I booked the room through Travelocity (a quick getaway for 2 grad students stuck in the Midwest). After some unsavory reviews, I had no idea what to expect. We received a great deal on travelocity, so with that in mind I didn't expect a 5 star omni/westin visit. I think that with a few tweaks this hotel could be an excellent budget friendly adults only getaway. We weren't offered the colored bracelets. In fact the lady that checked us in wasn't very helpful and didn't explain anything about signing up for the pirate cruise or any of the concepts. One issue that was quite noticeable was that the hotel was understaffed. Even during the check in rush, there were only two people checking visitors into the hotel. All the employees that were there were friendly and generally warm even if they were overworked. The hotel also needs help in the areas of communication (from the promotional materials to how well informed the employees are). Communication is severely lacking. At check-in we were given the restaurant hours, but we didn't carry that paper around with us. Without the paper it was difficult to remember the times and the times weren't displayed at the restaurants or in the lobby. I'm thankful I found this site or I would've been completely out of the loop. There are several lcd tvs in the lobby. Those should be utilized. Room I called travelocity to ask them to request a room on a higher floor. After spending quite some time on the phone, I was assured that I would have a room on a high floor. Once I checked in I was told that they saw the note on the room but there was nothing that they could do because some people hadn't checked out and were stranded by the weather and I was given room 136. That didn't make any sense to me. I assumed if you reserved a room and made request, a room would be reserved for you. Don't get room 136. It's near the hotel storeroom and all you hear is the clinking of plates, employees talking and carts rolling by. The bathroom smelled like sewage. When we entered the room the tub faucet was laying on the tub surround and a pipe extended from the wall where the faucet should have been. So much for first impressions. The frig in the first room was hot, but that was because of improper ventilation. Once we took it out of the cubby, it was fine. We stopped by the desk and called several times to ensure that we'd be able to move our room. We eventually moved to the 10th floor. That room was amazing. No smelly bathroom and no leaks around the window. In the new room, the frig had more room and there was a larger cutout in the back of the stand. We didn't have to move it. I would bring portable ipod speakers. I like music and there are no ports in the room. The music by the pool was cool. When there was music because the weather cooperated, it was fun electronic music (mostly background music, but still fun). I opened the room window to listen to the pool music. Food Whitebox-There are only three sittings (7, 8, 9) which wasn't made clear in any of the information given about the hotel. I thought you could make a reservation anytime during the hotel's hours of operation. After reading the reviews we woke up at 6:30 to get down to the lobby to make reservations to the White box. We were the first people down there and only one other person joined us slightly afterwards. By 6:50 a line had formed. But there were still only 7 or 8 people at that time. Moonlight-Oscar was an awesome waiter at the Moonlight cafe. The food was good. I was pleasantly surprised after all I the horrible food reviews. We decided to go there and endure the wait instead of going to the buffet. After surveying the buffet food it was an easy choice to decide to wait. As we were leaving our faces must have shown our disappointment because a passing waiter said, "No good." And chuckled as we swiftly made our exit back to Moonlight. Apparently, honeymooners and couples celebrating anniversaries get first dibs at these restaurants. It would have been nice to know that. Cafe Del Mar The rice used to make the sushi was tasty. However, I don't understand why they used cocktail shrimp for the shrimp nigiri. Black hole-It was closed. Not sure what happened, but it's supposed to be converted into a Japanese steakhouse. Moroccan-Closed due to the weather. Mexican Restaurant-disappointing. The sauce on the shrimp with rice was the same sauce we were given to use as salad dressing. The barbacoa tacos were good. The seafood burrito was too cheesy and it contained those same cocktail shrimp. Buffet. Guacamole, grilled veggies and fruit. Did not try any of the meats. They looked a bit unsavory. I only woke up for breakfast one day. I thought the food was satisfactory. My omelet was tasty and the egg whites with corn were good. I think it's appropriate to use discretion. Some things looked disgusting...just avoid those things. Coyote Bar The DJ was pretty terrible. He used a pre-made mix that we also heard snippets of on the Pirate cruise. The only difference and what made the pirate cruise version more tolerable was the lack of scratching. I don't understand why the coyote bar DJ had to add so much scratching during his set. It made it difficult to find the beat and dance. You can't scratch during the chorus of "My Dougie". That's the most important part of the song. At places like these I expect to hear Top 40, reggaeton and salsa. I didn't really hear any Top 40 songs (Katy Perry, Lorde, Rihanna, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Ellie Goulding). I'd just look on spotify to see the top 100 songs everywhere. In terms of fun. It could be fun. However, we were the only ones on the dance floor. There were a lot of people standing around. I think this could be helped with a better DJ. Things did seem to liven up as the night progressed. There was a lap dance contest. It was fun. The guys had to impress the birthday girl with their dance skills i.e. lap dances and grinding. It was really funny. The shows were enjoyable. Bars-The bar closed at 1 a.m. Last call happened really quick and we couldn't get final drinks...as a consolation we were offered beer. All the other bars closed at 10 pm. Because the bar was packed and there were only two bartenders and a bar back, we actually left the hotel to find a bottle or a bar with less people. I would recommend bringing a bottle of your favorite alcohol for after hours drinking. We would've brought something extra, but the horrible Midwestern weather (Winter Storm Ion) cut our planning short by a day. There was no tonic water at the bar that night. It was also very hard to find water for those trying to prevent next day hangovers. Entertainment Kinky Pirate Cruise (Hands down the best part of the trip...thankful the weather was nice on Thursday!!!) Slap Ass game-Lots of bare butts, getting slapped with shoes. Not sure the point of the game, but it was funny. :ass::ass::ass::ass::ass: Little people Androgynous Man (reminiscent of xerxes from 300) Most people wore sexy club attire. Ladies wore heels and sandals. The boat didn't rock too much. Best drink service. They were trying to get people drunk. It was really fun. Our server kept bringing us coke and rums. By the end of the night we had 15 drinks that we hadn't even started drinking. Just make sure you sign up for it on Wednesday. We weren't informed of this when we checked in. Several people we met over the course of the week also wanted to go, but couldn't. When they found out that they couldn't go they were visibly upset. Poolside entertainment Mostly non-existent because of the weather. The red flag for the beach was up Monday-Wednesday. And the pool was freezing, so only a few people ventured in. There was music and movie trivia. Before answering the question you had to yell out the password. The two passwords for Thursday and Friday were "I like 69" and "I like coochy coochy coo". Benny was great more pg, but still fun. It was a really tough crowd on Thursday. In people's defense it had been raining all week and Thurs. and Fri. were the first days the beach was tolerable, so most people just wanted to enjoy the water and the beach. There were drinking games. I participated. Man, I couldn't hold a candle to the Canadian ladies when it came to downing my beer. :ernaehrung005: Theme nights I brought lingerie for the theme night, but there was no communication of the theme night to other guests or on the promotional materials. When we showed up to the bar, most people had on regular clothes. There was some club attire/sexy dresses and heels. Pole dancing class It was fun. Mostly intro stuff. I've taken pole classes before, so there wasn't much new material. It was still fun. I would've like to shown off my skills at night at the coyote bar. Hot tubs-had to reserve at the spa. I think it was approximately $11 for an hour. Some people are willing to share others aren't. Before we knew about the reservation system, we asked two women who were on their phones looking at facebook, if we could join them. They looked at us as if we were crazy and said you have to make a reservation. A couple asked to join us and it was cool. Good conversation. We made two reservations. I saw two other tubs close to the quiet pool. Those were never in use. The tubs by the quiet pool/coyote bar would be nice VIP tubs especially when the club is in session. You could get internet in your room, and charge it to your room or a card. We met Valentina and were able to offer suggestions. It was cool that she was willing to meet with us. That was awesome. She was also able to get us on the pirate cruise. I really think that with time, better communication, and more staff it could be great. If you have any questions, or if there is anything that I didn't cover just let me know.
Thanks for the review! Glad to finally see some reviews coming up. My main concern is No bar open after 1am??? That's gonna be a problem. -Shawna
When you said the tubs by the quiet pool weren't in use.... did you mean that no one was interested in using them or they were not functional/operating? Thanks.
Thank you for taking the time to give us such a thorough review! Unfortunately everything you wrote is making me regret choosing GOV over TTR. I loved the idea of the black box, so I'm really sad it's closing. Japanese (hibachi, I hope?) is fun, but most of us can do that at home. It would be awesome to have such an unusual choice on vacation. I was so excited about the hot tubs. Nowhere on the website is there any indication they are part of the spa only and you have to pay to use them. Feels like a bait and switch. I'm glad there are poles in the Coyote bar, but it sounds like they won't let guests use them? Again, a missed opportunity for something I wouldn't normally do at home but would look forward to on a getaway (and have taken full advantage of at TTR). No advertisement or participation in the themes is the biggest bummer to me. It's such a great ice breaker and way to meet people. I don't think I can give that up, so that's probably going to be a dealbreaker for me. Glad there's still an opportunity to switch our reservation to TTR if we don't start hearing reports of the hotel taking more steps to implement the concept. Why make this "changeover" if they're going to be the same as every other resort on the strip? Luvs2Travel, what was your read on your meeting with Valentina? Do you think she's well-meaning but her hands are tied? Do you think there's real commitment to making GOV unique, or just marketing ploys that aren't going to be followed through with? --Laura
Hot tubs The hot tubs by the quiet pool were not used while we were there. We asked one of the lifeguards in the area if we could use them. But he looked confused and never really gave us an answer and just shook his head. They looked more like actual tubs. You could see the faucet for filling them. They were empty and I couldn't see any jets. We asked about reserving them at the spa. And we were told that they were booked although I never saw anyone use them. I think they were operational. The weather may have also been an issue. It was rainy and the pool was really cold, so there weren't many people hanging around outside. They were smaller than the tubs by the spa, which held 4-6 people (6 being generous and a tight fit).
Thanks for report!!! I hope things/ reports get better and they create more consistency!!! Would love to give them a try in June
Trust those reviews in which you have confidence! We choose to ignore this one! Our mistake? Possibly but in comparison with the ones we have faith in......... we are not worried at all! Just say i
Bars These were the bars at 12:30 am. The lobby was pretty dead. Mostly people with luggage sleeping. We were like where are we...are we still in Cancun??? Which led us to leave the hotel and end up here at the Hokie BBQ. But at closer inspection the Hokie Bar was closed too. We ended up back at the coyote grill only to find out it was last call. Sadface...:cry::cry::cry::cry: We talked to Valentina about keeping the more bars open. I mean there should be more than one option after 10pm. The next day after we talked, she told me that she talked to her bosses and they plan to keep the lobby bar open until 1 am. Still super early, but I guess its better than having everything shut down.
