The Hotel Melrose

The hold on funds for damages which take a week after checkout to be released

There was no face to face contact with people, although all messages were answered promptly.

nothing, it was great

Clean and simple

To arrive at this place after a 7 hour drive was the most appalling experience we have ever had.
Which ever algorithm is involved assumes you have a fully charged I phone an internet connection daylight and proficiency in taking images of yourself and your passport.
We only got wi fi access from asking the nice helpful cleaner.
There are no staff .The ‘bar’ was in darkness and unmanned.
Stay here at your peril!
The actual hotel is beautifull but they have redefined the term customer service (NOT)

No personnel onsite , everything went fine but I have never had a ‘no personnel’ experience

They should provide parking. It was a little stressful thinking we had to get up and feed the meter before 8am.

Had to pay for parking- but it was super convenient.

Parking is a bit of a pain. It requires you to park in public pay-to-park lots. Luckily they’re all fairly close by and I didn’t have a ton of luggage. The stairs are also a tad small inside so carrying two bags and a backpack was an adventure. I also wasn’t a fan of the digital check in process and lack of front desk people to approach with questions. It felt impersonal to have to send a text off when I had questions and the delay made it seem like you weren’t much of a priority. Additionally, with respect to this being a historic property, the room felt small. A deluxe king suite was the size of a standard hotel room and the shower was about the same size as something you’d find in a camper (although the decor was still amazing in the bathroom). There was also no real chair in the room so eating was a bit of a process when I had something delivered to my room.

They will store your personal information, not just use it to identify you, which can easily lead to identity theft.

All hotels need to verify the identity of who's staying there, which is reasonable. You show them your driver's license or passport, they look at it, then you put it back in your wallet or purse. But, at The Hotel Melrose, they keep a photo of it and a photo of yourself. It's beyond intrusive - it's literally exposing yourself to identity theft. They are literally storing your key personal identifiable information - and your personal photo - with non way to prove any safeguards, plus they can't tell you how long they'll keep it, what they can use it for, or who will have access it to it - remember, they can't tell you how long they will keep it, which is very scary.

This is the most basic identity-theft risk (and easiest to pull off) and AI make it easier than ever. When will companies learn that we live in a world where personal info must be safe-guarded more than ever?

Oh, and there's no one on-site - you have to text someone off-site if you need something.

The rooms have no chairs.

Take a look at the crappy furniture in the pic. It's cheap Ikea furniture with bubbled surfaces.

More on the identity risks:
Biometric identification isn't the future, it's now.
Your photos could potentially be used to create AI-generated images, videos, or deepfakes of you.
Some companies retain identity documents and biometric data for years, increasing your risk.
Small companies almost always have weaker security, privacy controls, and oversight.
Your data may be shared with third-party vendors or service providers.
You may have limited ability to verify whether your data was actually deleted.

Keep in mind that identity theft can take years to fix.

N/a

Nothing.

Room is close quarters. Bar not open and we never met any employees. Check in is totally remote.