My partner and I stayed at Salamander Middleburg (5 star resort 1 hour from dc) for our anniversary, and while many of the front-line employees were kind, the resort’s response to a serious safety incident was completely unacceptable.
The guest in the room next to us was yelling violent threats, pounding on the door, and repeatedly banging or striking the shared wall with enough force that we were genuinely afraid to remain in our room. It appeared to be a domestic violence situation, and we were concerned both for the person in the room and for our own safety. We were scared enough to call 911.
What made the situation worse was how it was handled. The manager on duty that night made us feel like we were overreacting rather than treating the threats and aggressive behavior as a serious safety issue. The guest causing the disturbance was allowed to remain, while we had to ask to be moved to another room at 11pm.
No one from management, security, or the police ever interviewed us about what we heard or experienced. The hotel also offered us absolutely nothing for the disruption or inconvenience at the time. There was no meaningful follow-up, no explanation, and no effort to make things right until I contacted management afterward and complained.
The general manager later called to apologize, said they were reviewing procedures with security, and offered us a complimentary future stay. But a free stay is not an appropriate resolution when the problem is that we no longer feel safe staying there.
Hotels cannot prevent every dangerous or volatile guest situation. They can, however, take violent threats seriously, protect affected guests, investigate what happened, and respond with basic accountability. Salamander failed to do that. Definitely would not recommend.