The Hampton Inn & Suites Richmond - Downtown is co-located with a Homewood Suites. They share a parking garage.

Check In

No problem, but no recognition of status. (I was actually Diamond, but due to a foul-up at Hilton corporate or the preceding hotel, it hadn't posted. Still, no recognition of Gold.) I was given the room type that I had reserved.

Room

My main complaint with this hotel was the thermostat. The first night, the thermostat turned itself off twice. Each time, I awakened uncomfortably warm, got up, and turned the thermostat back on. The second time, I could not go back to sleep. The front desk clerk was disinterested and apparently unable to understand the problem. She called maintenance and then told me that the thermostat had been reset (remotely) to 55 degrees with the fan on high and it was working now. I said that I knew it was working now because I had reset it, I did not want the room to be 55 degrees, and I did want the thermostat to work overnight. She said that she would relay the information to maintenance. I went out, returned, and worked in the room. The thermostat shut off and alternately blinked CH and 26 before going blank. I phoned the front desk and asked that someone come look at it; I was told someone would be there shortly. No one came, but the thermostat came back on a minute or two later. Also, multiple times during the day, the thermostat changed its temperature setting without shutting off. A half-hour later, I left again. When I returned to the hotel, I asked the (new) desk clerk if anything had been done. He had no record of any problem or solution, and was similarly disinterested, but did call maintenance and a worker did come to the room. He suggested that I could change rooms if he couldn't fix the problem, and I suggested the adjacent room, which was being cleaned and would minimize the inconvenience of moving. The worker said he would talk to his boss and suggest the adjacent room. I went out again; when I returned, I asked about progress solving the problem. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but the desk clerk was unconcerned and had no record of a problem nor solution, but did say that the adjacent room was unavailable. The second night, I again woke twice to find the thermostat had shut off. At some point, a maintenance worked did visit the room and said that this was a recurring problem. During the second full day, the thermostat reset its temperature setting without, as far as I know, shutting down. However, it also reset its temperature to that same setting following what seemed to be a remote restart.

The 1 King Studio Suite, which I reserved and apparently was assigned, had a sofa, but no light anywhere near it. This is a success story for the hotel, because a floor lamp was provided after I requested it. However, other rooms (that I saw while they were being cleaned) had floor lamps, so why didn't this one? Also, there was only one light near the bed. Apparently, anyone on the right side should not read in bed.

Not an issue for me, but I mention it for those who care, there was a device low on the wall near the bed that had a "pilot" light that acted as a night light on steroids.

The box between the bed and the white wall had an unnecessarily bright "pilot" light.

Wet bar and bathroom. There was plenty of counter space by the bathroom sink.

Another view of the wet bar, and the entry hallway.

The floor lamp by the window was not in the room when I checked in.

Service

This was a Hampton, so little to no service in the normal sense. Nonetheless, I have comments.

The hotel, which is co-located with a Homewood Suites, has fancy elevators where the passenger specifies the desired floor before entering and then finds no panel in the elevator car. One time, I boarded the car, had it lurch and stop, and then sit there. I pried the doors open and found the car was about a foot above the floor.

Calling pad for fancy elevator. Note the fine railing installation.

Dining

As far as I know, there was no facility for lunch, supper, or room service, but I would normally not avail myself of any of those. My stay was during COVID-time and I expect anything that would have been available wasn't. Breakfast, I know, was obliterated. Every hotel where I've stayed on this road trip has had a reduced breakfast, but every hotel has had milk and cereal available, until now. Here (and at the co-located Homewood Suites, where the Hampton customers actually picked up breakfast), it's the box: bagel, cream cheese, full-sugar yogurt, two eggs, and a utensil packet. One day, there was bottled water. One day, there was a paltry selection of fresh fruit. One day, neither water nor fruit, only the box.

Location

Location is why I chose this hotel. I parked in the garage and walked to all the sites I wanted to visit.

Overall

The disinterested front desk staff and the inability of maintenance to fix the thermostat are the two main reasons why I would avoid this hotel if I returned to Richmond. More than once, I got the impression that the desk clerk would say anything to get me to go away--and with no attempt to sound interested.

I expect the COVID-time breakfast will have gone away, but it was such a cheap-out and I believe that reflects on the hotel management. Certainly I had much better breakfasts at other Hilton properties in Virginia during this trip.

Wi-Fi

I don't recall any specific problem with the Wi-Fi, but the hotel decided that "hhonors" is not good enough for its network's name, and so it has a non-standard name. Like most Hilton family hotels I have visited for two or more night stays, I needed to provide credentials every day.

Amenities

The customer-facing laundry facilities are apparently their own profit center, costing $2.50 for wash and $2.50 for dry. (I have already washed clothes twice on this trip, for $1.00 wash and $1.00 dry, so I know some hotels do not regard self-serve laundry as an opportunity to screw the customer.) Also, the washers and dryers require payment by card at a wall kiosk, which had no instructions saying it was for the washers and dryers. There is not much else it could have been legitimately, but any box that tells me to insert my credit card should tell me why.

Pay station for laundry.

The business center is in the Homewood Suites. The printer did not work, apparently because an earlier customer had stolen the cable.