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| - A friend invited me to accompany her for a two night stay a few weekends ago. We were staying as guests, not time-share -- apparently the same property offers both as options, based on the literature handed out during check-in.
This so-called "luxury villa" is touted as including: "a fully equipped kitchen, spacious living area, fireplace, whirlpool tub, and entertainment center with stereo, 5-disc CD changer, and DVD player."
"It's the perfect spot for a Las Vegas vacation!"
Not so much. High points:
-- gated access with marginal security (let us in when we said we were checking in; waved us through when seeing a pass-shaped piece of paper on our dashboard after that)
-- manned front desk
-- instant access to a manager on demand
-- resort atmosphere
-- punch in a pitcher on check-in
-- two story wood-frame blocks, much like apartment buildings, but with additional hotel room key access to each balcony / entry area
Low points:
I am a big stickler on fire safety issues. So when the fire alarm went off during the Saturday afternoon of our stay, I helped my friend dress and get outside, then went to investigate the source of the alarm. This is complicated by the fact that my friend has some mobility issues and the management knew it, as we asked about handicapped parking and for a first floor room on check-in.
A staff member walked past, totally unconcerned with the fire alarm going off and blaring, with my friend stumbling to support herself against a lamp post. I asked for his help; he said, "I'm housekeeping, not my problem" and walked off. Note: he had a radio and spoke good English.
WRONG ANSWER. VERY WRONG ANSWER. Fire safety is the responsibility of every employee at a hotel. So my friend sat impatiently in the car with my laptop in her lap while I went back in and called the front desk. They said they didn't know about the fire alarm and didn't know what to do. (!) I asked to speak to a manager; they said, "Call Resort Services at x####." I did so, firmly resolved that my next call would be to 911 and the fire department.
To their credit, Resort Services got me a manager immediately. The manager confirmed that there had been a fire alarm, that it has been a pull box alarm, and that Maintenance was on scene and investigating. As we were speaking, the fire alarm shut off. It turned out about 15 minutes later, after I circled the building and found the fire panel and an employee working on it, that a small child had seen a red box marked PULL and yanked on it. It happens.
What isn't supposed to happen is that both a housekeeping employee and the front desk take a "manana" attitude to a fire alarm activation. I would not choose to invest money in this property, which is what a timeshare is.
As I was staying with a friend, I can't speak to the price vs. value of the property. Everything promised was there: DVD player, towels, a surprisingly well-stocked kitchen (the pitcher and blender was a nice touch!). The Wi-Fi costs seemed a little excessive, but this is a vacation spot.
When we got back in the hotel room, I took another look at fire safety. The room was not sprinklered and the pull box was out in the hallway. There was a fire extinguisher in a kitchen cabinet, but no sticker indicating that a fire extinguisher was inside. All exits to the room faced one direction: door, bedroom window (nearly impossible to get out of due to wooden slats as shades) and the main room window (giving out onto a gravel bed).
Why so serious, you may ask? Because you have two to three minutes (120 to 180 seconds) to get out of a building on fire, or you will be overcome by dark smoke, choking fumes and superheated gases. When sleeping in an unfamiliar place, especially in a shared accommodation with lots of kitchens (and thus lots of opportunity to leave something on the stove, in the microwave, etc), this is a big deal.
It is saying something that I felt safer in an old school San Francisco highrise hotel, where everything was clearly marked and labeled and the front desk was on the ball, than I did in a two story wood frame building.
This review may not be the world's best PR, but I added the premises to the Yelp listings to write this review, so I suppose it balances out.
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