The Ashton Hotel

Every employee was thoughtful and kind, and went out of their way with help and information. The hotel is a lovely historic landmark in the heart of the district, perfectly placed near Bass and within walking distance of lots of good restaurants and places to see. The bed was great, with plenty of soft pillows, and they lend umbrellas for free. I hear the high tea here is phenomenal, though I’ll have to try it next time.

I was nervous about handing over my car for valet for the first time, but Joel and Arlen made me feel comfortable about it. I was there for a week, and that great first impression carried on through the night.

Update: They refunded the valet money, and I consider that good customer service. I’d stay here again, though I wouldn’t use that valet service. The parking was billed at $68 for one night even though it was advertised as $55 with a $20 credit, and it took 30 minutes to get my truck at 7:30 on Saturday morning. The AC didn’t work either. Hotels.com told me to dispute the parking charge at the front desk, but the charge didn’t hit my account until we’d checked out and gotten home, so I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to do that.

The location is the one thing this hotel has going for it. We booked the Spa Suite for $400 a night, but there weren’t even robes in the room. The bed was hard and the flat, unsupportive pillows left us aching. I called for coffee in the morning and was told there was no room service. This fell a long way short of the boutique hotel stay we’d hoped for.