Monday, January 2, 2012

Grand Rapids, Michigan--GRR airport / Crowne Plaza

December 2011, Weekday 2-nights, King Suite #440


Status perks

I requested and received an upgrade to a suite! I have stayed at this hotel many times, and this is the first time that has ever happened. I also had access to the Club lounge--well, my husband did. I was flying into Grand Rapids, and did not arrive until 10 p.m., so the lounge was closed when I arrived.

view from kitchen table
I was not intending to write another review about this property; however, since the suite photos are worth sharing, I decided to do so. To find additional information about this property from my other reviews, just enter the hotel name in the search bar at the top of this page.

Guestroom

The sleeping area was a separate bedroom with two doorways. It contained a king size bed, dresser, large flat screen TV, soft chair, and night stands. I was surprised that there were no curtains on the glass bedroom doors. The second entrance was between the bedroom and the bathroom area.

The bathroom where the toilet, shower, and sink were located was kind of small. A second sink and a closet were located in the area outside the bathing room. 
outer bathroom area

The spacious living area contained a comfortable couch, two soft chairs, a desk and chair, large flat screen TV, coffee table, end tables, armoire, dining table with four chairs, microwave, small fridge, and sink.

The couch was a sleeper sofa that our son used one evening. When I called to request bedding, housekeeping did an excellent job making up the entire bed. Since the mattress did not have a mattress pad on it, she left the room to get an extra blanket, which she put down under the sheets. 

view from glass bedroom doors
The door visible in the photo behind the kitchen table is a connecting guestroom door. The hotel was not very full during our stay, and it did not sound like there were any guests in the room next door. There was a hallway along the wall next to the kitchen table that led to the entrance door from the hall. There was a coat closet in the hall by the door. The guestroom had two outside balconies, which were not connected, and two heating units in the living room area. 

Club lounge

Even though I have stayed at this hotel several times, I had not been to the Club lounge for over a year. It was being remodeled for quite a while, and sometimes my stays were on the weekends or I had to leave before it opened in the morning. I usually received coupons to use in the lobby bar and/or at breakfast when the Club lounge was closed. My husband said that the front desk agent had told him it would be open for breakfast in the morning; however, it was not open. I might have been able to get breakfast coupons, if I had asked; however, I did not ask.

My husband visited the lounge in the evening before I arrived. He said that each guest was entitled to one complimentary alcoholic beverage. He had a beer and did not notice the other choices. He could not even tell me what kind of food items were out. I tried our keys the first morning to see if we could enter the lounge for bottled water, and the room was closed the rest of our stay.

Shuttle service

The airport shuttle service was prompt when we departed for the airport; however, I waited 40 minutes for the shuttle when I arrived around 10:00 p.m. the first evening. I was only mildly upset about the wait until after I called a second time 20+ minutes later. The person who answered the telephone, told me the driver had been waiting for me for over 10 minutes, and I was not there. Since I know the Grand Rapids airport well, I knew that was not true. If you follow my blog posts, you probably know I dislike dishonesty. I told her I had been waiting in the correct spot the entire time. When the driver arrived, I told him what she had said. He was shocked, and said he did not know why she had told me that because he had been at the mall dropping off (or, picking up) other guests.


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