voco St. Augustine - Historic Area by IHG

Reviews

• DC

  Danyelle Clark

  2 days ago
  5.0
  Maria checked us in and she was very friendly. This was our first visit to voco, we are so glad that we crossed the bridge because it was so crowded on the other side. The hotel was quiet and the bed was comfortable, we used the laundry room to wash and dry clothes, that was convenient for us although I think to wash and dry 1 load of clothes was expensive. The cost to wash was $2.50, to dry was $2 but I had to dry twice in order to complete the load. Laundry detergent was $3 for 1 box of tide. My husband ordered breakfast, he had a waffle, scrambled eggs, 2 strips of bacon and home fries, the cost was $35. Breakfast was just ok.
• SM

  Summer Moretz

  3 days ago
  1.0
  We stayed in room 226, and unfortunately it had a terrible musty smell that was almost unbearable. The odor was so strong that it gave my husband a cough and gave me a headache. Thankfully, we only stayed one night, but we ended up leaving at 4:00 a.m. because we couldn’t tolerate the smell any longer. The woman who checked us in was very sweet and friendly, although the check-in process did take a little while. Overall, the hotel felt outdated, and the pool area looked like it could use a thorough deep cleaning. In general, the cleanliness of the hotel did not meet my expectations. The overwhelming musty odor in our room was by far the biggest issue and made for a very unpleasant stay. Would not recommend to anyone.
• HW

  Hilary Williams

  Jul 6, 2026
  1.0
  My stay at this hotel resulted in a serious breakdown in both guest experience and post-stay customer service. After checking out, I developed multiple bites consistent with bed bug exposure. While I did not observe bed bugs directly, the timing and pattern of the bites raised a legitimate concern that I promptly reported to the hotel. I also provided photographs of the bites to support my complaint. After submitting my initial complaint, I received no response for nearly a week. I ultimately had to contact the hotel again to follow up on my own. At that point, I was told by the front desk that the hotel was under new ownership, which was offered as the reason for the lack of communication. Regardless of ownership transitions, guest concerns—especially those involving potential health and sanitation issues—should not go unanswered. Business operations and customer service responsibilities do not simply pause during a change in ownership. Only after I followed up did I receive a response from the manager, April. The communication that followed felt procedural rather than genuinely investigative or guest-focused. There was little indication that my concerns were being taken seriously beyond completing internal protocol steps. To resolve the matter, 10,000 IHG points were added to my account, which is approximately a $60 value. Given the nature of the complaint, the discomfort I experienced, and the supporting photographs I provided, this felt disproportionate and more like a token gesture than a meaningful resolution. Unfortunately, communication effectively ended there. I have since sent two additional emails over the course of more than two weeks seeking clarification and follow-up, and neither has received a response. Aside from the single email from April, my attempts to communicate have been ignored. No detailed findings from the investigation were shared, no questions about the evidence I submitted were addressed, and no meaningful effort was made to restore confidence in the hotel’s handling of the situation. Problems can occur at any property. What distinguishes a quality hotel is how those problems are handled. In this case, the delayed response, lack of accountability, and poor post-stay communication left me feeling that my concerns did not receive the level of attention or professionalism they warranted. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this hotel to guests who value responsive customer service, accountability, and a genuine commitment to guest care. While no hotel is immune from unexpected issues, I expect transparency, timely communication, and meaningful follow-through when legitimate concerns are raised. Unfortunately, this property fell well short of those expectations, and I would not choose to stay here again.
• DD

  Disappointed Dad

  Jun 28, 2026
  1.0
  For the cost of this room, you’d expect a 5 star rating, but you definitely won’t find that here. The building is outdated and the renovations done are merely a bandaid to cover up the shortcomings that fill this place from top to bottom. The issues literally start at the front door which is unlocked and unsupervised. It leads directly to an elevator that absolutely anyone could access without the “front desk” even being alerted. This automatic sliding door was unlocked and didn’t require a keycard for entry at any point. Directly to the left is a stair case that leads to where the “front desk” employees are located. Not a single one of those employees were trained properly on how to complete a check in. During check in you’ll be notified of a $200 just in case hold on top of the room fee as well as a $10 fee to park in the hotels garage! This isn’t some fancy, well guarded garage either. It’s open air and has random, sketchy (and shirtless) men walking around in it for absolutely no apparent reason that thought nothing of approaching guests. Now, let’s get to the room, the original room I was placed in smelled incredibly musty and all together unpleasant so I requested to be moved to another room which was given as well as breakfast for 2 when I had a party of 4. A lot of good that would do to feed half of us. This second room was half the size of the first, but my price sure didn’t decrease in the least! Also, the water in the sink and shower smelled of sulphur at all times. Unfortunately, we were not the only guests having issues during our stay, another family also had to move rooms because of an ant issue in their room. I could understand one disappointed family, but multiple at the same time seems to be a greater issue than can be corrected by a free breakfast. The least they could do was offer a refund, but that was never even a suggestion. My family and I will never stay here again and I’m not so sure this location has what it takes to make it.
• TH

  Tina Hau

  Jun 27, 2026
  1.0
  The room is OK except for flies and not being sound proof. Mainly, we were appalled by the service, management and access to their facilities. After staying 1 night, their faulty access card locked us out of our room. They have an inflexible policy and stubborn staff that denied us of easy card reactivation. Due to security concerns, they can't let me in because I'm not a listed guest and my partner has to come in person to provide his ID again. I gave a simple solution by describing exactly what was in my room as a precaution, as you would do with most standards to claim back a missing item from a Lost & Found so why complicate matters? They were unwilling to go to my room to check if I have described my items correctly, despite I have given them permission to look in my room. Is this staff laziness, unwillingness to be flexible or simply didn't want to let me have my way? I called my partner to speak but the Hotel Manager refused to speak to him on my phone by insisting he call the hotel directly while he is driving in the rain, oblivious to his safety. I even asked if they would accept liability for any potential car accident for making him call in the current wet conditions. It was an unsmart request because how would they legitimately verify us if he called them? It's no different to their argument that I could have called Joe Bloggs or anyone to speak to them using my phone. The audacity. I think she is just deliberately being difficult at this point. Given they were anal about it, we entertained the idea. My partner countered with a better suggestion: they call him to validate us instead, since they should have his number in their system as proof and without endangering him while he is driving. I emphasised that it's their technical fault and inconvenience caused by them so why not provide an easy fix instead of adding all of these protocols? It doesn't matter if the Hotel Manager has 20 years industry experience if she isn't able to satisfy customers, at the expense of lowering their hotel rating. We have travelled globally for 40+ years combined to 3-5* hotels and never had this level of mistreatment, inefficiency under the blind name of security. I appreciate the security measure but I had my cards replaced/reactivated by hotels at all levels, same and different countries effortlessly without question or complication. I have friends who work in this industry to match this Hotel Manager's experience but I doubt they would be as difficult as this one. I'm not trying to be unreasonable but having worked in corporate and service industries, we know that policy and process are arguably rigid where there could always be exceptions based on circumstances and better ways of proving otherwise. This was not handled well. I'm not dismissing their security policy but their manner of carrying out such protocols seem unnecessary. If they have historical security breaches for them to add this oddly strict rule, that's on them and a red flag that they have to instill such practices due to faulty lock and theft issues. How about providing a safe in the room as a priority first? I was curious about their reviews after this and read that there was a case of fear for safety as a result of their faulty locks so I presume that's why they making it so challenging for guests to re-access their own rooms. Then, fix your technology. We should not be a victim of their practice. They should have more than one way to grant permission to reactivate a room card which should be a 1 minute quick fix than wasting 10-15 mins waiting at the front desk with 2 children by the lobby to have this resolved and have us arguing about it. It's a simple ask, "reactivate a card", not treat me as a thief. As if my children and I look like a make-shift family who would go out of our way to access another room without permission, despite I have my card with the room number on their branded cover to match as proof. They should have a bit more sense. It seems a lot of hassle to give someone who is just staying for 1 more night.

Frequently Asked Questions About voco St. Augustine - Historic Area by IHG