Hotel Nia, Autograph Collection

The hotel is beautiful. The rooms look just like the photos and have incredible lighting and art, soft mattresses, thick comforters (a rarity these days), and a big TV turned on to a welcome screen that offered for us to plug in our Netflix, YouTube, etc accounts so we could watch from subscriptions. I personally liked our view of the corporate office, park, and slight glimpse of the ocean. I also, contrary to some other reviews here, found housekeeping to be excellent and thoughtful. There were nice touches like canned water (free to keep), robes (not free to keep), and our housekeeper tucked all our combs into a cup in the bathroom and straightened our keepsakes for us. We were there for a weekend, so there was live music in the evenings. It was gorgeous to listen to from the winding stairs and gardened courtyard. All that being said, why the three stars? First, a lack of cohesive policy understanding among staff. We called before our stay (we were there on business, so were expensing and needed an exact cost figure) and were told there would be no credit card hold for incidentals, since we were paying the entire room cost upfront. When we got there? $200 hold for incidentals, no exceptions. While we were at the hotel, we called the front desk to check when valet closes (more on that in a sec). The desk staff told us 2 a.m. We got back at around midnight and a different staff member told us no, it closed at 11 p.m. More on valet: The hotel requires valet, which is $40/night. No self parking. No street parking. The valet staff were fantastic every time. Jumped to open the car and hotel doors, asked when we were going back out, asked if we needed anything. Appreciated our bumper stickers. And they were working insanely long shifts! No shade to them at all. It's just the fact that valet is the ONLY option. And, yes, valet closes at 11 p.m. (If you're late getting in, you park your car on the curb and leave your key under the front desk. If you want to leave after 11, you're SOL.) You know what else closes at 11 p.m.? Room service. You want coffee? Well, the coffee shop closes at 2 p.m. If you want coffee after 2 p.m., DoorDash it, the front desk told us. If you want food after 11 p.m., there's a fridge with unlabeled wraps and $8 yogurt cups in the corner of the restaurant. Or you can DoorDash it. There are no vending machines, no sundries shop. There are no restaurants or shops in walking distance. We were keeping wild hours due to attending a tech convention, and given the area this hotel is in, I expected them to have more care for people with late-night schedules. Instead, the hotel simply shuts down, and you're locked out of any self-service options. Not being able to get into your car after 11 p.m. isn't just inconvenient. It's a safety hazard. Same with no access to food or drinks other than water. For a place boasting that it's "redefining the expectation for high-end hospitality," I was not impressed. Yes, the hotel is stunning to