Dishonest staff, terrible service, uninviting rooms, a mediocre restaurant, a poorly managed bar, lousy upkeep, and a dull ambiance.
We stayed at The Umstead Hotel ($800/night room), and the experience was far below what I expected for that price. The room was small and uncomfortable, and the balcony was no better—cramped and not conducive to relaxation.
The service was abysmal. We had to wait an excessive amount of time just to get someone to take our order, and when they finally did, they refused to bring us coffee at certain tables. We waited forever for our food, which was frustrating and unacceptable.
The restaurant was a letdown. The food okay, nothing special considering the high prices, but the desserts were terrible. Only the sundae was edible; any other dessert we tried tasted sour and bad. We ended up leaving most of them uneaten.
The gallery was in terrible condition—dusty, dirty, with large cobwebs and bugs everywhere. It was unsettling, far from the clean, luxurious environment you'd expect.
The bar experience was equally disappointing. We sat in the gallery of the bar and were completely unattended for over 90 min. When we finally decided to go inside to get a beer, they refused to serve us because they were closing. This was incredibly frustrating and not what you'd expect from a so-called luxury hotel.
To add, I accidentally left a $40 charger in the room; after calling several times it was clear it was stolen and they don't keep track of their staff.