Tropicana Hollywood

Ordered 3 drinks at the pool and the waitress came with our drinks and the tab. I paid and gave her a 20% tip. Before I took off, I asked for a full receipt for work. The next day when I was clearing my wallet, I found out that they had an automatic 18% gratuity on there and that I had tipped on top of that. It is not noted on the receipt where you sign and the cocktail waitresses seem to not say a word about it. I hate places that like to cheat their customers like that.

Decided to meet a friend for a quick poolside lunch, since she worked near there.   It was Wednesday, so was not busy.  The menu is very  limited, and  we almost left when we saw that a basic hamburger or sandwich was @ $17.  Despite not being busy we had to flag for a waitress anytime we needed anything.  The food was decent, and the portions were very large, but not worth $17.  I realize its poolside at a hotel...but this place is no where near as cool as a dozen other poolside hotel bars in LA, so 17 bucks for a Turkey Club....really??  Our waitress disappeared, so another one dropped off the bill  with a "Oh by the way...we have already added a 30%... YES THIRTY PERCENT GRATUITY TO YOUR BILL."  ..ummm WTF??  We were a party of three.  We had sandwiches and ice tea,  so my burger and arnold palmer came out to $30.  What a rip-off.  If I'm going to pay that...I want city views.  And I've never heard of anyplace AUTOMATICALLY adding gratuity on 3 people...and certainly not 30%.  
I will never go back there.  Check out the fabulous hotel bar at THE LONDON if you want poolside...better food options, better prices, much better service...oh...and a Fantastic view.

THIS IS A PRIVATE-EVENT REVIEW

Our company held its holiday party here last year, which was a treat. Can guarantee I wouldn't have visited otherwise--in Justin V's words "not my scene" at all. Regardless, we were there, so enjoyed it! The hotel itself is super swanky and when you're poolside, gives you that feeling of vintage Hollywood. The bartenders were helpful and attentive, even though there were constantly people flocking the bar and trying to get their attention.

It is outdoor, but it was chilly on our party night but there were a LOT of heaters scattered throughout (especially near the bar) so everyone warmed up quickly.

-1 star for parking. Valet parking is lovely, especially when it's paid for by the company, but OMG the line for valet parking went AROUND THE BLOCK and people were IN LINE for valet for literally 30-45 minutes... if not more. I don't know what it was about the valet system that went wrong (did everyone call in sick?) but please FIX THIS.

-1 star for lighting/layout. This is obviously only applicable if you're thinking of hosting a big party, but the layout isn't necessarily conducive to big group speeches or really seeing who's there, etc. Our President tried to give a speech at one point, but because of the layout around the pool, I doubt more than 1/3 of the people realized what was going on or could hear what he was saying. The ambiance is awesome for a poolside lounge, which is what they are most of the time, but just something to consider if you're event planning yourself.