Elyton Hotel, Autograph Collection — Attraction in Birmingham

We stayed at the Elyton Autograph hotel in Birmingham for 2 nights recently. We’ve been to several autograph hotels over the past few years and I can say this one was definitely the worst of the bunch.||Overall, the hotel was fine. ||The room was maybe a 75 if I was scoring out of 100. We had a larger King room. The design/layout was good but it definitely could have been cleaned better and the shower takes forever to get hot. The bathroom area is small. The actual bedroom area is nice with a lot packed efficiently into the space.||The issue wasn’t really the hotel itself but rather the service. The typical experience you get at an Autograph is great, but from the moment we walked in we felt there was an abrasiveness from the front desk though we did everything to break that tension. ||We came to check in about 30 mins early. First question: do you have your friends and family form? (We did). We booked a King room. ||Next, we were told only 2 rooms were available: A high floor room with 2 double beds and a 2nd floor, small king (she made it sound like there was something wrong with this room or else why not just give it to us and be done with it?). I told the lady at the desk we’d just wait for our check in time in the lobby and for our actual room to be ready. I asked when the cleaning would be done and she mentioned she “just got there” and wasn’t sure. She then said she actually did have a king room for us and gave us a key to a room on the 2nd floor…definitely the one she originally offered.||We went to the room and it was a Queen bed, not the King we had booked. I went back to the front desk and told her. She said this was the room we booked and I reiterated, politely, this room had a Queen bed and we booked a King.||So we waited in the lobby for about an hour (45 minutes after check-in time). During this time the same lady greeted several guests warmly, even taking time to explain the building amenities. That never happened with us.||No apology for the wait was given but we were then given an actual king room. My feeling was that because we received the room at a discounted rate we were being lied to and pressured into taking an inferior room. It’s also likely why we were being treated so dismissively compared to everyone else she greeted. She was clearly caught off guard by the pushback as I’m sure most people just accept what’s given to avoid a potential argument. ||The following day we left at 9AM to tour the city and came back at 4PM. The room still hadn’t been cleaned. I called the front desk and was told maintenance was working through the floors and she would come to clean our room now. We went downstairs and sat in the lobby for an hour, waiting. Again, no apology for our time being wasted and no update that the room was ready. I went up and checked myself.||This is not how you deliver customer service to your guests. I understand that we’re just one couple spending two nights, but the part the hotel didn’t know is that I was actually staying at several places around the city this week and then recommending the hotel I felt would be best for my company’s quarterly conferences that will be starting in 2026. If you can’t get it right with one room and two people I highly doubt you’ll be able to perform when a 20-30 person group arrives four...

We stayed at the Elyton Autograph hotel in Birmingham for 2 nights recently. We’ve been to several autograph hotels over the past few years and I can say this one was definitely the worst of the bunch.

Overall, the hotel was fine.

The room was maybe a 75 if I was scoring out of 100. We had a larger King room. The design/layout was good but it definitely could have been cleaned better and the shower takes forever to get hot. The bathroom area is small. The actual bedroom area is nice with a lot packed efficiently into the space.

The issue wasn’t really the hotel itself but rather the service. The typical experience you get at an Autograph is great, but from the moment we walked in we felt there was an abrasiveness from the front desk though we did everything to break that tension.

We came to check in about 30 mins early. First question: do you have your friends and family form? (We did). We booked a King room.

Next, we were told only 2 rooms were available: A high floor room with 2 double beds and a 2nd floor, small king (she made it sound like there was something wrong with this room or else why not just give it to us and be done with it?). I told the lady at the desk we’d just wait for our check in time in the lobby and for our actual room to be ready. I asked when the cleaning would be done and she mentioned she “just got here” and wasn’t sure. She then said she actually did have a king room for us and gave us a key to a room on the 2nd floor…definitely the one she originally offered.

We went to the room and it was a Queen bed, not the King we had booked. I went back to the front desk and told her. She said this was the room we booked and I reiterated, politely, this room had a Queen bed and we booked a King.

So we waited in the lobby for about an hour (45 minutes after check-in time). During this time the same lady greeted several guests warmly, even taking time to explain the building amenities. That never happened with us.

No apology for the wait was given but we were then given an actual king room. My feeling was that because we received the room at a discounted rate we were being lied to and pressured into taking an inferior room. It’s also likely why we were being treated so dismissively compared to everyone else she greeted. She was clearly caught off guard by the pushback as I’m sure most people just accept what’s given to avoid a potential argument.

The following day we left at 9AM to tour the city and came back at 4PM. The room still hadn’t been cleaned. I called the front desk and was told maintenance was working through the floors and she would come to clean our room now. We went downstairs and sat in the lobby for an hour, waiting. Again, no apology for our time being wasted and no update that the room was ready. I went up and checked myself.

This is not how you deliver customer service to your guests. I understand that we’re just one couple spending two nights, but the part the hotel didn’t know is that I was actually staying at several places around the city this week and then recommending the hotel I felt would be best for my company’s quarterly conferences that will be starting in 2026. If you can’t get it right with one room and two people I highly doubt you’ll be able to perform when a 20-30 person group arrives four...

We booked an overnight stay at the Elyton and we’re looking forward to staying at another Autograph Collection Property as we have enjoyed stay at a few others in the past. ||We drove all day and we’re envisioning getting to our room and relaxing. ||Upon arrival we were told that nothing was open in the hotel due to it being Easter.|Ok…..not even a hotel bar….no…..nothing. ||We could get a drink or food. We can understand it was a holiday however, it was not posted online or in the hotel anywhere that would have indicated if you book just know this very important fact. ||Our room was average at best and we had a corner room with a City view. That’s not saying much seeings how the rooms are well above $200 a night. ||We were looking forward to breakfast at least. We ordered a Cappuccino and a Latte……this came out as coffees. No where near a specialty coffee unfortunately. Our waiter Skylar was polite when I asked him a few questions about the coffee. He was happy to take a few tips from me in regards to how to make foam for a specialty drink. |Their equipment was leaking for him to present specialty coffee drinks and they used “pod” for their Espresso drinks. Hence why our drinks were coffee.||We noticed the online menu is not the exact menu presented in The Yard Restaurant. Several items were missing from the in house menu. ||My husband ordered the Smoked Salmon Toast….we were told….that’s the only thing we are out of. ||He then order the Elyon Breakfast instead. |I ordered the Lemon Poppyseed Ricotta Pancakes with a Bluebery Compote and were looking forward to having them. |Moments later Skylar had to inform me that they didn’t have them. They had Chocolate Chip Pancakes if I wanted those…..well no….I’m not a 10 year old at IHOP here. ||I reordered just the plain ole Continental Breakfast. |Yogurt Parfait with Blueberries (how about Blueberry Pancakes in instead of Chocolate Chip?) half a Grapefruit and a Croissant. ||I thought what could go wrong with a Continental Breakfast….well things look pretty good except the Croissant was not there and was replaced with what I was told was a Catfish Head Biscuit. ||This thing was big for sure…..not light and airy as a Croissant but very heavy and tasteless. No thanks….my husband tried it and he agreed. He enjoyed his 2eggs/hash browns with bacon and toast. ||We did have the staff let us know at every turn during our disappointment if stay that Jessica (Hotel Manager) was struggling to keep up with the hotel in every area. ||The staff was always kind/friendly and had a quick smile. They must really like Jessica because they are always trying to cover for her and her lack of skills in managing a Marriott Bonvoy Autograph Collection Hotel. ||We absolutely wasted our stay and hard earned American Express benefit on...