Great hotel but be cautious of what type of room you book. I'd stayed here previously for work a few months ago as it was recommended by a colleague. I had a very nice stay and there were no issues, the room was very nice and well appointed. The room had a full size kitchen, sofa and king bed, which was very convenient and more than I expected.
On a return trip to the area for work in August I again booked the Element, but I didn't pay attention to the type of room I was booking through my company's travel site. It turns out they have several types of rooms: one is the full size room, which they call a suite - I had this room type previously - which includes the full size kitchen and living area with a sofa, and king size bed. The basic room, labeled a 'guest room' on their site, is much smaller, doesn't have a full kitchen or a sofa (just a small armless chair) and had absolutely no noise dampening. This regular guest room is the room I got on my second trip. It was directly adjacent the elevators and this particular room type has two features which amplify the sounds from other rooms: tile floors (the suite is carpet) and a metal adjoining door to the room next door. The noises coming from the other rooms were booming. Conversation, the TV, someone sneezing - all sounded like it was in the same room. I could even hear a whole conversation from the room next door coming through the ventilation vent in the bathroom, echoing from the room beyond.
After the first night of loud TVs, ringing cell phones, miscellaneous conversations from the rooms' occupants and those in the elevator foyer, I went down to the lobby hoping for the best, expecting the worst. Malika was the receptionist on duty and I cannot thank her enough, she was fantastically helpful! After explaining the situation, she very quickly checked to see if there were any rooms away from the elevator foyer and was very clear to disclaim that ALL the rooms of that particular type in the hotel have adjoining doors. She then checked if it was possible to upgrade me to a suite. I was fully expecting there to be an up-charge and was fine with that, but Malika as able to secure a suite room for me at no extra charge. It took me all of five minutes to switch out rooms and I was quickly on my way back to the original room to move my stuff.
The new room was as I expected from my previous trip, sofa living area, full kitchen, and best of all: quiet! No noise from the other rooms or from the hallway.
I would definitely avoid the regular guest rooms at all costs as they are just not designed well to dampen sound, but the suites are great and I highly recommend them.
The complimentary breakfast in the lobby has always been very good and healthy, there are pastries, muffins, fresh juices, cereals, a yoghurt stand with several options for toppings, and a grill station where they prepare a hot item which changes each day. One day it was fried eggs with homestyle potatoes and the next day it was pancakes.
My flight was not until later in the day and I visited the lobby after breakfast to inquire about a late check out and again met Malika who quickly checked and offered me check out at 1p.m. (vs. the normal check out of 12), which was much appreciated. Thank you again Malika for making my stay great!
If you are staying in this area of town, go for the suite or better and you can't go wrong! read more