Les

I want to reserve a room for two people at the Crowne Plaza Downtown hotel in Richmond, Virginia.

I'm trying to choose between the King, King Executive, King with Sofa Bed, or King Suite.

I can't seem to get any information (from either the hotel web site or the hotel directly) about the room sizes (square footage). I realize that the last two options are probably not necessary for just two people, but I'm concerned that the standard rooms will be too cramped (as they often are in downtown hotels).

Any information about room sizes (either actual square footage or your perception if you've actually stayed there) would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Dukey1

You CALLED the hotel and they couldn't help?????

Les

Correct. I called the hotel directly, they could not find out what the room sizes were, except to say that the King and King Executive were the same size, and "a bit small". I can't really rely on that answer, since they obviously would prefer to sell me one of the larger rooms.

I also called Intercontinental directly (I have Priority Club membership), and they couldn't provide an answer.

Seems really strange to me.

fmpden

Cannot help. The size of the room rarely, if ever, crosses my mind when selecting a hotel. Assume you must have some special needs.

NewbE

Trip Advisor has a lot of photos (both professional and traveler) and reviews, although still no square footage:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re..._Virginia.html

Maybe that will be of some help to you.

Les

fmpden, thanks for your reply. We have no special needs, but we do consider a hotel more than "just a place to sleep". A nice hotel is an oasis that we can return to after a busy day of sightseeing, and, in my opinion, makes a trip more convenient and enjoyable.

NewbE, couldn't find anything in the reviews (of course, I didn't read all the reviews - there were just too many).
My problem with reviews is that I always tend to read the worst reviews, and every hotel, even the best ones, has some of them. Quite depressing.

Another hotel in the area that I'm considering is the Omni. Rooms there seem quite large (345-480 sq.ft.for a King, according to the front desk), but prices are slightly higher, and parking is less convenient.

Les

Correction to my post above: the other hotel I'm considering is the Berkely, not the Omni.

NewbE

Les, I know what you mean about reading reviews and becoming discouraged. Every hotel has negative reviews. What I do to combat indecision is filter TA for Average reviews and note whether they are all essentially the same complaint, or not: for example, does everyone have poor water pressure, or a noisy AC, or are the complaints about various idiosyncratic things?

I also note what percentage of TA reviews are average to negative. The hotel I am considering in NYC, for example, has almost three thousand reviews, 10% of which are average and another 10% of which are negative. That helps put them into perspective, for me.

Lastly, I tend to ignore really terrible reviews for otherwise well regarded hotels as outliers.

DebitNM

Since you want room in the room - go with the Penthouse Suite. If that's too big, King Parlor Suite.

There are actual photos of the rooms on Trip Adisor.

http://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotel...&glat=MEDI#_=_

Then click on Rooms.

JanetKMR

The Crowne Plaza is a very oddly shaped hotel. That may have some bearing on room size.

Not sure what your budget allows (since you are looking at the Berkeley), but if you want a roomy room, stay at The Jefferson.

Les

DebitNM, The photos (which I've looked at before) look good, but it's hard to get a reliable indication of size from them (other than that suites are larger than standard rooms). We don't need a suite if the standard rooms aren't cramped, but I can't determine that for this hotel.
The penthouse suite looks very nice, but I'm sure it's extravagant (which I can't afford to be). However, we had a similar suite in Auckland, but had to give it up because of my wife's mobility issues (climbing a spiral staircase to get to the bedroom would be quite a chore for her).

Janet, my budget is what I think it has to be to make my trip enjoyable, but I'm not into spending extravagantly.
I looked at the Jefferson web site, but before I even got to the prices, I noted that there is currently construction under way that is expected to be completed in May (which is when we're going), so that's a non-starter for me. Also, the location is not particularly close to where we want to be.

JanetKMR

Have you looked at the Omni?

JanetKMR

https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/richmond

nytraveler

Well 480 sq feet is the size of a medium one bedroom apt in NYC - so I can;t imagine that is too small to stay in.

Les

Janet, thanks. I've looked at the Omni see my post earlier in this thread), and it's a possibility. But the Crowne Plaza would be better for me because of the self-parking and proximity of the parking to the hotel.

Since my last post, and with incessant prodding, I was able to get the front desk at the Crowne Plaza to "look up" the size of a King room, and they came up with 470 sq.ft. Assuming they didn't just pull that number out of their a..., er, hat, that sounds like a generous size. I think I'll book the room.

nytraveler, as you say, that's almost the size of a medium N.Y. apartment, and will certainly be comfortable.

Underhill

I've about given up on hotels that don't post the square footage of rooms, or show photos of the bathrooms. Just not enough information for me to make a decision. I too am finding it difficult to get the information I want directly from a hotel. Right now I've waited 4 days for a response from the Fairfax in DC about whether a particular room has just a tub or a tub/shower.

Ackislander

Folks, you have too much time on your hands!

It's a hotel room, not a three month lease.

Several groups of our friends stayed at the newish Residence Inn at Shockoe Slip last year and liked it a lot. I personally would not choose either the Omni or the Crowne I Plaza because of their location. They are at the bottom of a steepish hill in an office neighborhood. Or the Berkeley for that matter.

JanetKMR

I don't have an issue (as a local) with any of those places as far as location...they are all accessible to good eats, drink and the interstate.

I met Skiergirl when she was staying at the Omni and it was not inconvenient.

Les...if possible, at least go by The Jefferson for a drink and to look at the place.....it is gorgeous.

Les

Well, I booked at the Crowne Plaza. Hope my due diligence was enough.

Ackislander, yep, got time on my hands. That's what retirement will get you, as well as allowing time for many trips.

As for the Residence Inn, there are a couple of reasons why I didn't book there:

1: There's only valet parking, with the garage offsite some distance from the hotel. While I hopefully won't be using my car in the city (I'll need it for the rest of my trip however), I prefer to have access to it during my stay (to get or leave odds and ends) without having to get a valet to bring the car to me;

2. According to the hotel web site, there's a non-refundable $100.00 fee per stay for services and amenities. That's just highway robbery, as far as I'm concerned. Does that mean that you get NO services and amenities for your room rate?

And as for the location of the Crowne Plaza, it doesn't look very far from the main sites we want to visit, and there's complimentary hotel shuttle service if we think we'll need it.

Janet, thanks for your input. We'll definitely try to get to the Jefferson if time permits.

DebitNM

So, what size room did you book?