How was your Crowne Plaza experience at Oasis?

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.

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!!

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.

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.

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....

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

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.

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!

"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....?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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....

this seemed to be the phenomenon........

if you sat in full view of the sushi chefs right at the bar ...the service was kickass and the drinks/food were prompt and delish. If you were unfortunate enough to seat at a table out by the aquarium or the FANTASTIC TVs (kidding) that show sports shows among the bits o'tiki still there, it was hit or miss--mostly miss. Does the Hanalei (old skool) NOT realize they need to beef up the staff for a big event like this? Our waitress, cute as she was, was not exactly at the apex of her skills and there were some SERIOUS time gaps between order taking , Coke refills, items coming out of sync--she was running her ASS off and not getting anywhere. The table next to us had a boatload of sushi delivered--I think they were just overwhelmed which is dumb cause SECOND YEAR they could have ---well, PREPARED for this?

The Islands restaurant was kinda the same as off- bar seating...the staff seemed PERPLEXED at the fact there were a LOT of Hawaiian shirt wearing people coming in this weekend--could have been a GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to make big tips but I'll tell ya...when it takes an HOUR to get a couple of sushi orders there is no way I am leaving any more than 15%.

That said, the sushi was really fresh and good but never again whatever garlic cream PASTE was put on top of my Dragon Roll

First off it is hard to blame a waitress for getting anxious when Hinano Paul and I sit at the same table for dinner!

That being said the morning/day crew at the Islands: Juan and JC were top notch. The sushi chefs rocked too. Wait staff in the bar was just plain overwhelmed and the Islands evening staff seemed ill prepared. I also had a problem with poor timing by the maid staff but only on Friday morning. The Islands is now a traditional menu because they closed Peacock (their other upstairs restaurant) and rolled it into one but kept the name. The least they could have done for this event was have the chef create polynesian specials for the menu. They also never opened the upper back part of the Islands which was because they didn't have enough people to staff it.

Overall it was still a fantastic event and kudo's to all of the official and unofficial ohana who made it so.

One positive note was that the GM was very visible almost everyday and management did seem to listen when problems were brought to their attention.

Looking forward to next year (except for the Sunday night red-eye home)!

the only 2 things I was very bummed out about was,

since I was not really staying there, I wasn't sure if it was ok to park in the gravel lot to the East of the Hotel on Fri. so I payed 12 bucks, ouch.

and the ATM in the Lobby was out of Order.
Luckily Al-ii came to my rescue, and I repayed him back at dinner on
Mon. nite.

I had no desire to sit in the Islands room since they remodeled it.
I was lucky to have ate there last year.
I am not into Sushi, so I had no want or need to go sit there.
But I asked Ran to Grab me a Burger while he was in there getting sushi for himself. That burger and the one I had down by the pool were great.
The Pizza I shared at the Pool on Sun was very weird and gave me heartburn.

My suggestion for Breakfast is go to Pacific Beach and go to Broken Yolk.
I was there 2 times in 5 days.
its the bomb.

I wanna try that place across the freeway.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

[ Edited by: bigtikidude 2007-08-22 08:49 ]

i am one of those that kept talking about the "good old days" at the Caliente Tropics but i must say that the Crowne worked out great.

service at the restaurants was slow but the Mexican restaurant at the Tropics would take an hour to make a few burritos during the busy times.

the rooms were great - ours overlooked the pool and was perfect. the rooms, although a little pricey, were the same that we paid at the Tropics and SO much better. unfortunately, that $ 150.00 to $ 200.00 range is the going rate for these bigger, convention accommodating hotels these days.

pool and lawn venue were great and the open area between the towers allowed me scan up and down the floors and figure out were the parties were. the suites some got for the parties were great - thanks to those who provided those parties and paid extra for the large rooms.

overall, i was very impressed with the hotel and staff. i know the restaurant service was down right bad, but after many years of attending the Oasis and other conventions, i believe service is always slow during those peek hours. next time, bring some food to your room or eat a big lunch at 3:00 so you won't miss the show activities. you'll save money too and can buy more vendor offerings!

balmy regards,

tiki bob

[ Edited by: tikibob 2007-08-22 09:16 ]

I didn't eat at the Islands. Just glancing inside and seeing the remodeling job depressed me. I did eat at the bar twice, though. It was crowded and the service was slow, but the food was good. The burgers by the pool were a little rare for me, but otherwise tasty.

If you're looking for a breakfast spot next year, I recommend a coffee shop called Perry's on Pacific Highway (less than 5 minutes from the CP). It's only open for breakfast and lunch and is popular on weekends, but I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a table even when it's busy. It's old-fashioned comfort food, with a few Mexican dishes, served amid a riot of unremodeled 1970s avocado-and-harvest-gold truck stop splendor.

Overall, I thought the setup for Oasis was far far better than last year. Having everything by the pool instead of in a tent in the parking lot made all the difference in the world. I didn't stay in the hotel this year or last, but I'm considering it next time.

We had dinner late sat at the Islands. We got a table on the patio and had a great view over the pool straight to the stage. We were able to see the whole thing and great people watching! Even though the food wasn't great and the service was slow, we liked the location that made it easy to eat and not leave the event. So we ate on the patio the next day for breakfast too. Russell enjoyed the fact that he got to say Hi to all his fans as they sauntered by!

I think the location was great, we especially loved the communal nature of the guestroom tower. Made it very easy to find room parties and to yell to friends.

Please tell Russell that he was the best dance partner I had all weekend! Watch out ladies, that monkey really knows how to samba!

Suzanne

This is our second year at Tiki Oasis, so I can't compare it to the Caliente events. Since I knew most of the hotels in the San Diego area, I don't think Otto could have found a better choice - enough rooms, enough outside space for a stage, enough room outside to set up a Vendor showcase, tropical settings with a giant swimming pool, and spacious enough rooms to host room crawls for thirsty rum drinkers. The only other possibility would have been either Humphrey's/Half Moon Inn or the Catamaran (on Mission Bay). But, I know H/HMI doesn't have enough rooms to accommodate all of the Tiki Oasis goers; but a point in their favor is that they are across the round-a-bout from the Bali Hai restaurant.

The front desk staff at Crowne Plaza was fantastic. The guy who checked us in reviewed our reservations and all the special requests we had (quiet room, need a refrigerator, etc) and gave us 3 options on the room. I am also a member of Priority Club, which gives kissy points if you stay at any of their affiliate hotels, and he was able to locate my registration number so I got the 7200 points for the stay there. I spoke with a desk clerk upon checkout and she admitted their staff was scared due to all the noise complaints they had last year, though we would be taking up the entire hotel. But she admitted we were "orderly" and they loved us and welcome us back next year.

Housekeeping was also above average and was always able to find time when we weren't in the room to clean it; they didn't want to clean when it was convenient for them. The trash cans around the buildings could have been emptied a few more times, but there was never any trash laying around or obstacles to avoid. The ice machines couldn't accommodate our needs either (enough said on that point).

We too had a couple difficulties with the Food & Beverage service staff. On the most part, when a hotel knows it is running 80%+ it needs to review any planned, group dining events. Tiki Oasis goers were on their own for all meals, thus they should have understood all food outlets would be slammed, and staff their servers accordingly. With the upstairs "coffee shop" closed, they had to rely on their main dining room, the sushi bar, and the grilling cart outside by the pool for all of us rum drinks to get some nourishment. When the waiter has to tell the hostess and manager of the restaurant where the division of his station (tables) is, then you know something is wrong.

Our first experience in the dining room wasn't too bad, but a table next to us, in a different waiters station, had to get the manager's attention when they hadn't even been served drinks after 40 minutes. My second experience was waiting 25 minutes before my server acknowledged my existence. Lastly, at the sushi bar, we waited 20 minutes to pay our bill while there was a line of people waiting to get a table. But, we never went unfed, the food was good, and the staff always seemed to smooth out the problems before we left.

I would definitely stay at the Crowne Plaza again. But, I would not rely on their Food & Beverage outlets for most of my meals. San Diego is packed with wonderful restaurants and delivery services to help keep the blood sugars regulated after all that rum! I can only see things improving each year we return.

Myke

I had a fantastic time and really, really want to thank Otto for putting together such a great event. It was twice as nice as last year by having everything in the courtyard. The pool side music by The Martini Kings was fantastic. Otto has got the formula down pat now.

We had no problems with the hotel or The Islands restaurant, but we only ate there for breakfast. The buffet was good and since it included drinks, it seemed like a bargain. The staff was very friendly. I like being able to roll out of bed and not have to go traipsing around town to eat in the morning. Even though I miss the pre-remodeled restaurant – man was that a sight to behold – I have to say the change did make a lot of sense for the hotel. The pool view and the open and well lit interior seem more inviting for the average consumer, and after all, that’s what it’s all about if you’re in business.

My only complaint for the whole weekend was the high volume level of the bands, especially since there were lots of kids there. There couldn’t have been more than 75 feet from the stage to the pool, but they pushed it to make it audible in the parking lot. But I don’t know of any sound man who doesn’t blast the audience now days. It’s o.k. for Surf, but it ain’t the way Hawaiian and Lounge should be mixed.

Love the tiki's still sprinkled all over the hotels, but we also got screwed at the Islands restaurant Friday night- it took way over 2 hours for them to get the screwed-up dinner to us and we missed all live the entertainment that night. It was more a fault of mgmt for understaffing than the harried waitstaff. Keep those tips for alternative nearby eateries for next year! There's got to be a better way!
However, the other hotel amenities were appreciated (magnifying makeup mirror, closet space etc) and when we dropped by the Caliente tropics this winter it sure looked a lot more run down than the Hanalei/Crowne Plaza.

I guess there are no hotel rooms with kitchenettes where some room parties could serve/sell food? I'd be happy with some heated pupu's from Trader Joe's if I could get them down my gullet quickly between drinks!

We did love the outdoor entertainment and vendors by the pool! Ah, those clear nights in Southern Cal!

Also, did not appreciate the $2.50 charged by hotel for a half pint bottled water at the outside bar. Yikes!

WOW! What an event this year. Felt like Palm Springs only bigger!

We ate at the Islands a bunch of times and found the service excellent, although things took a lot longer when they were super busy. It was obvious they weren't quite staffed for the capacity they were serving, but I found everyone polite, helpful and friendly. That goes for the rest of the hotel staff too, with maybe one exception in the five days I was there. Rock on Oasis!

We had a great time! Our first Tiki Oasis! Already looking forward to next year!

The hotel and the hotel grounds were wonderful! We had a great time wandering around on Thursday afternoon, just checking out of the decor.

The front desk staff was great. The young man helping us made every effort to grant our special request and we ended up with a room with a fantastic view of the stage!

Islands was not so great. We too had to wait quite a while to get some pretty bad food for lunch one day. Neither of us was up to going elsewhere to eat at night, so we asked the front desk to recommend a local pizza joint that delivered and ordered out pizza the next two nights. It arrived quickly and was great!

Our thanks goes out to Otto and everyone else involved in planning and running Tiki Oasis. We will definitely be back!

Thanks Otto! TO7 was truly great! I continue to daydream about it.

I used to be a Hotel Chef here in Denver and I am familiar with the corporate requirements that are put in place with regard to labor. All too often a hotel will come up short in the food and bev department when such a large group happens along. For this reason, I avoided the dining room so as not to be stuck waiting for my food or my check. My suggestion to fix this is to extend the operating hours and possibly the menu of the outdoor grill! This was a perfect alternative to expensive poolside or room service.

T. F.

The front desk, housekeeping, and room service were all stellar. We ordered breakfast and got it within 20 minutes. We ate at the sushi bar 3 times. The service was a little slow, but the sushi was good so it made up for it. Getting a fill-up on water or a drink was kind of tricky. I think they needed a 3rd person, just to bust tables and to serve drinks in that area.

I found the bed very comfortable, but what's with all the pillows. Man, talk about overkill.

My only complaint is the $10 a day parking fee, even if you're staying there -- that's kind of a bummer, they should just include it with the price of the hotel.

I managed to get a picture of the old parking lot sign before I left.

Good catch Cheeky!!!

Well, all-in-all, looks like the black marks go to the Islands for poor service due to being extremely understaffed. I also would have liked to have had some kind of a Polynesian dinner but the menu was pretty generic.

Hope it is a go for next year at the Hanalei (not the Crowne), I am looking forward to staying there and hosting for the room crawl, and hopefully the hotel will up the staff to provide decent service for everything.

This was our first time at Tiki Oasis an we had a FANTASTIC time! The hotel staff were pleasant and the venue was very nice.

We would however agree concerning the serving staff at the Islands. The hostess was great. We stopped by at 3:00pm and made a reservation for a table outside with a view of the stage. Our table had a reserved sign on it and was ready to go when we arrived. We sat down for dinner at 7:00 on Saturday night. Our server took 20 minutes to get to us and ask us for our drinks order. We told him we were ready to order food as well and he said that he was transitioning off and a new server would be taking over so he couldn't take our food order. He cam back 15 minutes later with our drinks (way to little booze) and told us that unless we wanted to wait an hour we had to order one of three specific pasta items, none of which we wanted. He didn't actually ask us want we wanted, he literally walked up to the table and announced, "unless you want to wait an hour or more you will have to order one of our pasta items." The whole evening was this way with him. He never did "transition" and all evening long as we ordered something he complained and told us why we would not want what we requested.

On 2007-09-01 11:58, GoldenTiki wrote:
This was our first time at Tiki Oasis an we had a FANTASTIC time! The hotel staff were pleasant and the venue was very nice.

We would however agree concerning the serving staff at the Islands. The hostess was great. We stopped by at 3:00pm and made a reservation for a table outside with a view of the stage. Our table had a reserved sign on it and was ready to go when we arrived. We sat down for dinner at 7:00 on Saturday night. Our server took 20 minutes to get to us and ask us for our drinks order. We told him we were ready to order food as well and he said that he was transitioning off and a new server would be taking over so he couldn't take our food order. He cam back 15 minutes later with our drinks (way to little booze) and told us that unless we wanted to wait an hour we had to order one of three specific pasta items, none of which we wanted. He didn't actually ask us want we wanted, he literally walked up to the table and announced, "unless you want to wait an hour or more you will have to order one of our pasta items." The whole evening was this way with him. He never did "transition" and all evening long as we ordered something he complained and told us why we would not want what we requested.

You guys must of had 'Abuse Me' on the back of your shirts !!!!! 20 minutes to order drinks ... cell call to the lobby and have the manager take the drink order....Did you 'Tip' this kid ?????