“Location, location, location”
Location was key to why my fiance and I chose to stay here during a long weekend trip to Grand Rapids. Though the hotel staff and cleanliness of our room were excellent, we will likely try another hotel when visiting again. Why? 1) This hotel is one of three located quite close to each other. We ruled out the least expensive one because it was on the other side of the river, not realizing that there are several pedestrian bridges that would allow for safe and convenient passage. 2) The hotel does not have enough parking, and the parking garages are set up in a cramped, confusing way. We didn't want to take our car out of the garage because we were afraid of trying to find a spot again. Getting into the hotel from the parking garage was also pretty inefficient. 3) Hotel floor hallways were dark and maze-like. 4) This is a mixed-use building and there seemed to be a wide variety of people wandering the hallways, sometimes loudly and/or drunkenly, in search of various amenities. We even saw the cops in the halls. 4) I'm not usually one to notice, but the style of the room was rather varied and slightly off-putting. For example, the bathroom had a luxurious brown granite vanity with upscale lighting feature, but it was juxtaposed with a small, cheap coffeemaker and a traditional white tiled bathtub with a cute cloth shower curtain and vinyl liner that were both too long. 5) Not all the features of the exercise equipment functioned and the stair climber didn't work at all.
Area recommendations
The downtown area we stayed in was small but charming.
Dining
Check out Little Africa just east of downtown. It's a dive, but the food is amazing and very inexpensive. I don't think there is any meat on the menu, but there was so much delicious flavor that my fiance and I (both avid meat lovers) didn't miss it at all.
Other
Don't miss Hopcat, a fantastic downtown beer bar with a huge selection both on tap and in bottles. The food is also very good, Try going at lunchtime and sit at the bar to catch up with the enthusiastic and friendly staff. The taproom at Founders Brewing Company is also well worth a visit and within walking (or stumbling) distance of Hopcat.
