stanj

Check In Check in went smoothly. The front desk rep was friendly and explained features of hotel and Diamond perks.Only hiccup was that the keys didn't work to unlock the room. I went down and had them re-key the cards, but they still didn't work. I called down and they sent a maintenance person up. In the meantime, the keys started working. Maintenance person thought the door-latch was not fully engaged, which would have caused the problem. Probably my trying to open it and pushing/pulling on the door finally got the latch to "click." Room We were pre-upgraded to a one-bedroom suite. It actually showed the upgraded room on the reservation about a week before the arrival date. Nice big living room space with small dining table, wet bar w/ mini fridge and microwave, couch w/ coffee table sitting area, large desk area, and big tv. Lots of drawer space.The separate King bedroom was small. Almost no space to walk between the wall w/ mounted TV and the bed. The bed was comfortable and nightstands had drawer space and multiple electric sockets w/ USB chargers. Seems like many hotel designs are going away from nightstands with drawers, which I find annoying. I like to have a place to store things out of sight.Bathroom was decent-sized with a fair amount of counterspace. Service Service was good, overall. Housekeeping was quite prompt in servicing the room on most days and did a good job. Service at dinner in the restaurant was a bit lackadaisical the one time we ate there. Dining The full buffet breakfast in the restaurant was included for Gold/Diamonds. It was a pretty good spread, with eggs, bacon, etc. Also had a waffle maker and good selection of fruit and yogurt. Oddly, the waitstaff would bring water, but you had to go and get coffee yourself, which was kind of inconvenient.I believe you could order a la carte also, but we didn't bother to look at the menu. Not sure if there was a dollar limit on what you could order, if you went that route. Location Great location, just behind the Empress. Easy walk to just about anywhere around the Inner Harbour and beyond. Street noise can be an issue, even on the higher floors. Parking Valet parking only at a hefty price (CDN$20). There seemed to be a lot of street parking available, which could be paid through an app, so you can "feed the meter" remotely. We opted to park at a great (and very cheap) city parking garage two blocks away--Broughton Street Parkade. Open 24 hrs, first hour free, evenings and Sundays free. Total cost over a four night stay was less than one night of valet parking. Granted it was over a weekend and we were in and out, but maximum 24 hr rate was $12. Overall Stating the obvious, but this is definitely not the Empress. It's a good hotel in a great location at a decent price. Depending on the room and floor, you might get some good views of the Empress, Parliament Bldg, and Harbour.Overall, we had a great stay at this hotel in one of our favorite cities.