More about Palm Springs Riviera Resort And Racquet Club
Chic, but needs to ammend some services
by TripAdvisor Member 35ishnow
The Riviera Resort and Spa is beautifully decorated in 1960s Hollywood Regency style. I love our room, the eye candy pool scene, spa treatment included a dip in a flowing water pool, and excercise machine with its own TV screen and head phones at the health club. Of course we paid a $38 resort fee for this privelege. Staff was friendly.
I was surprise there was no post card to review the hotel after our stay. My husband and I have stayed in at least 8 hotels this years.
Our stay was pleasant, but had some mix reviews. For instance, we had breakfast for $70. This is expensive! We live in West LA and dine out often. One of the problem was that waiter gave me the full portion even though I ordered the side. My husband did not want to argue. The food took forever to come. My beef hash with eggs on top was ok. The berries were a little old, but my husband loved his pancakes.
The next day we were at the pool, the waiter took and delivered our hamburger and fries, but never gave us napkins or eating utensils until we finshed our meal. Isn't this the first things you get once you order? Luckily I had a towel with me.
My husband and I had to keep informing the front desk about the problems with broken doors frame, toilet holder, and closet hinges being off track. We did not mind as much since we got such a great deal on the stay. If I had paid little more I would have been really annoyed that the room was not ready for guest stays when I enter it as a 4 star hotel requires.
Spa provided good massages, beautiful rooms, and pools to hangout afterwards, but had no razors or shower caps in the bathroom. There was hair in the spa showers. The shower in the spa felt like a coffin with all the brown walls.
I would like to come back sometime if they fix the little things that keep this hotel from being a really good place to visit.
Top 10 Things Wrong with the Riviera
by TripAdvisor Member VBB150_8
10. Check-in is at 3pm; we arrived at 5pm, were told our room wasn’t available yet.
9. Made reservation for our dog to stay with us ($100 fee); told that room would be ready with very nice dog bed, treats, food/water dishes…nothing was prepared when we arrived, had to call front desk and were provided the smallest dog bed I’ve ever seen and a plastic dog dish…that’s it.
8. 3 out of the 6 bulbs in the bathroom where either missing or burned out…had to call front desk who reported it to "engineering" who didn't get around to fixing until the next day.
7. “the amazing Jack Pack” was hyped up as the ultimate for your mp3 players, etc…doesn’t work unless you have certain cable that no one who has an iPod would think of having or bringing with them….had to call front desk, again transferred to “engineering” who were clueless; apparently the hotel doesn’t have any cables
6. music they pump out throughout pool area – basically modern muzak…if you care at all about music this is the worst.
5. trying to ignore the music and relax around the pool, maintenance comes out with generator, pressure washer and shovels and scraps concrete for over an hour…not so relaxing
4. pool is nice but why isn’t anyone using it…because it is freezing. Get a clue…nice sunny winter day, people want the temperature at 87 or above….not 70 or below.
3. circa 59 secret chorizo… as a vegetarian, I keep up my end of the bargain by looking at the descriptions and asking about meat when questionable…huevos rancheros.. safe…menu description ..standard, safe .. chef deciding to switch out the beans for chorizo… not cool.
2. circa 59 breakfast service – when manager came by to tell me about the secret chorizo and with no apology, but offered to get me something else, I was OK with that …when they never came back with the food (really….never)…and manager had no answer other than “I put in the order, not sure what happened” that is just bad service. You can get better service at the worst greasy spoon … coffee / water dude was clueless … waiter … came by once to take order then it was like he didn’t exist (he never came back)…restaurant was not busy and its breakfast…how difficult can it be.
1. email survey – received my email survey on the hotel and was ready to fill it out, clicked on the link … “server error” … apparently for good reason they don’t want to receive my comments.
Noisy, noisy, noisy and expensive
by TripAdvisor Member earexpert
I stayed here for one night a few days ago and will never return. First of all, they will charge you for everything, including 16.00 for valet and 20.00 for room occupancy (p.s. I was not told of this charge until check out). The hotel and the rooms were beautiful but other than that, my experience was a nightmare. I specifically asked for a quiet room and was given one underneath the stairs and next to a storage area. This was not a problem until it was time to go to sleep. The constant pounding of people going up and down the stairs all night was unbearable. I would fall asleep and then be awakened within a few minutes. I did not want to complain to the front desk because my daughter was already asleep and did not want to have to pick up my belongings and move to another area. The walls are also very thin and you could here everything around you (i.e. slamming doors and people talking upstairs and in the hallway. To make matters worse, I was awakened at approximately 2:00 am by what sounded like mice or rats in the storage room next door. They were running around and squicking. It sounded as if they were right under our bed. Luckily, my wife did not hear them since she has a phobia for mice. Without exageration, this was the worse night I have ever had in any hotel.
I sent 2 e-mails to the hotel manager but never got a response. It appears that they don't care since people still stay here.
Do yourself a favor and listen to my review and the many others that have been posted here. Do not stay here.
Good hotel and good service
by TripAdvisor Member begals
We got this hotel because of the Priceline for only 105. However, we got a great experience at this time. The hotel is super new and well decorated. Also, the receptionist and the front lobby have a warm greeting to everyone. Luckily, we got upgraded room and stay in one of the suite. The room is huge and lovely. The bed is super comfortable. Because we stayed away from the pool; therefore, we didn't have any noise problem. Please remind yourself don't stay the pool side if you really sensitive for the noise. The landscape is also beautiful too and we are surrounded a lot of mature fruit trees such as olive, lemon and orange tree. Highly recommended to the young couple. However, even we brought our 6 years old boy, he still loves the hotel.
This is not Palm Springs, please close this place and move to LA or Las Vegas
by TripAdvisor Member naport44
Where do I start...upon check in we were told we'd be in building 4 which I believe was still in the process of being renovated. We were also informed they were a valet only resort but since our rooms was in the back we could try and get past the valet "police" and self park as we were going to be leaving quite frequently, and did not want to shell out tips, and wait 20 minutes for are car to be retrieved. We proceeded to be hounded each time we came back by valet not allowing us to self park, it go to the point where we just drove by them without stopping. We did figure out on the second day that during daylight hours they leave the back conference area entrance open, and you can enter there and drive to the back and park, only problem is they lock that entrance at night.
Building four was a mess in the hallways, and common areas, paint scrapes, and just general wear and tear from not really being completely done. The room was nice with the exception of the original windows that were in really bad shape.
The pool area was full of tramp stamps, and tribal tattoos. The place had more wannabes then a Paris Hilton party. My wife and I don't come to Palm Springs to club, and party to the wee hours, it's a place to escape to the sun, have a few cocktails and relax. The staff was just as bad. Arrogant, and very LA, and did not believe in customer service unless you started handing them twenty dollar bills.
After our first night our room was not serviced, and it took three calls and a full day before they came and fixed the problem. It seemed like they were only able to keep the building surrounding the first pool maintained, and building 4 and 5 were after thoughts.
The first morning my wife had breakfast at the resort while I was golfing, and it took over 30 minutes for them to serve her a bowl of oatmeal. The service was terrible and they made no effort to fix the delays or remedy the issues.
Overall I wish this resort would learn something from the other classy upscale resorts at Palm Springs. It's not about clubbing and drinking until you puke, this is not Las Vegas. It has potential with it's overall remodel and could be a rat pack like place if they just lose the attitudes. But after this experience I am unwilling to stay here again, there are just too many other great small hotels that blow this place away.
Nice Property; Terrible Service
by TripAdvisor Member MODERNNYC
The property is quite nice. The service is horrible. I won;t go into detail here, but the negative reviews here are totally correct. A lot of trashy folks poolside, staff that was uninterested in EVER following up on a complaint/request and general poor management.
Retro Rat Pack
by TripAdvisor Member hd91364
Don't confuse with the Desert Rivera Hotel.
This place is fun, very kitsch, and paradise for retro 50's interior designers. I expected Dean Martin to walk around the corner at any moment, and I'm sure Liberace is missing a bejeweled piano.
The staff were indifferent, young and inexperienced.
It's worth a walk through and stop off at the bar for a cocktail, but don't bother staying there. Palm Springs can do better than this.