It got off to a bad start. After a flight delay we arrived at the hotel very late. It was a shock to find that the front door was locked. We could not gain access.
There was an external plaque indicating emergency contact numbers. We telephoned repeatedly. No-one answered.
Luckily, two guests arrived and let us into the foyer. Inside we found an alternative phone number. This time we succeeded in speaking to a manager. It turned out that our room key had been placed in an external safe box by the front door.
After much stress, we were able to access our room. But all this inconvenience could have been avoided.
Annoyingly, I had sent the hotel management two messages via my Expedia account explaining that we expected to arrive late. The messages were not responded to.
Once I connected my phone to the hotel internet, I found that they had sent me a late message about the routine closure of Reception at 10PM. But we were on the plane at this point.
On discussing the issue with Reception the next day, they said the hotel's Expedia page indicated the time that Reception would close. But frankly, this is in the small print. At no stage ahead of our arrival were we asked at what time would we be arriving. Or for that matter, there was no mention of the locking of the front door in the automated communications we received from the hotel. This was a real lapse.
The front desk staff compensated us with a free breakfast. They were great. But the management need to improve procedures.