Rooms not Ready and Fire alarms
I love visiting my daughter, who lives in Berkeley, and my preference is to stay somewhere close to her apartment, like the Claremont Club & Spa, but lately, the service at the Claremont has been disappointing, and I hesitate before booking my room at the Claremont (or recommending it to others).
Upon check-in at the hotel at 5 p.m. on Saturday, I was told the room wasn't ready, which was inconvenient, considering we had to be at an event and needed to start getting ready. The good thing was that Nora, the manager, put us temporarily in another room and a bellperson came later to move our things into the room we would be staying in for the four days at the hotel. Nora also upgraded us to a room with an amazing view of the Bay.
However, at 4 a.m., the fire alarm went off with a message to leave our rooms and take the exit stairway to leave the hotel. We threw on robes and headed to the stairway, leaving our keys behind in a rush, when another message told us to stay calm and that they were checking out the source of the alarm. They did not tell us we could stay in our room, so we continued downstairs in confusion; not knowing what to do, got to the bottom, and realized that not everyone was following the instructions to vacate their rooms. People were milling about inside the lobby, and the receptionists were behind the desks. We inquired and were told we could return to our rooms.
The alarm sounded the next night at about 10 p.m. This time, we took our time dressing and grabbing our key and went downstairs, because, again, no one announced we should stay in our room. When we got to the lobby, we saw guests drinking in the bar as if nothing was happening. We suggested to the receptionist to announce to everyone that they could remain in their rooms since it seemed there was a malfunction with the fire alarm; the receptionist/manager on duty kind of smirked and said he already had, which he hadn't. About 15 minutes after we returned to our room (the alarm was still sounding) he announced guests should stay in their rooms. It was just not right.
We should have all been compensated for the inconvenience, especially those of us who had to endure it two nights in a row.
While some of the staff is helpful and wonderful to work with (Nora), others are quite dense and unaccommodating. I'm so mixed every time I make a reservation at the Claremont.