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| - I immediately had a slight attitude after I booked my hotel stay on Hotwire, sight unseen. I read the yelp reviews and expected a less than stellar stay:
I drove into the Hilton parking deck with yet another attitude because I have a problem paying $18 a day for parking, anywhere. I reasoned that I had to pay for parking out of sheer convenience and my own scariness - Yea; I grew up in the suburbs and get a little nervous walking in unfamiliar places....
Anyway, the walk from the parking garage to the lobby was rather long. I had to go up 2 floors in the garage, which takes you to the 2nd floor of the hotel, and then you have to go down 1 floor from the elevator inside the hotel to get to registration. If I had kids with me, I would've been frazzled... If you want to avoid all of that, elect for valet service at the front of the building. You could also park close to the light rail service, which really isn't that far (I'm not sure how much they charge).
Oh, so as recommended by Jason D., I asked for a room facing Panera Bread, so I could access their free Wi-Fi. After a swift check-in, I arrived on the 16th floor, with a nice view to the city. The room was large enough with a king bed, clean room, and nice bathroom. The flat screen TV was nice and even had auxiliary hookups for a projector and other sound equipment, which was facing the outside of the desk, below the TV. That's good, if you need that sort of thing...
We ordered room service from the restaurant, Coastal Kitchen, a few times: The All Natural Burger with fries - $11 (ordered twice), the Chocolate Mousse Tort - $7, which turned out to be chocolate cake with mousse and chocolate chips on the outside, with whipped cream, blue berries and strawberries (ordered twice), and the All American Breakfast $14, which consisted of two eggs made your way, choice of bacon, ham or sausage, choice of juice, choice of coffee or tea, choice of bread, and breakfast potatoes. The breakfast was a good deal, considering that I needed coffee and sustenance before I departed. I didn't care for the potatoes, but that weren't terrible (no salt). Just a note, room service adds an 18% gratuity, called a service charge on the receipt, and a $2.95 delivery fee, although the menu says $3. Just keep that in mind, so you won't be surprised.
The hotel was within walking distance of the stadium and the EpiCentre. The EpiCentre contains a host of restaurants like Libretto's Pizzeria, Smoothie King, Enso's, and Five Guys Burgers. I even walked my scary self to Smoothie King and Libretto's, so it couldn't have taken more than 8 minutes, including the elevator.
All in all, the amenities and distance from attractions made up for the old school carpet in the hallway, the one hundred layers of paint on the door (which included and an indent of an old door fixture), the old school looking desk in the room, and kind of hearing the other guests coming in and out of their hotel room.
I almost forgot; I was not able to use my HiltonHonors to receive complimentary usage of the hotel Wi-Fi or the YMCA membership during my stay ($12/day). The lady at the front desk said that since I used a 3rd party to book my reservation (Hotwire), she couldn't (or wouldn't) change my reservation code to apply the HiltonHonors benefits. Mmm hmm. I didn't believe her, but I didn't' feel like arguing/reasoning with her. I always have a plan B.... However, my plan B, which was to use Panera Bread didn't work out. :-\ Panera Bread was closed for construction. I am guessing that they turned their Wi-Fi off, or something, because I couldn't get a signal. Nor could I get a signal on my Blackberry! Not to be defeated, I used my AT&T DSL account to access the Hilton Wi-Fi signal (use the username and password from your AT&T email). Ha!! The unexpected plan C worked. :)
As you can see, you can stay within your budget when you stay here. You just have to make choices as to where you want to spend on the extras, like parking, valet, room service, internet access, gym accessibility, etc. You can save by eating at restaurants in or near the Epicenter, parking further away, and having an internet solution available.
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