I had a very mixed experience with this hotel. It seemed very promising at first. Blake greeted me at the door and was extremely friendly and personable as he checked me in. I definitely think his heart is in the right place and he wants to create an amazing, social experience.
First I’ll share the pros:
- Great decor and beautiful lobby
- Welcoming and personal owners
- Lovely soft bedding, and I am particular about bedding
- Good location
- Convenient to get a cocktail or espresso drink as you leave or arrive throughout the day
- Many friendly staff members
- Minimalistic room is well designed if you don’t plan on hanging out in your room.
- Fancy rainfall showers and a bidet
While over all, I think this is a promising concept, there are still a lot of little issues to work out.
Cons:
- Not all of the staff are friendly. On the last day of my stay the man working was quite rude. This was jarring after earlier, pleasant interactions.
- When they say “social hotel” don’t always expect a relaxed scene. While I’m sure this was somewhat unique to the weekend I visited (some celebrity was releasing an album near by I guess), the general vibe was party for teenagers. I rarely saw anyone over 25. As a woman in my 30’s with a baby, I expected to pleasantly mingle and have a cocktail, but instead felt quite out of place. They had a speaker playing loud music and it was pretty intense over all. I ended up not feeling comfortable in the lobby, which was unfortunate since the room doesn’t have any chairs to relax in. I literally had to sit and have my drink on the bathroom floor.
- Don’t expect any of the amenities that you might normally experience in an Air B&B. They texted me to see if I needed anything, but when I actually did need something, they did not help out. (My baby got sick on the last day of my trip and I needed a bottle of water.) This is essential a bare bones hotel. You even have to pay for coffee.
- The walls are quite thin. The owner kindly put me in a corner room in a less trafficked area, which made the first two nights not too bad. I could hear every time someone went down the hallway with a suitcase, but that only happened a couple of times. But the last night, while my baby was running a high fever and I was desperately trying to get some sleep, someone (possibly a cleaning person) allowed their phone to ring over and over loudly around 10-12 pm, and we were woken 4 times. It was a pretty miserable experience.
Overall I still think that this place has a lot of potential and that the two owners are great people. It would probably have been a great time for a young person with no children who legitimately just wants to party and then crash. And if that is what you want to be, I don’t really have a problem with it. I just think the marketing could be clearer. But if you want to be a place that feels welcoming and inclusive to a broader range of ages and even families, you’ll have to create some degree of boundaries around how you handle events so that your paying guests still feel welcome.