voco St. Augustine Historic Area by IHG

The rooms are modern, simple, and elegant, with lovely interiors, good toiletries, and a nice pool. The sheets are divine and the mattress is super cozy. It's a hidden gem, tucked away from the busiest areas but still close enough to reach them easily. Parking is now charged, though I think the price can be reasonable if you'd rather walk to the fun than stay right in the middle of it. The covered garage is well lit, not gated, and generally locked down late at night. One issue: the Wi-Fi won't let you log in to a VPN, which is a real inconvenience if you work remotely. None of the rooms has a bathtub, and there's no spa or jacuzzi. A sauna would be nice. Breakfast isn't crazy expensive, but since it isn't included or charged in advance, you can go enjoy the many options around, including Cafe Eleven buffets on weekends. Just note they stop serving before 10am.

The room smelled sour, and I wondered if it had really been cleaned. I was charged a $75 room cleaning fee for bringing my cat, which I'd never encountered before. The pictures made the hotel look new and clean, but the stay didn't live up to that impression. On arrival they said parking would cost $10. I complained and they waived it, but there were several other problems. We had booked a king bed and got two double beds instead. Two dogs in the room across the hall barked at every noise all night. We waited nearly 15 minutes for someone to take our breakfast order, then left. The door's deadbolt wasn't working properly, which made my wife feel unsafe overnight. We stayed the day after Christmas, and I'd like the reward points used for the night returned to my account to cover the $75 cleaning charge, since the room wasn't clean and we didn't get what we'd reserved.

The beds were extremely comfortable, but that's about the only thing that matched what we saw in the hotel's advertising. We paid almost $600 for a standard room with two queen beds, expecting a full bar and a bistro with plenty of appealing entrees. Instead, there was no liquor license and no alcohol, and there wasn't a food-serving bistro at all, just breakfast. The bar and restaurant were the main reason we chose this hotel, so for us it was definitely not worth the money. The website and advertising were misleading.

The bar and terrace were closed, there was no room safe, and breakfast was very limited. The rooms are spacious and the bed is large, but the strong cleaning chemical smell had nowhere to air out since there were no windows. The first room, a handicap room, smelled terrible, so we requested a change. The second had an equally strong old-carpet odor. It was a very unpleasant stay, and I wouldn't recommend the hotel. One star is generous.