We checked in Saturday around 4pm, and were offered both complimentary water and a room upgrade. Nice! We got a corner room on the fifth floor. The bed was super comfy, we had tons of pillows, and I think you can see in this photo that each side of the bed had its own light above the bed.
The bathroom (though quite small) was nicely designed and featured a lot of glass, which did a good job of keeping the space from feeling too cramped. I was a little worried about the door to bathroom, as it was glass, but it turned out to be opaque. Even though it looked a little transparent, it wasn't.
The sink though was completely transparent. Kind of cool, huh? We liked the faucet too.
One of the coolest features of the hotel was this touch screen control console on the desk. It looked like a standard LCD computer monitor but connected your room to all the features of the hotel. You can have the valet bring your car around, request a wake up call, or order room service, right from the touch screen. It was pretty neat so of course we had to put it to the test.
We ordered dinner from Shula's (the restaurant downstairs) and asked for it to be delivered at 5:15pm. It arrived right on the money. T and I each had a delicious cheeseburger and steak fries that tasted like they'd been been hand cut in the kitchen.
We shared an apple cobbler for dessert, which came with a big bowl of vanilla ice cream. It wasn't traditional cobbler. It was more like an apple cake. T was not a fan but he enjoyed the ice cream.
We ordered salads as well and they were great. We ate them around 7pm. When dinner arrived we wanted to eat the hot food while it was hot!
Last year when we stayed at Aloft, I took a photo of the hallway, and so here is a photo of the hallway at Hotel Duval. The hotel has lots of beautiful light fixtures, like this one outside the elevators.
Here's a close up of the light:
After a pretty good night's sleep, we had breakfast this morning at the cafe downstairs in the hotel. I had a very good slice of spinach and artichoke quiche (that also had carrots, yum) with a fruit cup for just $4 in the very trendy lounge-like seating area. It would be a great place for a breakfast or lunch meeting as they have lots of space. They validate parking too, so you could be in and out quickly (with the assistance of the valet, who you have to use anyway, unless you walk over).
One other point of interest: The wifi in the hotel was complimentary and very easy to connect too - no magic words, no agreements to sign, no fuss. You can also browse the web from the control console on the desk.
Have you stayed at Hotel Duval? We'd love to hear what you thought!
