Originally Posted by
drnilescrane
I remember feeling the building felt old when I stayed there myself, but I looked it up in Emporis and it was only built in 1999! It was a Holiday Inn (back before the downtown hotel boom of the late 2000s) and ran into some trouble after the events of late 2001. It was converted to Gild Hall in 2007.
Just seems like a not particularly high end building to begin with coupled with a value engineered recession era renovation.
I think part of the problem is the vibe they went for - lots of dark tones on the walls and furnishings, brown paint on the AC, dark leather headboard, black wardrobes, dark carpet, etc. in what were always going to be pretty dark rooms given the surrounding buildings and lack of natural light. If they had went a little brighter vs dark and sultry then I think it would have held up a little better.
A renovation would be nice. But guaranteed a renovation means going from Cat 4 to at least a 5. I’ll take it as is (for now) at a 4 even with its design and F&B shortcomings.