We were disappointed with our stay at the Lodgewell. The primary issue was the price-value proposition, as well as the listing being misleading.
We had booked what was advertised as a 2 bedroom unit and paid more than $630 / night for our stay. This rate was equivalent to, if not higher than, several other hotels in the area, and based on the pictures of our unit, we had thought the property would be similar if not better than those hotel options.
The day before our check-in, I received a message from Lodgewell indicating that even though the listing was advertised as 2 bedroom, that the floor plan was "open" and there weren't going to be actual bedrooms. I had promptly asked to see if there were any units with 2 true bedrooms available in the building (and offered to pay more), and was told that there wasn't. The sleeping space was essentially entirely located on the second floor / loft floor. There was one bed at the top of the stairwell against a divot in the wall, with a curtain in front of it, and that was the only separation. The second bed was ~12-15 feet away, and against another divot in the wall, with no curtain. Neither of us felt that the arrangement could have reasonably be classified as a 2 bedroom unit, and the experience for all four nights simply felt as though we were sharing a 1 bedroom with two floors that happened to have 2 beds. This was extremely disappointing given the price we were paying to stay.
There were several other issues that while not as fundamentally upsetting as the bedroom issue, still contributed to the Lodgewell feeling like a less premium option, and certainly not a $600+ / night accommodation. These were:
1) Air conditioning was intermittent. I ran into a few other people who were staying in the Lodgewell who had also complained that their AC units didn't seem to always work, as well as one visitor who claimed his AC was entirely broken. Given the Austin weather, this felt unacceptable.
2) Check-in process. I had emailed the Lodgwell on May 9th (2.5 weeks prior to my check-in date) asking if we could check-in earlier (from 3pm to 1pm), given our flight was landing around then. A staff member emailed me back saying that we could either pay a $100 fee to check in two hours earlier, or wait until the day before our check-in, at which point they could let us know if we would be able to check in at 1pm. They explained that if nobody else rented the room the night before our check-in date, we would be able to check in early - this was totally reasonable. On May 25th, two days before our check-in date, I contacted the property again, asking to confirm whether our early check-in would be approved. A staff member responded by saying I would be contacted by phone / text on May 26th confirming. Through the same communication channel (Airbnb message), I followed up on May 26th asking to confirm. Nobody from Lodgewell ever responded to me. On May 27th, after asking an unrelated question via Airbnb, the Lodgewell let me know that an early check-in would not be possible. At this point, we had already arrived at the facility, which had no staff members in the lounge. Given May 26th was a work day and given the pandemic, this significantly disrupted our ability to work (no Wifi, no sit-down common areas). We were highly disappointed that earlier notice wasn't given so that we could look for accommodations between noon and 3pm in advance, particularly since presumably the Lodgewell would have known at least a day in advance if nobody (or somebody) was staying in our room that night. I had also asked that at the very least, we be allowed to leave our luggage somewhere in the lobby for safekeeping until our check-in was ready, and was told we couldn't do that either. Nobody had ever contacted me to let us know when check-in was ready (we were told somebody would let us know).
3) Common Areas / General Amenities. The elevator button often didn't work, and the elevator itself was cramped, fitting just 2-3 people comfortably, which was upsetting given the pandemic. Additionally, the elevator itself had a strong odor to it for all four nights of our stay, and consistently would have spilled food / drink on the already limited floor space. One night, the hallway of our floor had a jar of spilled queso / cheese - this was never cleaned during our stay. In our room, there was only one small ~32" TV. The outlets on the first floor did not work.
4) The entrance to the Lodgewell is a small door, somewhat hidden / tucked away into the corner of a wall. Most nights, there were multiple homeless people who would loiter next to, near, or sometimes blocking the door. This seemed like a potential safety hazard.
Overall, the price we paid for our rooms was fully disconnected to the experience and quality of our stay. The lack of real bedrooms had already felt misleading and alone made the price tough to swallow, especially when benchmarked against nearby hotels and Airbnb's. The additional grievances and lack of on-site staff to address or speak to regarding those issues all further contributed to a below par experience.