While Savannah’s Kimpton Brice was fun, we were looking forward to trying the Mansion on Forsyth Park too. It’s a Marriott Kessler Collection, so one can expect art *everywhere*, an in-hotel gallery, trendy furnishings, and a very boutique feel.
This hotel can get expensive in the high season, into the $400s. Thankfully we were able to jump on a Marriott package on an off-week and were able to save tons. We avoided valet fees since there was a ton of on-street, non-metered parking right beside the hotel.
There’s art everywhere. Everywhere-everywhere. This is the hallway to our room
Our room
The bed was soooo comfortable. It can be purchased from the Kessler Living site, and Av and I are a few years past due for a new mattress. I’m thinking, though, that we might give the Casper mattress a try (Consumer Reports liked it too). If you have experience with it, I’d love to hear.
This is where our problem was. I took the boys swimming one morning. See how the pool surround is marble? Know how marble is really, really slippery? So maybe having marble all around a pool isn’t the greatest idea. When Shug got out of the pool, he actually slipped and fell on his side getting out. He was hurt but was able to walk it off. Shugie got out right behind him and did the whole slide-but-catch-yourself thing. Also, you can’t see in this pic, but around the lounge chairs by the pool steps — and I didn’t see them until we were toweling off and Shugie stepped on one — there were little shards of marble. His foot was cut but it wasn’t too bad and we were able to stop the bleeding with some pressure. Sooooo….
…we did what anyone would. We got up, went to the lobby and told the front desk person that an area of the marble decking may have some kind of cleaner residue that makes it really super slippery, and that there are some shards of marble that need to be swept up.
We thought that was it. We just wanted someone to know. We weren’t upset, we didn’t ask for a Bandaid, neither of the boys were in tears, this was for informational purposes so they could do something about it. The front desk person asked us to wait just a minute. Here, I’ll paste the text of an email I sent to management:
The woman at the desk immediately went to get the manager on staff. (name retracted here) came out, and rather than doing what any person in any similar position would do — express that they were sorry about these things happening and thanking them for letting the hotel know so it could be fixed — she treated the three of us as potential lawsuits.
She scribbled notes on a series of post-it notes, then told us to show her the shards. Rather than walking with us back to the building, she got on the phone and started laughing.
At no point did she ever say “I’m sorry that happened” or “thanks for letting us know” so no one else would similarly be injured. Several minutes later, there was a knock on our door with her telling me to fill out a multi-page incident report.
How did this go so wrong?
Even my kids realized this wasn’t handled correctly. She never said she was going to get the shards swept up (though a maintenance man did come over to look at the shards too), or look into getting the slick spot on the pool deck taken care of. Never acted as though she cared.
I was going to let this go, but just today, one of my boys asked me again if I thought she took care of things so no one else was going to get hurt on their vacation. The other one asked me why she didn’t say “sorry” like they are taught to do at school. The fact that they are still thinking about it is enough for me to reach out to you.
I have no idea why we were treated as though our next stop might be a lawyer. And I have no idea why this was handled as though my children were exhibits rather than little people who were hurt and had genuine concern for others.
BTW, when the maintenance man came to look at the shards, he reminded me that the pool deck of course gets slick — it’s smooth stone. I just didn’t say anything. Maybe if they’re so accustomed to people falling getting out they should consider putting down something other than a smooth stone. You know, like just about every other pool that has a textured decking.
Your pool can be so hot it breaks Instagram but if the fact that people get hurt around it elicits a you-shoulda-known, maybe something’s not right.
Actually, I realize that their fear of lawsuits is real, but we presented as nonchalant people who just wanted someone to look into something for the next guest and we were on our way up to our room to get ready for another fun day in Savannah. And if filling out an incident report is policy, okay too. Anyway. This could have turned out so much better. And I was especially proud of our boys for even several days later hoping that they got things fixed so no one else would get hurt.
Let’s talk about fun stuff again! The hotel, true to its name, is right at Forsyth Park, the one with the famous fountain. We spent lots of time there around the fountain and the park — Shugie brought his football so he and Shug were kicking and passing the ball…running everywhere, having a great time.
One morning, we had the breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant, 700 Drayton, which was included with our stay. It was all really good, from the pancakes to the omelette, benedict, and shrimp and grits.
And the setting there was really pretty as well.
I think we’ll pass on staying at the Mansion on Forsyth again. The TripAdvisor reviews are giving me pause too. Maybe the Bohemian Riverfront next time?