Troy Parquer
Latest Reviews
Living Room
Friday evening drinks after a long travel day at The Living Room was great! The live music, drinks and overall vibe actually made us want to stay in the hotel during our stay for nightlife (something we rarely do on trips since the hotel nightlife scene is usually lacking).
Saturday night, after dinner at Sushi Roku (which connects to the Living Room), we exited the restaurant to a velvet rope stanchion with no attendant. We stood there for a few seconds and then tried to step over the stanchion because it wasn’t apparent we had another way into the Living Room and we didn’t want to unclip it. As we were stepping over, we loudly heard a “HEY! STOP!” coming from a man in a suit walking from a distance away, who we learned was the attendant letting people into the Living Room. He told us quite baldly that only guests were allowed in. We told him we were staying at The W and he then asked “You got room keys?”. We presented our room keys and he then opened the velvet rope. I have no issue with verifying guest access, but if an area needs to be granted access, the attendant needs to be posted at the ropes at all times. He didn’t apologize for confronting us, and overall the entire interaction, as short as it was, was a turn off. When we entered the Living Room, a large number of seats were marked as “RESERVED” via signs on the tables but were unoccupied, leaving no seating as the bar was full. I don’t disagree with the model of reserving space in a bar, especially for VIP/VIC’s or large groups, but I wouldn’t have ALL the non-bar too seating marked as reserved. True lounge seating should be “first come, first serve” with some areas in the more private corners reserved for groups/VIP’s. Overall, I feel the operations of the Living Room should be dialed in to create a more enjoyable customer experience, especially as part of a W Hotel which caters to the more spirited, up-scale guests. I will choose different night life venues next time in Scottsdale.
Saturday night, after dinner at Sushi Roku (which connects to the Living Room), we exited the restaurant to a velvet rope stanchion with no attendant. We stood there for a few seconds and then tried to step over the stanchion because it wasn’t apparent we had another way into the Living Room and we didn’t want to unclip it. As we were stepping over, we loudly heard a “HEY! STOP!” coming from a man in a suit walking from a distance away, who we learned was the attendant letting people into the Living Room. He told us quite baldly that only guests were allowed in. We told him we were staying at The W and he then asked “You got room keys?”. We presented our room keys and he then opened the velvet rope. I have no issue with verifying guest access, but if an area needs to be granted access, the attendant needs to be posted at the ropes at all times. He didn’t apologize for confronting us, and overall the entire interaction, as short as it was, was a turn off. When we entered the Living Room, a large number of seats were marked as “RESERVED” via signs on the tables but were unoccupied, leaving no seating as the bar was full. I don’t disagree with the model of reserving space in a bar, especially for VIP/VIC’s or large groups, but I wouldn’t have ALL the non-bar too seating marked as reserved. True lounge seating should be “first come, first serve” with some areas in the more private corners reserved for groups/VIP’s. Overall, I feel the operations of the Living Room should be dialed in to create a more enjoyable customer experience, especially as part of a W Hotel which caters to the more spirited, up-scale guests. I will choose different night life venues next time in Scottsdale.