Like another reviewer, I was here for 7 nights in early June 2012 for some training. I won't get into the conference center as most readers won't care.
The hotel is in a pretty nice location. Just two blocks from the "16th street mall", there is plenty of quality restaurants within a 10 minute walk. I was on a high floor and had a reasonable view, albeit partially obstructed by a taller building. The fitness center is like any other hotel. A couple of machines and some free weights. This one was fairly well decorated, though. The elevators are SLOOWWW. I timed one wait at 2.5 minutes of me just standing there. Also, they have a "sound effect" at each floor. After hearing it 4-8 times a day for a week, I thought I might have nightmares.
The decor is pretty nice. I'm under the impression that it was recently renovated. I think the designer did a good job. However, the execution (building) of said renovation seems mixed. In my room alone I noticed a wall-mounted thermostat that does nothing (because they have a unit under the window with its own controls), instructions for connecting to the internet through a wired port without an actual wired port in the room, some bubbling in the carpet, a leaky toilet, a nearly always on cooling unit (I didn't think 74* required being on 80% of the time), and a 1/8" gap all the way around one of the electrical outlets.
None of those things are deal breaking, really. I was still comfortable after a week long trip. However, a few things could have made it a lot better:
1) Quality internet connection. The wifi here is supposed to last a day at a time but I often found myself having to reconnect after less than 8 hours. The connection itself is barely passable for streaming video sites like youtube or video conferencing software like skype, google+ hangouts etc. I did a connection test via pingtest.com and speedtest.net and the connection received a "D".
2) Refrigerator: There is none. I loathed having to go to the ice machine two to three times a day so I could have cold water. It doesn't help they only provide two 8oz cups.
3) Microwave: There is none. I don't fancy eating out every day especially on such a long trip. Without a fridge and microwave I was forced to live on dry, warm food.
Concerns 2 & 3 are allegedly resolved if you pay for a higher rate room. At a discounted price of $159/night for my stay, I think that's expensive enough to warrant these things that much cheaper hotels have.
I'd stay here for 1-3 nights at most, but more than that is too much especially lacking those things mentioned above at the fairly high price point for the room.
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