Hotel Arya, BW Premier Collection

The best part was probably the location, which is why I'm giving it two stars. Our room was cramped and smelled strongly of marijuana, likely from smoking in nearby rooms. Since the hotel also has residences and hosts Airbnb's, I don't know how much they can control that. It made the place feel icky, and left us wondering whether it was very clean. I was disappointed by both the room and the customer service. We cut our stay short. At checkout, nobody confirmed that our stay and account would be closed, so I worried about extra charges. I didn't feel I could trust the staff, and that concern stayed with me after we left. When we called the front desk to check, they left us on hold for half an hour. Fortunately, we reached our third-party vendor, got a refund for the second night, and confirmed we wouldn't be charged more.

The rooftop pool is beautiful, the gym is well equipped, and the bed and bedding were comfortable. Everything was impeccably clean, and the front desk staff were so kind and friendly, with wonderful hospitality. Regatta Grove and CocoWalk are an easy walk away. We also loved Crema Cafe for its excellent coffee and nice sidewalk patio for people watching. I'd definitely come back and highly recommend it.

The pool was nice, but it was about the only thing I liked. This place acts like a luxury hotel, though it feels like a budget one. Our balcony was separated from the neighboring room by a cloth, so there was no privacy, and we heard a baby screaming all night. The rooms clearly don't block sound well. Our phone and fridge also didn't work. Check-in took 30 minutes because the front desk couldn't work out how to apply a gift card. She could have checked us in and sorted it out on her own time, but instead kept calling people while we waited. She even suggested we come back the next day when her manager was in, after our checkout time. We had to insist she check us in that day for our one-night booking. The breakfast buffet cost $20 and only had cold food. It looked worse than the most basic free Best Western breakfast I've seen so many times.

They told me my refund had been issued, but a month later the booking agent said the hotel had never refunded me. When I called for information, they hung up on me and repeatedly left me on hold for more than 10 minutes. A horrible experience with this hotel.