Review of The Mission Inn, Riverside, CA

December 5, 2009
Prestige Mold Christmas Party at The Mission Inn
On December 5, 2009 myself and my date arrived at The Mission Inn to attend my date's company Christmas Party and to stay the night at the very celebrated hotel. When arriving at the valet, I must say that the Bellman who "took care" of us, really did take care. This gentleman was very courteous, nice, diligent, helpful, and just pleasant overall. This person knew his job very well, I must say, I was impressed. Next, we went on into the lobby area to get checked into our room. This experience couldn't be described as any better than ok. There was a very long line to check into the hotel. One can somewhat understand this as it is a very popular hotel and especially so during the Christmas months since there is much hub bub about the Christmas decorations. The person who checked us in was stone faced and matter of fact. When a person stays at a classy hotel, the expectation is that the person checking you in will be extremely pleasantly welcoming. It was not the case with this person. I have to say that throughout our stay, the lobby area was consistently a "cluster".
Next, my date and I continued on to our room. My first impressions were that it was a nicely decorated quaint room. The windows and veranda were so nice. They were still the old style of window and doorway that you would expect in an old time Mission. The other characteristic that was immediately noticeable was the fact that the TV armoire was not in front of the bed, but over to the right side of the room. Meaning, if you were laying or sitting in bed, you would have to keep your head turned to the right in order to watch TV. After getting somewhat familiar with our room accomodations, my date and I went to walk the grounds and surrounding shops. While we purused the area, it was evident, even during the day, that the Christmas decorations were absolutely outstanding. This is a special place to see during Christmas time. My date and I window shopped in a few of the antique and hobby shops and then we decided to stop for a bite to eat at Bella Trattoria restaurant that is a part of The Mission Inn. We were seated by the Hostess whom we asked for an appetizer. Next the waiter came to take our drink order. We ordered drinks and soon after, we ordered our respective entrees. Next, we waited and waited and waited. Many people who were seated after us, received their food well before we did. And at some point, we asked about our appetizer and it became apparent that the Hostess never told the waiter about it. We cancelled it. Bella Trattoria does have nice atmosphere as an outdoor eatery and the food that we ordered was quite tasty despite having to cancel the appetizer.
Our next endeavor was to get ready for the party. During this escapade, it became clear that the drain to the bathroom sink was broken, the shower was outfitted with a large window (ok, it was covered with a blind, but still, a window in the shower! who wants to shower like that?)
While we were waiting for our party to start, we had to wait for another group to leave the room and for the room to be tidied up. It seemed odd to me that such a presigious hotel would schedule important events so close together as to make attendees wait in the cold. Yes, we were waiting outside in below 50 degree weather. There were patio heaters, but unless you were standing right next to one, it was very cold. And the hors d oeuvres were horrible. The jumbo shrimp were quite chewy and the stuffed mushrooms were stuffed with an awful sausage that repeats on you.
The food that was served during the party was very good. It was buffet style and just about everything we tried was very good and tasty.
In the morning a couple more things were apparent. The coffee maker that was in the room did not work and every once in a while it seemed like a herd of elephants ran by above us. Turns out, there was some service hallway directly above our room.
We did alert the person whom we checked out with. She said she would tell the management, but offered nothing else. It was a bit surprising being that this is not a cheap hotel and our stay was much less than stellar.
Leslie