More about Doubletree' Hotel Charlottesville
A tale of two hotels
by TripAdvisor Member gohoos
We had decided to stay here for a weekend despite some of the bad reviews here. We've stayed at other Doubletree hotels and have yet to be disappointed - including by Doubletree Charlottesville.
The hotel is down route 29 a few miles, but still very accessible. There are many restaurants and retail shops in the area. UVa is a few miles down the road.
It is obvious that a large addition has recently been build here. The guestrooms are in the older part of the hotel, and the front desk, restaurant, ballrooms, and meeting rooms are in the new wing.
The new wing is spectacular. I didn't have much time to wander around, but the lobby was both opulent and comfortable. From what I could see, the restaurant looked nice, the lounge looked comfortable, and the guests at a special event looked pleased.
The older section of the hotel is also under renovation, and I'd guess that in a year the older section will match the newer one. This isn't to say there was anything wrong with our room - it was quite nice.
We stayed on the 9th floor in an Executive King room. The carpet and paint was fairly new, as was the air conditioning unit. There was a small refrigerator in the room along with the standard TV with PPV and Nintendo Gamecube games. For computer users, the room had a wired ethernet connection and the hotel has a wireless network, both with no charge. My one complaint would be about the bathroom. It was clean, but smaler than I would expect. Enough room to be functional, but it had dated wallpaper.
There were a few "excuse our dust" signs up explaining that all of the rooms are being renovated, with new furnishings and mattresses. There was fresh paint on the executive floor lounge, which was closed on the weekends. The outdoor pool appeared to be under a rebuild, but the indoor pool was open.
On the night we arrived there was at least one large event going on in the hotel - lots of formal dresses and tuxes. And lots of cars. The main lot was filled up when we returned from dinner. The auxillary lot is behind the hotel, but requires a walk around to the front entrance due to a large slope down from the lot to the back of the hotel. By Sunday, the main lot was about 20% full. It also appears that a parking deck may be under construction, however I don't know if it belongs to this hotel or not.
I'd definately stay here again, and I'd recommend it to my friends.
Didn't care much for the Doubletree
by A TripAdvisor Member
I wish I had seen this website before I made my reservations for the Doubletree. The reason for our stay was for a romatic anniversary getaway. My first contract with the hotel by phone was that no one answered the phone. When I did make contact, I wanted to check on the location of our room so we would have one of the nice mountain views mentioned in the wedsite.
When we arrived at this 'luxury' hotel, we were disappointed in the quite ordinary room. And this was in one of the remodeled rooms. The vanity fixtures and plumbing were quite dated. The H/AC unit was old, banged up and made for an uncomfortable sleep. The hall and room smelled unpleasant. The food was mediocre at best.
Plus there were no amenitiesin the room other than a coffemaker and dryer. I've experienced a much more pleasant stay and more amenities in hotels not considered luxury.
Nice Doubletree
by A TripAdvisor Member
I traveled to Charlottesville with two of my buddies for a weekend of UVA football and partying. We had a good time.
The Doubletree is a standard Doubletree. Not the most amazing hotel you will ever see...but nice.
Those warm chocolate chip cookies were waiting for us when we arrived!
Our room had two beds (plus a pull-out) and was - again - standard/nice.
We didn't spend a lot of time at the hotel, nor did we eat in the hotel. So I can't commend on food/beverage services.
The location requires a car to get to UVA...but it's a pretty quick drive.
This hotel sucks
by A TripAdvisor Member
Guys and Gals, if you're expecting a decent stay and any semblance of service, do not go to this hotel. My list of complaints on a single night of stay is endless.
1. Old rooms, shabbily painted and decorated
2. Lousy small Indoor pool with rough concrete steps into the pool and at the bottom of the pool that resulted in my Son and I getting scrapes.
3. Lousy old Sauna that was hard to operate.
3. No towels in the Pool area (an empty towel rack and no one around to bring one during our hour long swim, so we walked wet to the room.
4. No Microwave, Refrigerator or pantry in the room
5. Lousy Wireless Internet routers that kept dropping the connection every minute, so it was practically useless.
In summary, we've gotten much better service and facilities at about $40 less than what we paid for a room at Doubletree. It's a ripoff!
Doubletree was pleasant
by TripAdvisor Member waterlgged
I can't say that I agree with any of the negative reviews posted here. The hotel was perfectly fine and what I expected after reading about it on the Hilton website. We stayed for two nights on the Executive Level to do some sightseeing in the Charlottesville area. The location is a bit of a distance from downtown Charlottesville and other area attractions, but did not pose a problem for us.
The room looked to be recently remodeled, with the new Doubletree Sweet Dreams bed which was quite comfortable. We also had a pullout couch, coffe table, desk/chair, and small refrigerator in our room. No problems with the A/C at all. We had a nice view from the top floor as well.
The outdoor pool and hot tub were nice. They could have used a few more lounge chairs, but I spent all my time in the pool so really didn't need one.
Complimentary continental breakfast was provided in the Executive Lounge each morning. It was nothing special, but sufficient to get us on our way. Overall a very pleasant stay and I would choose this location again.
Eh...
by TripAdvisor Member novaguy30
We stayed at this hotel because we happened to be in the area and I need 2 more stays for Gold Hilton status. The location is not ideal if you want to have easy access to the Downtown Mall (stay in the Omni). Yes, you basically do go through a Sam's Club parking lot - which is sorta ghetto.
The room lobby looked decent, but it went downhill once we got to the hallways. The hallways looked worn down. The rooms also had a worn down look to it. Unlike many aging hotels, I dont think it would take much to update this hotel - - but it hasnt been updated.
The biggest surprise was in the morning. We awoke to someone opening our door (turned out to be our next door neighbor). The lock didnt work at all (I usually check to make sure locks work, but I forgot this time). Anyway, front desk gave me a $20 credit - eh...for having to wake up to strangers.
Wi-Fi Worthless
by TripAdvisor Member stubbyno2
I saw this hotel the previous summer, and it seemed adequate for our needs. But it was necessary for me to have wi-fi, or at least an Internet connection. I brought my Mac, which usually picks up any connection within thirty seconds. This was not the case. There was a signal, but it was extremely faint, and I was unable to connect to it. A call to the front desk directed me to an 800 number, which was a 30 minute excercise in frustration. I made another call to the front desk the next morning, and they sent someone up who spent 25 minutes in my room, still unable to get it to work. He said there are wi-fi routers, but only in a few rooms, which are often unplugged by those guests who wish to use the outlet for something else.
This was only the beginning.
The front desk refused any sort of refund, telling me I need to go through Expedia, since the room had already been paid in full. I argued, but they insisted it was out of there hands.
Expedia was a bit surprised to hear the problem was palmed off on them, and they did not get much help at all from Doubletree, the hotel even going so far as stating that I had NO problems with my Internet connection. I am still struggling to get some sort of refund.
The hotel was not awful in terms of lobby, but the rooms were not the greatest. But if you want Internet access, forget it.
Not the best experience ever
by TripAdvisor Member salex19
I stayed at this hotel with my boyfriend on a mini-vacation to see Monticello and tour vineyards in the area. We booked this hotel because it was only $80 a night on hotwire. I'd read the negative reviews here, but couldn't afford the Omni, so stayed anyway.
What people have said is pretty true. I didn't get my cookie at check in. Our room had kind of a wet smell to it. It didn't look anything like the rooms pictured on the website (maybe those are executive level?) We went to use the hottub, which had no switch to turn on the jets. While we were in the hottub, mold started swirling around, so we got out. The pool area itself was lovely, but not in good condition. We then went to use the tennis courts, which were fine, but as someone noted here, have no path.
That being said, it was fine for the price, and the overall atmosphere of the hotel is fine. I probably wouldn't go back, but for one night it was survivable (though we did'nt stick around in the morning).
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