Grand Rapids, Michigan - GRR / Crowne Plaza Grand Rapids - airport

February 2016, Weekday, 1-night, Club floor guestroom #436 - 2 beds

I have stayed in this Crowne Plaza almost a dozen times, and following are links to reviews of some previous stays: January 2014, December 2011, May 2011, and August 2010. This hotel is located by my home airport, and they have an airport shuttle every 20 minutes.

fruit infused water available in the lobby

Arrival and status perks

My status has always been Platinum when I stayed in this hotel, as I quite traveling for work before the new IHG level, Spire Elite, had been added. When I did not reserve a club floor guestroom, I always received an upgrade to the club floor, although the lounge was not always open. I received an upgrade to a suite in December 2011, when I specifically requested it. For this stay, I redeemed points for a club floor guestroom with two beds, because our son was traveling with us. I was not able to reserve a suite with points, so I requested a suite upgrade, as there is not much room for three people in the regular guestrooms.

Check-in time is 4:00 p.m., and we arrived about 3:45 p.m. The agent did not mention the upgrade request in my reservation, and I decided not to ask about it. Although I did not receive a room upgrade, I did receive the 600 Platinum member bonus points.

Guestroom 436

entrance and closet

This guestroom is on the club floor overlooking the courtyard to the west. The room was not marked on the diagram on the back of the door, so I placed an arrow on the picture showing the guestroom location. Any pictures in this blog can be enlarged by clicking on them.




This double-bed guestroom was similar to king bed guestrooms we have stayed in.

A large closet near the entrance door contained hangers, extra bedding, a folding luggage rack, an iron, and ironing board. The closet doors were mirrored.

The bathroom was located across from the closet. Bath and coffee amenities had been provided on the vanity. A hairdryer, and a small facial mirror were mounted on the bathroom wall. I observed several white spots on the wall by the coffeemaker and hairdryer (toothpaste spatter, maybe).

The coffeemaker was a single serve maker with regular and decaf coffee. Cups included glass coffee mugs and disposable cups. Along with the standard shampoo and soaps, the bath amenities included mouthwash, a vanity kit, and a shoeshine mitt. The towels were good quality.

There were two double beds and a nightstand in the bedroom area. The bedding was decent quality, and the bed comfort was acceptable. The nightstand contained a phone, alarm clock, lamp, paper and pen, and electrical outlets.

A large flatscreen TV was on an armoire at the foot of the beds. An ice bucket and two glass glasses were provided on the armoire. This guestroom has a connecting door to guestroom 434 located between the armoire and closet, and I could hear the TV from the guests next door during our stay.

A desk with chair, a lamp, and ethernet cable were located next to the armoire. A second telephone was on the desk.

I was surprised to see a soft chair crammed in the tight area between the second bed and sliding glass door. We needed a place to sit down in the guestroom, although the chair placement made it difficult to get to the balcony door. I forgot to take a photo of the balcony - it was a basic, small-size, concrete balcony overlooking the courtyard in the center of the buildings. There was not a chair on the balcony.

Food & Beverage

We expected to enjoy Happy Hour in the hotel bar, Aryana, as Happy Hour information was listed on the website at the time of our stay, and it was still showing at the time of this post. The information said: Monday through Friday from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. We stayed on a Thursday, and the Happy Hour menu online said the following items were included with the purchase of two beverages: Tropical pulled chicken sliders, Fresh fruit with Kahlua fruit dip, Proscuito wrapped melon, and Spiced meat pinwheels.

screen shot of the Happy Hour information on the hotel bar website

We went to the lounge shortly after 5:00 p.m., and did not observe any food set up. I inquired about Happy Hour food and beverages, and the bartender told us they do not have any Happy Hour specials. We decided to have a beverage, and then we left to check out the club lounge.

Club lounge

The last time we stayed in this hotel, the food served in the club lounge was nearly the same as the food on the Happy Hour menu. The food items in the lounge this time included stuffed peppers, cheese and crackers, grapes, and a dessert/granola type bar (which I did not try). We each received one complimentary alcoholic beverage, and additional beverages could be purchased. A second glass of wine cost me $3. Non-alcoholic beverages were complimentary.

We did not visit the lounge for breakfast, as we had an early flight the next morning.

seating in pool area

Pool and recreation areas

This hotel has a spacious pool area inside near the lobby, and a nice outside courtyard. There is plenty of seating inside, and in the courtyard, when the weather is nice.





The pool is an inside/outside pool, and there is an inside hot tub. There is also a sauna in the pool area, and a large fitness center located next to the pool area.

vending machine in pool area

Shuttle

Our 4:20 a.m. shuttle ride to the airport took about 10 minutes. When we returned on a Monday afternoon, we waited about 10 minutes for our ride. I had some difficulty getting through to the hotel, as no one answered my call for about five minutes. I called three times before the call was answered. When I did get through, I learned the shuttle driver was already on his way to pick up the Delta flight crew. I am not sure if hotel staff had been watching their flight status, or if someone in their group had gotten through before we walked up to wait next to them. While we were waiting, I heard one of the crew members say she could not get an answer at the hotel. It appeared that the hotel staff must have been busy with guests checking in (or, something) at the time of our arrival. This was the first time I ever had a problem reaching the hotel on one of our return flights.