Brooke S.
Yelp
Many years ago I had a wonderful dinner in the restaurant, but as I live in Houston had not had the occasion to stay at the hotel. However, because I have night blindness problems driving, last week in order to participate in Griff's live trivia, I had to choose between taking a fairly expensive round-trip cab ride from my house or stay at the hotel which is only block away. I decided to splurge on a mini-vacation.
How much you will enjoy your stay depends very much on what is critical to you. If (as I was), you're looking for a location that's within easy walking distance of many great food places, including Aladdin's (Mediterranean), BB's (Cajun), Underbelly (New American Creole), and Ucci (Japanese/sushi), to name just a few, along with fast food places for those who want something quicker, as well as bars (the afore-mentioned Griffs, but also Catbirds and Poison Girl) and fun stores such as Half Price Books and Spec's, then you will be happy. If you also want a place with a unique ambience and sense of history, with beautifully appointed guest rooms, then you will be happy as well. I found the bed extremely comfortable and the staff friendly. TV channel selection was well above average. But there is a price to be paid for staying on a historic property,.
Specifically, this is not a hotel for anyone with a mobility disability. The rooms are on the second floor up a long stairway. The shower has stairs and a huge step-in, with no grab bars to provide safety. I was not able to get the Internet to work, probably because the network guests were instructed to use never came up over two bars during the times I attempted it. The door to the room (I was in the Van Gogh suite) had a very flimsy door knob that had to be held carefully in order to get the key to lock it (this explained why there were three types of locks on the inside door instead of just two); in fact, when I was shown to the room, the door was ajar. The bathroom door also didn't shut, which wasn't a problem given I was staying by myself, but would otherwise have been annoying. And although this is obviously trivial, I chose the Van Gogh suite in part because he's one of my favorite artists, but there was no trace of his work that I could ascertain in the room. One would at least have thought that of the several coffee table books of artwork, one could have been of his.
In short, I don't regret my stay there, but because I have now experienced the sense of history, often vitally need an Internet connection, and don't like climbing stairs or dealing with difficult showers/tubs, I wouldn't do it again. But I would definitely dine here again.