Are you a Frank Lloyd Wright aficionado? Keep reading…read more..
The Inn at Price Tower is a Wright time capsule and well worth the time and expense to visit this building and immerse yourself in the architectural experience. I'm a retired architect and a big FLW fan.
The "hospitality side" (ie: what normal consumers expect from a hotel property) is pretty non-existent. Let me explain:
Not to get into mechanical engineering weeds, but the building has a 2-pipe HVAC system. This means that the entire building is either heating or cooling depending upon the season. No matter how hot or cold you may be in your hotel room, if the system is in heating mode (wintertime) there is no A/C available. Likewise, if the system is in cooling mode (summertime), there is no heating available. We stayed 2 nights in early May so the heating was still on (kind of between seasons), but since there was an oscillating fan available in our room, we were fairly comfortable sleeping. Not really a biggie, just be aware of the building's heating/cooling limitations.
The other thing really perplexing was that there was no coffee service available in the morning. The in-house restaurant did not offer breakfast, the Lobby area provided no guest coffee service and there was no in-room coffeemaker provided - weird! In the last 30 years of business travel I can't recall a similar situation. In order to get coffee, guests are required to walk 2 blocks to a local coffee shop that opens at 6am weekdays and 7am weekends. Super inconvenient from a "hospitality" standpoint.
So, if you're familiar with Wright's design sensibilities, you'll recall that he never had much use for bathrooms and elevators - both of which are super small by modern standards and current building codes. Don't expect the spa level experience you may have enjoyed at other boutique hotels - they 'aint there, lol! If you go into the Inn at Price Tower experience with a "Wright state of mind", you'll enjoy your stay and be able to forgive the limitations of the design.
The tour is well worth the price, and I highly recommend participating. Our group consisted of only me and my wife, so it was basically a private tour. It was advertised as a 60-minute tour, but our Dosen gave us nearly 2 hours! Really interesting.
Take-a-ways: Bring you own coffee maker and breakfast items. Be prepared for the seasonal interior heating or cooling situation and be sure to have reasonable expectations for living in a Wright-designed building for a night or two. If you have these, your experience will be a lot of fun. Enjoy!