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| - There are some things that the Blake Hotel does very very well, and some things that look like they're about half done here, like the renovations started but never quite were seen through to completion. If you make your way up from the parking garage through the 1970s and into the Blake, you'll find that the modern touches here translate, but only to a degree.
The lobby is decked out and shows well, and if you pop onto the web site, it's the type of thing that you'll see more often as showcase pieces: modern light fixtures, sleek couches, door handles shaped like the Blake 'B', etc. There's definitely a hotelier trend apparent here, and it seems from chatting with locals that the Blake was ready for a facelift for awhile and got a scrubbing a couple of years ago. That said, there were still some small touches that seemed not completely realized, from light fixtures in my room that didn't quite work to other, more systemic problems, like the fact that the desk in the room didn't seem to be near an electrical outlet.
The staff was friendly (though I got a particular kick out of the guy who thought Yelp was, I dunno, pronounced 'Yelf' or something), and they do feature a complimentary breakfast and moderate exercise room. Would I stay here again? Probably, sure - it's right downtown and totally convenient. But maybe, perhaps, not entirely luxurious through and through.
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