Much as I hate the thought of lining the pockets of the Hilton sisters, I intend to look for an Embassy Suites whenever I'm making hotel accommodations in the future.
We stayed in a DUMP when we went to the Cleveland Marathon last year. It was over a mile from the start, and we paid over $100 to stay there (marathon weekend "special" pricing, you know) and another $20 a day to park our car there.
This year, I decided it would be worth another $50 to stay at a hotel closer to the marathon start and finish. I surfed around expedia.com -- checking out the reviews from other travelers and decided on the Embassy when I saw it was just 3 blocks from the marathon start and $149 a night (parking...in a ramp..just $10).
First impressions count
We found the place...no problem...thanks to our portable GPS unit (oh...you MUST get one of these puppies).
We couldn't believe how nice it was when we walked in (even if the lobby was undergoing renovations). There were waterfalls. lighted outdoor patios on the 5th floor and marble (marble-like?) flooring and columns and -- get this -- FRIENDLY people working there who actually wanted to help you! Imagine!
The room
Our room was quite large with a separate room containing a couch, chair, desk and large, flat-screen TV (with a game controller...so there must've been video game access?). This area also included a little kitchenette with a fridge, a microwave and a sink.
The beds were in a separate room which had another large, flat screen TV. The bathroom towels were big and fluffy as were the pillows. Freebies in the bathroom (shampoo, etc.) actually smelled good.
The only complaints I had about our room was that...A.) the carpet was stained in a few spots, but then..really...don't we all know better than to lay on the floor of a carpet in a hotel room? and B.) our beds were just on the other side of the wall from the bank of elevators...which were annoyingly loud.
The staff
Did I mention they were nice? I'm so unaccustomed to good customer service that I wanted to cry when these people were not only kind, but..HELPFUL as well. They chatted...made small talk and were eager to please.
Why I'll stay again:
Two good reasons:
1. Evening "manager's reception" in the bar with free drinks and snackies
2. A free cooked-to-order breakfast in the morning. Since we were out running miles and miles and miles, we weren't able to take advantage of the breakfast, but...I wandered in later to get coffee and I was impressed. They had cereal and milk and bagels and toast and...you name it...they had it. Most was a serve-yourself thing (think college dining hall), but you could get items cooked-to-order if you waited in the food line.
Another nice surprise:
We walked all over downtown Cleveland looking for a place to eat on Sat. night. We ended up, reluctantly, deciding to eat at the hotel's restaurant. To be honest, it looked expensive and too "swanky" for us in our jeans and windbreakers, but...it was a pleasant surprise. Again...friendly staff (imagine!) and they had a GREAT menu with lots of healthy choices and very Erie-like prices. We each had a dinner (I had a cajun shrimp veggie wrap & the hubby had a burger and fries) and we spent $22 -- which we could oh-so-easily just charge to our room.
Other things:
* The hairdryer in the bathroom was not that stupid little tiny thing that you find in most hotels. You know the thing that has barely enough wattage to turn on & is tethered to the wall by an 18-inch cord?
* Free coffeepot & coffee in your room (though..even the dumps offer this now).
* High speed wireless internet access
* A pool (never thought to look for this before we came...or we'd have brought our suits!)
* Relatively late check-out time of Noon. Most other hotels are now 11 a.m.
The bottom line:
I've traveled enough to know that one chain of hotel in one city is very different from the next, so I can't say that all Embassy Suites will be great in every city, but it's worth moving up to the top of your hotels-to-check-out list.