The 'Finicky Traveler' Gets an Anti-View at the Setai
February 15, 2008 at 9:42 AM |
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The Wall Street Journal's Finicky Traveler Laura Landro recently spent a night at the Setai in South Beach, one of the priciest hotels in town. And despite the "serene vibe" felt within the room, looking out the window was pretty much a chi kill.
The Zen-like atmosphere is broken by the view from our window: cars stacked in the hotel's multifloor parking garage on one side and a dingy service alley on another.
Even luxury hotels get the anti-views. But then again, rooms at the Setai are super expensive to the tune of $1,000 a night and if we had to look out at a dingy service alley on our vacation, we would be pisssssed.
Seems like Finicky Traveler thought the same way but unfortunately, the hotel did not have any other rooms available. Still we give Laura mad props and big-ups for having the WSJ publish a picture of her anti-view on WSJ.com. It's buried amongst professional shots from the Setai in the article's photo slideshow but we'll take what we can get here.
Let's start with what FT did like. The glass elephant left as a token of their stay at the Setai, the bon bons and white chocolate truffles left at turndown, the three lap pools (although the middle one had the best temperature) and the hotel's main restaurant. Also FT thought the service from the hotel staff was impressive.
Things that FT did not like: The dark lighting in the guestroom, the annoying Zen music which had to be turned off by calling the front desk who then instructed FT where the sound system was (in the minibar), the fitness center and spa was hard to find, and the hotel's automatic 18% gratuity on dining.
Lastly, FT had to create her own "white noise" by turning on the air-conditioning fan to drown out the sound from the DJ and the party in the courtyard which apparently goes on every night.
Yeah...we'll be taking our $1,000 elsewhere.
[Photo: Laura Landro for the WSJ]
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juliana
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