Doubletree Hotel Memphis Downtown - Reviews - Memphis

I have just returned from staying the week at the Doubletree Hotel Memphis Downtown. As seems so often to be the case when I review a hotel, I have mixed feelings on this place, so I'm going to break it up into categories -

People - This is where the hotel excelled. All of the employees at this hotel were so kind, sweet and cheerful; it was really impressed me. I have the very best things to say about them, and I think if you stay here, you will be equally delighted with the service you experience.

Decor - The hotel is nice looking, with an unusual decor downstairs (a large facade of the side of a building is built within the lobby.) The rooms are very large and bright, and had nice touches that made it clear you were in Memphis - historical posters of the city framed, unusual free standing lamps with dark red shades (somehow seemed very jazzy) and the huge desk in between the beds was extremely helpful to have.

Services - Free wi-fi throughout the hotel - yay! So many places try to charge you so much for internet connection. Newspaper under the door each morning and both the alarm clock and my requested wake-up calls were consistently reliable all week. Room service (provided by the TGI Friday's in the Lobby) came up hot and the food for room service I thought was a bit better than average. I was impressed when I ordered sweet tea with my meal and they cheerfully surprised me with a whole pitcher of tea in addition to the glass of tea, explaining happily that if I had been downstairs there would have been free refills. I thought that was above and beyond the call of duty.

Bathroom - HUGE. Biggest I've ever seen. A shower that reminded me of the type you'd have in a locker room, and on the other side of the room a full bathtub, also with shower. Impressive. Also, the sink is made up of a dark-wood table and shelves, and seemed more like "real furniture" than you often see. It seemed solid, classy and homey. The water power was weak, so the shower was light and you had to keep the toilet handle down for longer than usual to encourage the light flow of water to do it's job.

Maid Service/Cleanliness - this is where my disappointment lay. When I asked for new towels (by leaving the others on the floor as instructed) they took the old ones but brought no new ones. More serious to me was the fact that the bathtub was not cleaned well (or really at all) and had a very slow drain, and the result meant that if you turned on the water and stepped in, it was slippery from old soap and a bit dangerous, not to mention kind of icky. I ended up having to use the only washcloth in the room to scrub it out myself prior to showering, which just didn't seem like something I should have to do.

Also, one of the pillows was completely ripped open on the side, top to bottom. Seeing as how it was on the edge where the opening of the pillowcase was, there was no way to miss the stuffing pouring out - I left this on the bed each morning to see if they would fix it, but each evening it was still there.

Location - the good and bad aspect of this are mixed together. Close to the Mississippi River, Beale Street, and other downtown features, this also meant that there were an enormous amount of homeless people directly outside the door and as you tried to walk away from the hotel - and the fact that the Greyhound Bus Station is next door doesn't help. It was heart-wrenching. These men had newspaper around their bloody feet. I don't know what the answer is to that - I'm not trying to say we should have our eyes closed to the stark reality to this issue - but it's also just hard to look at so much when there is so little you can do to make a dent on their suffering. Also, with so many requests for money anytime you stepped out the door, combined with the fact that you have to cross over some more abandoned alleys/areas to get to where you are trying to go, as a single woman I didn't feel comfortable walking at night by myself, which left me kind of holed up in the hotel more than I otherwise would have.

Final note - Windows do not open. That's always something that means a great deal to me, even if it's only a partial opening or crack - ANYTHING to get some fresh air - but in this case, out of luck.