Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Barboursville, West Virginia / Holiday Inn & Suites

July 2013, Weekday, 1-night, King club suite #513

Status perks and check-in
I received an upgrade to a club suite, two full size bottles of water, and a coupon for free breakfast.

Guestroom 513
This guestroom is the first guestroom after exiting the elevator on the top floor. I did not understand why the front desk agent had told me it is a club floor room because the floor looked like a basic hotel floor to me. I did not observe any signs designating the floor as a club floor or quiet floor, and there was not a club lounge. When I looked at the guestroom descriptions online later, I realized that this is a "club suite" not a club floor guestroom. I may have heard her incorrectly, since I have stayed in hotels with a club floor before.

The guests on this floor were definitely quiet guests. I could hear the elevator and ice machine from my guestroom, although I never heard much noise from guests. There is a large gap under the guestroom doors, so I blocked out the little bit of noise that I did hear with a rolled towel. There did not appear to be many guests on this floor at the time of my stay.

The guestroom entered into a large tile area with a long vanity and two sinks. A single-serve coffee maker was provided on the vanity with RainForest Alliance coffee and condiments. Bath & Body Works amenities were also on the vanity, and a low quality hairdryer was mounted on the wall. 

The bathroom area with the tub and toilet was across from the vanity area. The tub/shower combination was a whirlpool tub with a shower curtain on a curved rod. I would have preferred a walk-in tile shower, although I am sure some guests like this kind of tub. This area was spacious, and there was a door on this room. 

There was an open closet outside of the bathroom, across from the long vanity. It contained only a couple of hangers, and an iron and ironing board.


The bedroom and sitting area contained a full length mirror, desk and chair, flatscreen TV on an armoire, fridge, microwave, suitcase bench, king size bed, nightstands with alarm clock, sofa, and coffee table. There were two telephones in the guestroom; one on the desk, and one by the bed.

Even though there were several lamps in the guestroom, the lighting was very poor.  There was no light by the suitcase bench, so it was always dark in that corner of the room, and the standing lamp by the full length mirror did not give off hardly any light.

The wireless Internet connection speed was slow. There was an ethernet plug at the desk, although a cord was not provided. There were not very many electrical outlets for a room this size, and they were not conveniently located. I had to look for a plug behind the nightstand and sofa when I no longer wanted to work at the desk.

The bed in this guestroom was hard, and not very comfortable. One of the bed photos on this hotel's website looks like it has a nice mattress pad on the bed. This bed did not have that kind of pad on it. 

This is a spacious guestroom, although I wondered if one of the rooms at the end of the hall might have been a better choice. Those rooms are farther away from the elevator, and it looks like the rooms that are classified as "king suite" are set up better than this "club suite" guestroom. The presidential suite must not be on the top floor, unless the guestroom diagram on the door is incorrect.

Food & Beverage
The service and the food at breakfast was excellent! I was able to use my free breakfast coupon for the buffet or an a la carte item off the menu. I opted for the poached eggs on bacon hash browns. I do not usually eat much bacon or potatoes; however, I like to try unusual dishes, so I decided to go for it. This food item was an excellent choice. It was fresh, flavorful, good quality, and cooked perfectly. I had been slightly worried that it might be too greasy for me, and it was not greasy at all.

Fitness center
The fitness center contained weights, weight machines, two treadmills, and a stair-stepper. Both treadmills were in use when I visited in the afternoon, and one was available when I visited in the morning at 5:30 a.m. The posted hours say that the fitness center opens at 6:00 a.m.; however, there were already two guests in the room when I arrived. 

There are two flatscreen TVs in the room; however, the machines do not have cardio theater. The room also contained a scale, drinking faucet, towels, and sani-wipes.

No comments:

Post a Comment