I booked a night for my son and I to stay and enjoy the pool and amenities through Expedia, and due to covid they require that you book a reservation for the pool. I called countless times with no answer ahead of time, and emailed multiple times over a few weeks prior to our visit. Finally the day before we arrive they wrote to say because we booked on Expedia, we weren't allowed to reserve ahead of time, only those who book directly at the hotel.
Consequently, when we arrived we could only go to the pool after 5 pm.
Their rooftop lounge took 25 mins for a drink and both food orders were wrong.
We went to have a drink in the lobby before dinner and we're told that drinks would be 20 mins.
I actually stayed here before and the service was Fantastic, not sure what happened to this place- which is unfortunate as I live in the area and would have frequented the place for corporate events.

Let's start with the good. Lovely hotel, extremely pleasant and accommodating staff. We had a beautiful one bedroom suite. However, considering that this is a new hotel, the towels were stained and already frayed, bathroom drawers were dirty and there was debris around the bed. This lack of attention to real cleanliness was a sign of a much larger problem:

Over and over during our two night stay we saw unmasked staff. As well, guests were allowed to go mask-less in plain view of staff.

1. Let's start with the restaurant staff:

On three separate occasions while walking through the main restaurant to the patio we saw unmasked restaurant staff chatting away with their masks resting in a permanent position below their chins. These staff were at serving stations set directly inside the restaurant, in full view of guests preparing the food. Hmmm...

Each time we asked the hostess to please tell them to put their masks on. The third time when I asked her " Does it help if someone tells the staff to put their masks on?" I could see from the look in her eyes, and her embarrassed silence that it did not. No fault of hers - it is obviously a management problem and saying the hotel does adhere to Covid protocols is merely lip service.

2. Got off the elevator at the rooftop bar - saw two staff members talking without their masks. They saw us and put them on. - but too late. Covid is an airborne disease - They were standing in a small hallway and if they were infected, the particles would already be in the air ready for all to inhale.

3. While ständing at the reception area to the rooftop bar I noticed another kitchen on the floor, the door was open - the chef was chatting without his mask - he caught my gaze and put it on. Again too late.

It doesn't matter if staff are vaccinated or not. Twenty percent of people getting Covid right now are fully vaccinated - but luckily they will avoid serious illness.
However, fully vaccinated people can spread to others , even if they are not symptomatic - meaning they can spread to unvaccinated children, the elderly who have a greater chance of getting more severe disease, and immune compromised individuals.

4.I saw unmasked guests lounging in the lobby in full view of staff. Clearly a blind eye is the rule of the thumb.

What is so shocking to me, is that in Ontario, being unmasked in public settings is against the law. We live in Toronto. We often do take-out from restaurants and can see right into the kitchen. I have never seen anyone un-masked - nor have I seen anyone unmasked in a public setting here in Toronto.

5. While there are signs all over the X hotel saying that guests should have masks that fit snugly around their faces ( when they are wearing them...), the staff have all been given ill-fitting black fabric masks which are loose and ill-fitting, often dropping and resting just under their noses.

This systemic lack of attention to the most basic of protocols, despite advertising otherwise, makes you wonder that something going on at the top level is not quite right.

Too bad because I would have liked to come back to this hotel, but not until Covid protocols are really enforced.

Carlos da Luz was amazing. He ensure we had the best stay at Hotel X August 26th. I had the breakfast package and the food was amazing and you could have it in your room or the restaurant. Carlos met with us and spent time ensuring our stay was perfect. We go once a year to this hotel and it always aims to please. Carlos deserves a promotion!!