I've been staying at the Hotel Arista yearly (sometimes a couple of times a year) for about the last 4-5 years. My most recent visit was a couple of days ago. I live locally, and stayed there for a family member's birthday. My family usually stays at Hotel Arista just to enjoy the hotel experience itself, so I find myself paying attention to all the little things Hotel Arista has to offer...and my expectations tend to be a little bit high.
My experience with the reservations team this year was good--in planning our little trip, I spoke with Christina, and she was great at answering my questions. She helped me put in a request I had for a particular room, and upon arrival, I did get my room request. Also, I'd had flowers delivered to the hotel, and they were in the room when my family arrived--so that went very smoothly, which I appreciated. There was also a fruit bowl at the front desk, which was nice for grabbing a snack. And, per usual, the room was clean, and nicely decorated. Wifi reception is good--and free. It does feel like a boutique hotel, and the staff is very friendly.
However, although staff are nice, service can be a bit hit & miss. Sometimes it's excellent. Like when the staff opened the front doors for us. Or the host wished my family member a happy birthday at check in. But sometimes, I feel like the staff have a tendency not to follow through on providing services/amenities that the hotel advertises (this has been true throughout most of my visits over the years...but I'll focus on this last visit). For example, this year, my registration confirmation said that Hotel Arista offers a drink upon arrival (which I discovered later was a champagne tasting...or soda/water if you ask). But when my family registered, we were not offered any drink.
And prior to arrival, I'd received an email inviting me to fill out a special request form with any particulars that I'd want for the room, like a dvd player, a special pillow, etc. That's great. But when we arrived at the hotel, we did NOT receive our special requests. No big deal about the pillow we asked for, but our family actually did really want a dvd player. So I asked the person at the desk if we could get one as we were leaving the room that afternoon. When we came back a few hours later...still no dvd player. I had to ask AGAIN, and finally someone brought one up within a half hour...along with the lavender pillow we'd requested online (which was advertised as a heated pillow--it wasn't heated, but I did find out later that I could call someone to have it heated if I really wanted to). On the bright side, the person who brought up the pillow did offer us two additional pillows to use once they saw we had a total of three guests in the room.
However, because of things like this, I tend to always avoid getting any packages that offer extras...because I feel like I'd have to push/remind staff of everything in order to actually receive the benefits (in fact, one year, I did have a specific offer that came with a food credit...and even THAT somehow got messed up and I had to remind them about my credit). But aside from that, I do always enjoy my trips here...and once I let staff know about any problems, they do eventually make things right. In fact, this year our trip ended pretty well--our family was able to check out an hour late, and we had a great time together. We'll likely be back again.
Other than that...just an FYI that the hotel no longer offers Molton Brown bath amenities when you book a Grand Luxe room (they REALLY should change that information online...this amenity is still being advertised), but the Lather bath products they have in all the rooms now are still very nice. Also, I was a little disappointed in the selections available via room service and at SugarToad this year...it seems they've shrunk the menus a bit. However, I would recommend Lavazza Expression for a quick bite (they have good salads) or a gelato treat (if you visit the area often, don't forget to ask about their punch cards). And CityGate Grille, across the street, has a nice atmosphere (I recommend signing up for their emails...when I did, I received a deal for subscribers).
Hope this helps someone. Happy Vacations!