The Citizen Hotel, Autograph Collection

I’m not really into politics, but I like this hotel and the idea of it. The rooms are really cozy and I mean real cozy. Some may complain the rooms are too small and they might be if you have two people or more in one room. I was by myself and it was fine for me. The valet workers were cool and they worked hard but the whole valet situation is pretty unorganized and chaotic. Hands-down the worst set up for a valet service I’ve seen. The walls are also ridiculously thin. You can hear your next-door neighbor at a regular talking volume as well as people outside on the street. Could also hear the domestic dispute between a couple that was extremely disturbing to where I had to contact the front desk to do a wellness check a couple of times and luckily everything was sorted out. (He got the boot). I appreciate the hotel reimbursing me on certain charges in lieu of the disturbances but unfortunately, I have to stay with this low rating. If the disturbance didn’t happen and the walls were a little bit thicker, I’d give it a solid 3.5.

My wife and I reserved the penthouse suite w/balcony for 2 nights during our 3-day wedding before we were planning to head out for our honeymoon.

I'll start with the good:
The view of the capitol building from the room/balcony was exquisite.
The staff were extremely helpful on check-in, even requesting the penthouse elevator and holding it for us.
The decor/theme is very unique and charming, focusing exclusively on historical political events that occurred around the capital of California.

Now for the not so good:
Upon booking the room, I asked if they could do anything special for us on our wedding night other than alcohol (since we don't drink), and the receptionist assured us they could. Upon checking in, they offered us a bottle of champagne that was sitting behind the front desk, but upon getting to the room, there was nothing special at all. No chocolates, no snacks, no strawberries, no petals on the bed, not even a card or a note. All that was there was the 2 standard bottles of water we get as part of our Bonvoy status. We did not feel appreciated or cared for at all.
The balcony is *shared* with the room next to us. Can you imagine our surprise when my wife and I open the door to the balcony and see other people out there? The balcony is easily big enough to put a divider and some plants down the center to give both rooms private balconies and still have unrestricted views of the capitol! It makes no sense!
We were told by the front desk that room service was available until 11, but calling at 10:15, the phone kept ringing and ringing, eventually going to a voicemail that said the number was out of service. I called the front desk and had them transfer me, only to have the same issue.

Now for the bad:
The room was right next to the elevator equipment and it was incredibly loud... it sounded like a vibrating phone was laying on the table, going off all night long, making it impossible to sleep. We left at 3am to find a different spot to stay and finally came back the next day to remove everything from the room and check out early. This has to be one of the worst experiences at a hotel we have ever had and will likely never be going back.