experience I had. This is certainly not the quality one would expect from such a property, nor for one that charges over $1,000 a night for a standard room in the off season. I had hoped to spend a few nights here over the summer with my family, however I just cannot justify the expense when this is the experience you risk having. I am honestly considering traveling to and from Boston so that I can stay at a property like the Four Seasons or Ritz that actually lives up to its...

I never expected to have to write a review such as this for the Ocean House, however I feel I would be doing a disservice to future guests if I did not share my candid experience from a recent stay at the property last month. I had truly high hopes and am sad to say the reality fell far from expectations, especially for a property that boasts its Forbes Five-Star designation.

Prior to checking in (around 12pm), I phoned the property to let them know that I would be checking in late (around 11pm). During this phone call, I let them know that I would also like to upgrade the room to one with a king bed. I was assured this would be taken care of. Upon my arrival, I was frustrated to find that this change had not been made. The employee at the front desk informed me that I would have to wait about 40 minutes for the room to be prepped (mind you this was at 11pm after traveling 6+ hours to get here). On my way to the room, I was also reminded that “Oh, this just will be another $100 per night.” While I knew this, I don’t feel this comment was in good taste after the inconvenience.

Once in the room, I was overjoyed to finally be in what was described as “one of our best King rooms.” To my horror, what I found was a room that was FAR from Forbes Five-Star quality (see attached pictures). I like to note here that I have stayed in some of the nicest properties that the world has to offer, including the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal (rated the #1 hotel in all of Mexico), the Four Seasons NYC, and the Waldorf Astoria Maldives – all of which have also obtained the prestigious Forbes Five-Star designation. As such, I feel that I can make a well-informed and fair comparison.

The bathroom was the first place I began to have concerns. I found that several areas had built up grime and dirt on the floor tiling. There were also several spots where it appeared that a blue paste-like substance was covering the grout and molding that had been left to dry and not cleaned. I also found small bits of trash left on the floor, for example an elastic band just left in the open on the floor. Moreover, the mirror on the back of the door to the bathroom had clearly visible smudges that appear to reflect that the mirror wasn’t even wiped down in between guests. Additionally, I found water and soap stains all along the marble edges of the tub, again, reflecting that the bare minimum of a wipe-down hadn’t been done.

Inside the main room, the trend continued. I was dismayed to find stained carpet in several spots of the room that hadn’t even been attempted to be hidden. Numerous areas on the wall and floorboards had dark black smudges and streaks. There were several areas on both the floor and ceiling molding that were visibly chipped. The desk chair was visibly damaged and in a state of disrepair. Further, many areas in the ceiling of the room had large cracks which look to have never been addressed.

The service challenges continued into the next day when I phoned down to the concierge requesting some ice. What I thought to be a simple request turned into two phone calls and ice that wasn’t delivered for over 30 minutes. I could understand if it was the height of the summer season, but again, this was a random weekday night during the off-season in early May. I’d also like to note that, at least during the off-season, valet here is not 24/7. After 11pm valet service is not offered, nor, it seemed, are in-and-out privileges as there would be no one to retrieve your vehicle.

I can’t express how deeply saddened I am that this was the experience I had. This is certainly not the quality one would expect from such a property, nor for one that charges over $1,000 a night for a standard room in the off season. I had hoped to spend a few nights here over the summer with my family, however I just cannot justify the expense when this is the experience you risk having. I am honestly considering traveling to and from Boston so that I can stay at a property like the Four Seasons or Ritz that actually lives up to its...

I’ll start off by saying that both Ocean House and Relais & Chateaux have ignored an email, listing my below complaints. ||The service at Ocean House was disorganized, the policies were arbitrary, and the staff were exceptionally rude & had no clue how to run a five-star property.||Biggest issues we experienced—|* Because the bar menu only offered snacks and junk food, we were made to eat lunch outside on the verandah in 45-degree, inclement weather, just to order a proper meal. Staff would not allow us to order a lobster roll outside and eat it at the indoor bar.|* The verandah had no heat lamps, which is unacceptable for an ocean-front property with unpredictable weather, especially mid-May. It was drizzling & windy for the duration of our meal.|* The front desk claimed blankets would be provided while dining outdoors, but only light shawls were available. I had to go upstairs to our room to grab a blanket and while venting by the elevators about how awful the service had been, a member of staff poked their head out of the service closet, stared at me, and slowly closed the door.|* When we asked why indoor dining wasn’t possible, the front desk manager, Joe, responded glibly, “we can’t control the weather,” rather than addressing the restaurant’s inflexible and illogical seating policy.|* We were offered a comped lunch and dinner as a gesture of goodwill, to the exclusion of wine. Given that we’d ordered an $800 bottle the night before, this felt both calculated and cheap.|* Since our lunch didn’t wrap until 4:00pm, we didn’t even end up using the dinner offer.|* We tried to order late-night room service and were hung up on by a staff member who couldn’t hear us over the pianist, playing in the lobby. No one called back, despite our room number being visible.|* At the spa, my husband was initially denied access to the steam room; he was told that it was only for guests who’d booked treatments. We both had 50-minute massages booked the following afternoon and I was currently getting a pedicure at the spa. When he entered the “busy” steam room, it was completely empty.|* On arrival, a bellman dropped our suitcase on the bumper of our car.|* Days later, a different valet took nearly 15 minutes to retrieve our vehicle and triggered the car alarm twice in the process.|* On our final night, we returned to the hotel after dining off-property and requested to order a bottle of wine. The hostess informed us we could drink our bottle “in the lobby,” as they were unwilling to allocate a proper table.|* It took 25 minutes to deliver the bottle of wine to our room, with a 22% gratuity automatically applied for room service. Along with other service charges, this jacked the price of the $650 bottle we ordered to just under $850.||Additionally, upon reviewing our credit card activity, we discovered pending charges, in excess of 30k across two cards (Chase & Amex) for a three-night stay. While we assume some of these charges will fall off, it appears the hotel has issued multiple overlapping authorizations and cannot properly distinguish between point redemptions and direct charges. This level of billing confusion is unacceptable and raises serious questions about how guest accounts are being managed.||Not to be dramatic, but this was one of the worst hotel stays we’ve ever had. We tried to be understanding as there was an event on property during our stay, so we know staff were likely overwhelmed. We even gave the front desk the opportunity to rectify the situation and they failed miserably. It’s a shame because we enjoyed two prior stays at this property in 2020, but it’s clearly gone downhill since then.||I’m aware that in this economy, my complaints sound very tone deaf; but no one enjoys being ripped off, and at 2k+ a night (not counting the enormous sum we spent on property), Ocean House absolutely...