The Vendue, Charleston

Where to begin, well with one word I would say superb. I have stayed at the Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Sandals and even The Broadmoor. The quaintness, service and attention to detail exceed them all. Once a year my mom and I go on a mother/daughter trip, it’s a very special 4 day/3 nights we look forward to. This year there was a conference we wanted to attend in Charleston and we had never been. I’m a sales manager and bad customer service is my biggest pet peeve. We didn’t have one ounce of a bad or even mediocre experience. From the moment we walked in after our 7 hour drive until we pulled away, every employee treated us as if we were the only guest. I’ll pause here and say that we stayed in an interior King room in Vendue 26. Kam greeted us, directed us how to check-in, took care of our car and bags. Each time we needed our vehicle it was easy and prompt. Mark was amazing as well, he made sure we had everything we needed, took pictures of us, gave us directions and at checkout even retrieved our vehicle before I even asked! The rooftop bar was a lot of fun. We had the margarita pizza and the Greek platter. The continental breakfast was the best I’ve ever seen, the appetizers and wine from 4-5, the music in the lobby in the evening and milk and cookies from 9-10 were all welcome treats. The hotel focuses on attention to detail and customer service. Everyone we encountered seemed genuine, to love their jobs and to take responsibility for the hotel.

This stay should've been wonderful, but left us severely disappointed. The hotel itself is beautiful and the curated art gives a fresh and interesting atmosphere. Sadly, the desk staff was apathetic in every interaction we had with them. It was nearly 5 minutes before we even got an acknowledgement from the girls at reception, waiting to check in. Our room was in the bldg across the street, directly next to the street door, so loud with guests coming and going, as well as Christmas carols in the foyer which we could hear all night long. The room was comfortable and large with nice linens, high ceilings, robes, and benne wafers, but again, loud. We asked the concierge to call The Ordinary for a dinner reservation and she told us it was full and they could'nt do anything for us. No other suggestions, nothing. USELESS. We called ourselves, and were told we'd be welcome to join them and they'd at least get us in at the oyster bar. Hot water fluctuated drastically in the morning. It took almost an HOUR to get our car back from valet, despite no one else leaving at the same time. At check out, again we were ignored, so gave our keys to the valet. We'd been planning to extend for an additional night, but after the disappointing staff, we moved down the street.

I don’t normally write negative reviews, but maybe this could save someone from a dissapointing vacation. First of all, we walked in the room and noticed the AC in room didn’t cool the room. The maintenance Guy recommended to turn the fan on high. There was condensation dripping from the ceiling vent. The maintenance guy went to fix the AC unit on the roof and came back and made our room smell like cigarette smoke. The WiFi was spotty in our room and could only be accessed in certain places of our room and the speed was very slow. I wasn’t able to do work efficiently in our room. The maintenance guy recommended us to go two buildings down to the concierge desk computer if we needed internet. This is 2018. We can’t hardly breathe without internet these days. The TV had no signal for approximately 15 min when turning it on. Our room was right next to the stairwell and the walls are poorly insulated. People were loud, yelling and stomping up and down the stairs all night and waking my pregnant wife multiple times throughout the night. There was chipped paint on the walls and mold on the grout in the shower, the toilet was loose and wiggly. The bathroom was the nicest part of our room. Overall our experience was very different than what we were expecting based on the pictures online.

We booked 3 nights and prepaid. The first night and day our room did not have hot water. We mentioned numerous times during the second day but were in and out. It was only after returning from dinner and asking again that the front desk offered to move us to another room in another building, but stated that room would only be available for 1 night and we would have to move again the next day. They weren't particularly apologetic, and certainly not proactive about accommodating us. We did move again the next day to the 3rd room, but this time they offered to move our things while we were out and overall much more gracious, but at no time was there an offer to reduce our charges for that night, offer a free drink or meal or anything to make up for the inconvenience. The lack of hot water would seem to be a pretty fundamental "oops" for which (especially during the record cold weather those days) would have merited a little more active apology from the hotel. It was a lovely setting, the coffee and wine offerings, concierge emails prior to arrival, valet, rooftop bar and general decor and ambience were great. Just a little disappointed they weren't more energetic about making things right but then again we didn't raise a stink or demand that they do anything more than they did.

When we arrived at the Vendue we were escorted by Edward to the desk for check in. Our room wasn't quite ready so Edward got us complimentary champagne, a very nice touch, and he gave us a quick tour of the hotel. Anything we asked for was quickly taken care of and always with a positive attitude. Our housekeepers were very respectful of the time we needed in the AM without feeling rushed to get out of the room so they could clean it. The food in the Drawing Room restaurant was incredible. The bartender Cody was very entertaining, and he made us some wonderful cocktails! The Hotel itself was so beautiful, we really enjoyed all the artwork throughout. There was Hors d'oeuvres and wine from 4-5pm with an art tour afterward, with cookies at night from 9-10. What more could you ask for, oh yes there was also turn down service complete with chocolate on your pillows. You can't go wrong staying at the Vendue, it's located in a great part of the city and there is much to see and do close to the hotel. I will definitely return, Charleston is a very beautiful city and everyone was very kind and welcoming.