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How was your Crowne Plaza experience at Oasis? |
tikipedia
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 25, 2004
Posts: 490
From: San Diego
|  Posted: 2007-08-21 5:14 pm Permalink
Tiki Oasis VII was completely awesome. A huge thanks to all of the people who worked so hard to make it a reality. Otto, the volunteers, the artists, everybody.
But was I the only one who thought the service at the Crowne Plaza was awful? We went to the Islands Restaurant on Friday, and it took over an hour just to get our food, and we didn't even get our bill until close to 9:30, by which time we missed most of the acts. We didn't get our requisite glasses of water until 20 minutes after we were seated, there were no refills on our drinks, and I never did get my salad. I had to walk to the bar to order some additional cocktails, since our server was a no show.
On Saturday, we went to the sushi bar, and while it was a bit smoother, it still took over an hour to get our food, pay, and then split.
It seems that the CP management completely underestimated things, and the staff was overwhelmed. I don't blame the staff (and certainly not anybody associated with Oasis), but I think the management was being overly cheap by not bringing on enough people. It seems that not only has the mana left the Hanalei, so has the service.
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Billy the Crud
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 02, 2007
Posts: 996
From: San Diego
| Posted: 2007-08-21 5:23 pm Permalink
Yeah, it took FOREVER to get my sushi, but my room was cleaned spotless every day, there were always clean towels at the pool, the front desk staff was kind and courteous, etc. You could totally tell that they were overwhelmed, though. Poor guys! Victims of corporate greed, man.
Tiki Oasis was the BEST time I've ever had in San Diego. Can't wait for next year!!
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Haole'akamai
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 07, 2005
Posts: 2272
From: The Polynesian Port of NOLA
| Posted: 2007-08-21 5:34 pm Permalink
The room staff WAS fantastic. Always cordial and pleasant, very professional.
I had stellar service at the Sushi Bar (all four times I ate at it, over the course of the weekend), but will agree that the restaurant was bad news.
Slow was not the word for the service. My Grandma's slow and she could have served 5 times the number of people in the time it took the waitstaff to serve us.
I asked for a plain salad and was served a chicken salad. As I'm a vegetarian, I told them as much and asked for them to bring me a plain salad. They took it back and about half way through the replacement salad I found, you guessed it, a piece of chicken.
And what's with telling a friend of mine, "We're out of burgers," when they're serving them from a grill about 20 feet from the dining room?
Wow! I guess I had something to say. Sorry for the rant.
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Matt Reese
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 09, 2005
Posts: 1148
From: San Diego
| Posted: 2007-08-21 5:46 pm Permalink
I had four california club sandwiches over the course of the weekend and they all showed up in a reasonal amount of time.
One dinner...not so reasonable. Not terrible, but I felt like I was missing the action being trapped in there.
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closettiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 23, 2007
Posts: 302 | Posted: 2007-08-21 5:54 pm Permalink
ok......the hotel...great...clean...comfy...and the grounds ...awesome.....the islands.....the pits..just as others i got no service.15 min before i was ask if i had had my order taken...20 min to get my meal after that and the water came as i was leaving.....the bar was quick if you went to the bar ...and thats important,,,fast drinks....overall a great time...just eat elsewhere....
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Mr. NoNaMe
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 10, 2006
Posts: 1918 | Posted: 2007-08-21 6:14 pm Permalink
I ate at The Islands and it was not so hot. The waitress was having a bad day. I assume. Maybe too young. $11 burger inside and $6 outside. Same burger. Fries of cardboard, blah chipotle wrap and some other downer. I think that I actually complained to the head guy at the outside bbq station.
The sushi was great! The time it takes to get your sushi is dependent on a big factor. Are you sitting AT the sushi bar or at a table in the bar.
You always get better service when you are looking into the eye of the sushi chef. You can tell if he is pissed or pleased.
Erik the Red
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PiPhiRho
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 1013
From: Redondo Beach
| Posted: 2007-08-21 7:02 pm Permalink
I did not have a problem. I did not eat at the Islands, though. I ate at Albie's, the (outside) burger and at the sushi bar. The sushi makers were prompt and the sushi was quite good. Drinks and check were a little slow, but it looked like there was only one waitress serving the whole place and she always seemed to be out of breath. If that is true then she didn't do a bad job, considering. Room staff and front desk staff were great. Overall this was a much better experience than last year.
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Hinano_Paul
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 22, 2006
Posts: 211
From: Orange, Ca.
| Posted: 2007-08-21 7:18 pm Permalink
So funny!
Well we all had the same slow experiance as well. But I loved ours! We ordered salads on Sat. since they came with bread (soak up some rum) after we were almost done still no bread? whan I asked for it our server Dani said "oh my gosh, we are totally out of bread I'm sorry". But heres the funny part right after this conversation we saw two other servers and our wonderful Dani started serving everyone around our table this unavailable bread! I had to laugh since we were already sitting there 90 minutes. but all and all a great time!
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Cammo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 18, 2006
Posts: 1951
From: San Diego
| Posted: 2007-08-21 7:26 pm Permalink
"Are you sitting AT the sushi bar or at a table in the bar."
Right on. If you're going to the sushi bar, sit at the sushi bar. Always check how busy it already is, cause it ain't getting faster with you sitting down too.
Best breakfast - the Waffle Spot, across the street at the King's Inn. Best dinner - Bali Hai Poke (another tip from NoNaMe) and Albie's steaks. The Hanalei simply has no good food anymore; the sushi was passable. We're going to cater some L&L Hawaiian or some ribs next year, just never thought of that. How about a LUNCH room party....?
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Tai Won On
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2007
Posts: 244
From: San Jose Island
| Posted: 2007-08-21 8:03 pm Permalink
We also had poor(slow) service at the restaurant and the food was'nt much better. Late Friday night when we decided to sit in the bar and order food, the clearly overwhelmed waitress informed us that "We are out of everything that needs to be heated. We still have sushi for about another minute then that'll be gone too."
She did not see the humor in our "then why'd you give us a friggin' menu" comment.
Over all though the hotel was great.
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telescopes
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 06, 2007
Posts: 566
From: Palm Springs
| Posted: 2007-08-21 8:20 pm Permalink
Yes, the service was slow and I was always worried that I might miss an upcoming event. However, given that I really love Shelter Island and Humphries Half-moon, I think the Crown Resort was ultimately the best place to host the event. The self-contained feel was incredible. I wonder, has Humphries ever been considered. They have a stage and hosting area for vendors - what they are lacking is a restaurant, except that Bali Hai is less than a 1000 feet away.
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catmomma
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 14, 2007
Posts: 267
From: San Diego
| Posted: 2007-08-21 9:25 pm Permalink
We only ate at the restaurant once and that was on Friday night. The food was pretty horrid, took forever to show up as well. Did you guys see the buffet? yeech. After that $60 experience, we decided to not eat at the hotel for the rest of the weekend. Only thing good was the server screwed up and brought us the wrong drinks so we ended up getting one set of drinks free.
Also after that first night I went home and brought my own alcohol. I should have thought of that from the get go. Good thing I have a fully stocked tiki bar 3 miles from the hotel! The drinks out by the pool were no good, small and $8.50 a pop. Also cash only which I was a bit short on this trip.
Other than that, I was happy with the staff, every one was friendly. The room was very comfortable and well kept. I saw guys hustling to bring out plenty of towels for the pool, etc. I think those who were on duty worked their butts off to keep us happy and that was nice.
Next year I just know, bring snacks and booze. Won't be partaking of edibles at the hotel.
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Tiki Lion
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 05, 2007
Posts: 152
From: Marina del Rey
| Posted: 2007-08-21 9:45 pm Permalink
I arrived after 1 Saturday AM, following a horrible experience at LAX (>6 hours of delay getting a 12-year-old solo on a flight to Sacto), then a late-night drive on top of a week consisting of 20+ hour days X 10.
So I arrived late, and not so good.
Immediately reception set me up with exactly the room they had promised, sent me to the bar (the bar was supposedly closed), where the bartender immediately served me a healthy refreshment, then suggested I consult the Eye-racle (he had obviously been paying attention)
I went to my room.
Perfect.
The rest of the night is posted elsewhere, but the next day did not start early.
Out of consideration for what I was sure was a severely challenged house staff, I brought a short (really!) list of 3 requests to restock my room, and made clear I did not need bed, towel, bath, or any other service, just some more coffee for the next morning.
Anyone see The Lost Room? Close the door, turn the key, open the door, the room is reset - perfectly.
That's what I found less than an hour after leaving my request for coffee at the front desk.
That, and a whole bag 3X every item replenished when setting up for a new guest.
Blew me away.
Went to the Sushi Bar that evening: the bar itself was filthy with spilled liquid (light and dark), wasabi, rice, chunks of lime, etc., but when the backside server didn't get to it forthwith, the sushi chef himself cleaned, set up, and got me yellowtail and maguro real snappy. Delicious!
Backside server never did get me my drink; on the flip side, it wasn't on my bill.
Verdict:
1. I received excellent personal service, above, beyond, and invisible - it just miraculously happened, with all due thanks to the house staff.
2. If we make clear to corporate that we will only give them money if they give money to their staff, let's do it again.
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VampiressRN
Grand Member (7 years) 
Joined: Nov 23, 2006
Posts: 5660
From: Sun City Lincoln Hills (NorCal)
| Posted: 2007-08-21 10:19 pm Permalink
First of all, bigbigbig thank you from the bottom of my heart to Otto for putting this whole thing together....nothing less than an huge undertaking. GREAT JOB OTTO!!! It was my first Oasis, I was very impressed and ready for 2008 and beyond. 
I did not stay at the hotel, but I did sit at the Islands Friday & Saturday night. Bottom line...I think the Island's staff really tried hard, were overwhelmed with the amount of business and did the best they could. We had a ditsy waitress on Friday night...but she was an absolute delight...not quick, but so friendly and always smiling and trying to get our orders all correct and to us in a timely manner. Saturday night we had a fellow that was unbelievably cordial and worked his arse off to get our meals to us and make everything right. I spoke to the restaurant supervisor and told him I thought our service had been great...he was so happy to hear that as there had been negative situations that were stressful for his staff. When I eat at a place like that, I really don't expect 5-star service or food, as the ambiance is what most of us pay for.
The parking lot attendants were great, I noticed they worked hard to keep the pool area clean, and everyone I encountered seemed to be trying to do their job the best as possible. I think if feedback was given to the hotel management that this will be a great place to hold the event at again next year.
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croe67
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 05, 2003
Posts: 1068
From: Land of Cheese & Beer
| Posted: 2007-08-21 11:53 pm Permalink
Agreed that best Bfast definitely the Waffle Spot.
Overall, the Crowne Plaza was GREAT!!!!!
However, the "after hours" (i.e., after 10pm) food situation was NOT good - nothing but Sushi - give me a break - not good alcohol-absorbing food & took FOREVER to show-up. REALLY Needs to be fixed next year.
the maids also had the worst timing, Day 1 (thurs), we left the hotel at 8am & returned at 3pm to get ready for the Bali-Hai. When did the maids want to clean our room - oh, about 3:15. We told them to come back at 4:30, they said the couldn't because they leave at 4:30......we called mgmt & straightened it out, but shouldn't have had to.......& on Sunday, they started banging on the door at 8am - what's up with that??
again, great overall, and I would be HIGHLY grateful if the food situation could be fixed next year....
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