steede

Just got quoted a room rate of $279 per night for a January weekend at the Memphis Peabody. I know this is a nice hotel, but didn't expect it to be quite this pricey. I was hoping to get something in the $150 - $200 range. I guess my question is is this $279 room rate worthwhile? I don't think I'll be paying it, but just curious if the Peabody is really this nice?

thanks,
steede

rrz518

Nope. You're paying for the ducks.

doubleflyaway

It's been a long time since I stayed in the Peabody (1995). It was nice, but I don't remember being overly impressed, and I was more easily impressed back then (I was 17). I wouldn't pay $279 a night for it.

hhonorman

You don't have to be a guest at the hotel to watch the ceremony with the ducks; it's open to the public.

steede

Thanks for the speedy replies regarding the Peabody. I'll probably just end up staying at the Holiday Inn across the street- got a rate for $85. Would have paid a little extra for the Peabody, but $279 sounded a bit extreme to me, especially for Memphis. The ducks aren't a big deal to me, my wife might enjoy them, we just thought it might be nice to treat ourselves to nicer digs on our little trip.

-steede

MisterNice

The Peabody is a nice old hotel but it aint worth any $270. I been there many times and no two rooms are the same and the entire place is noisy, and the rooms are noisy. BTW the duck viewing is free (and also noisy).

Check the Wyndham forum on FT, immediately join WBR and then try to get the Wyndham Union Station Hotel using the very nice 72 hour sale deal on the forum.

I just checked for Jan 9-11 2004 you can book the Wyndham Garden Hotel for $34/night or the really nice classic Wyndham Union Station Hotel for $64/night. It typically goes for 2-4 times that rate. You will get more far more goodies staying there than at the Holiday Inn.

MisterNice

hipquest

What a great place to stay in Memphis! My husband and I were there for business (him) and pleasure (my BDay) the week before Christmas.

We received a very nice larger king room on a corner. Comfortable bed and a very nice sitting area-large couch and chair. Tiny bathroom but well appointed and very clean. Bonus that they have an alarm clock in the room (when I roll over in the middle of the night I don't want to wake myself up more to pick up my phone to check the time).

Very nice breakfast buffet for the $16 price that includes eggs cooked to order and French Press coffee. Some of the very best biscuits and gravy I've had.

The DUCKS One of our things to do when we are there for the MIM BBQ competition is to stop in and have a drink to watch the ducks march out. I got to be the Honorary Duckmaster on my BDay! Kind of cheesy, yes, but it was pretty great. The bar in the lobby is a great place to relax and people watch but don't plan on watching either duck ceremony (11am and 5pm) unless you're a registered guest or paying for a drink but you can watch from the mezzanine or outside of the lobby lounge.

Excellent service from check-in until check-out!

A beautiful and well maintained historic hotel that I would highly recommend. A great location downtown! Sorry, no pictures, I was too busy to take them.

My husband is in Memphis a lot for business and I'm there several times a year. If you have any Memphis questions I'm happy to answer them.

hockeyinsider

Has anyone stayed at The Peabody of late?

pinniped

We walked through it a year ago. Didn't even see the ducks. It looks like it's seen better days. In fact, all of Memphis looks like it's seen better days. We were just in town long enough on a roadtrip to walk around a bit and hit some Rendezvous BBQ.

Although the upthread advice is 15 years old, it's still accurate: I'd book a room elsewhere and walk over there for the ducks.

hockeyinsider

It has a 4-diamond rating from AAA and a 4-star rating from Forbes. It can't be that bad?

pinniped

The 4-Diamond thing doesn't seem to mean much but 4 stars from Forbes does. So yeah, if it has that then it is probably very good.

My opinion was formed by walking through the lobby. It felt dated to me...stuck in another era, but not in the same way I'd want to feel walking into a historic hotel that was simultaneously fresh, clean, and up-to-date. Contrast to walking into the Hotel Del Coronado, which is 150 years old and beautiful, sparkling clean, bustling, historic, elegant, contemporary, and chic all at the same time. Peabody just didn't hit me that way...and I love great historic hotels as a general rule.

With any older hotel like this, a lot of it is going to be about the most recent room refresh. Hopefully an FTer has actually stayed there and can give a more thorough report. Take my opinion as the outlier in that case.

obscure2k

Moving thread to FT South Forum, Peabody Hotel
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

hockeyinsider

I didn't know what to expect before I stayed because the reviews on here were limited.

On the whole, it's a nice old hotel that's more on par with an average J.W. Marriott or Intercontinental than say a St. Regis, despite the hotel marketing itself as a luxury hotel that's the "grand hotel of the South."

At check-in I was greeted by name and after completing the formalities was escorted to my room by a "VIP specialist."

My room, a deluxe king, was actually quite spacious, but as others have said the bathrooms are absurdly small. No coffeemakers, no refrigerators, no mini-bars, and no newspapers. Supposedly, you get complimentary shoeshine but the old school shoeshine stand was never staffed. Turndown service is by request only. Robes were stocked but no slippers.

All of the rooms, except the 11th floor, are fully renovated but I was surprised by the wear-and-tear. The sofa in my room had a couple of visible stains and the walls in the entryway had visible scuff marks. I don't know what the rooms looked like before so I can't comment on what was changed, but in some cases they just haphazardly slapped on a new coat of paint instead of sanding down surfaces or replacing old worn fixtures like door knobs, etc.

I would never pay for the club lounge, but I got access for free by asking for an upgrade at check-in. The only good part of the lounge were the open bar from 5 to 7 p.m. and the egg station at breakfast.

The complimentary alcoholic drinks were:

Beer
Bud Light
Miller Lite
Michelob Ultra
Tiny Bomb
Ananda
Ghost River Gold

Whiskey
Crowne Royal
Jack Daniels

Scotch
Dewars White Label

Vodka
Tito’s

Gin
Tanqueray

Rum
Bacardi

Wine
Louis Perdrier brut sparkling wine (not champagne)
Louis Martini cabernet
Storypoint pinot noir
Beckon chardonnay
Kendall Jackson pinot gris
A to Z rose

Both the bar and egg station were staffed and they, of course, had tip jars in front of them full of $10 and $20 bills. Daytime snacks were cookies and chips. That's it. The evening food consisted of chicken on skewers and fried artichoke and then carrots, cucumbers, and a couple of cheeses with crackers and fruit. Pretty basic. You could take both food and drinks (coffee, alcohol, bottled water and mini-bottles of Coke or Diet Coke) back to your room.

I probably wouldn't return because the $200+ per night room rates just aren't worth it. Especially with no points.

FLYMSY

hockeyinsider

They have a shoeshine stand on the lower level by the gym and spa. It is supposed to be manned. It wasn't for the 2 1/2 days that I was there. I was told the bellman could shine my shoes but it seemed like more of an inconvenience than anything else, especially when the shoeshine gear left out at the stand looked limited to the applicator brush and spray bottle that you can buy at the store. I didn't see any real polish or anything.