Omni Charlottesville Hotel — Hotel in Charlottesville

My wife and I just returned from a 4-night stay at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel.

The Omni seemed to be the biggest hotel in the downtown area. It is 7 stories and is very classy and cozy. It has an atrium that is as tall as the building. Tons of sunlight flood the lobby, making for a bright and airy feel.

We stayed in a Deluxe room, which was about 350-400 sq ft with 2 Queen beds. The hotel and rooms are very clean and spacious, with ample closet space and several drawers.

The location was perfect for us. It’s at the starting point of the Downtown Mall, a quaint pedestrian-only street that spans about 6-7 block and is lined with several restaurants, boutique stores and more. Finding a place to have a meal or grab some snacks/drinks/coffee was super convenient. The Charlottesville City Hall is right next to the Mall.

The hotel is also located at the starting point of W Main Street, one of the major streets in Charlottesville. A leisurely walk to the entrance of the UVA campus took about 20 minutes and there are several restaurants and stores along the way. The Amtrak station is about 10 minutes into the walk towards UVA. For those driving to the Grounds, it takes about 10-minutes maximum to any spot within the Grounds with no traffic.

On the flip side, there were some aspects that kept me from giving 5-stars for this review. They are as follows:

Although our room was spacious and clean, the window faced the interior of the hotel. More specifically, our view was of the atrium and we have a corner room. This meant that the room didn’t have much natural sunlight and we could see the room and hotel guests in the room next to us as we had an interior corner room. We also felt that the room didn’t have enough lights, but I believe that’s a subjective judgement.

The bathrooms have 2 sliding pocket doors that didn’t close completely. This wasn’t a major problem for us but for those that are used to having their bathroom doors completely closed, it could be an issue, esp as there is no lock or clasp to completely shut the pocket doors.

Our biggest disappointment was the housekeeping staff and their timing and courtesy. On most mornings, they knocked on our door very early. This happened at 8am on one occasion! The other days it was about 9am. I was half asleep and still in bed on these occasions.

I appreciate the staff’s desire to clean the rooms early but the issue is privacy. On one occasion, the housekeeping staff actually opened my door and walked in after just one knock and a mention that it’s housekeeping. I had no time to even respond as the whole process literally lasted for about 2 seconds. I also witnessed the staff knock on another room a few times and as the guests were still asleep or didn’t hear the knock, the staff just opened the door only find out that the guests were still in the room!

There is a door sign that says, “give me 5 more minutes” but I’m not sure that’s clear to all the guests, especially those who aren’t fluent in English. I also believe that regardless of there being a door sign, housekeeping shouldn’t come to the rooms so early, let alone open the door and walk in after what I perceived as a half-hearted effort to alert the guests if they were in the room.

I suggest that the hotel also provide a door sign to alert the staff to “have the room cleaned.” As I missed the early morning cleaning opportunity, our rooms were cleaned at about 2pm., which, on the flip-side, I find to be a bit late. This becomes especially inconvenient when one just returns to the hotel to rest during midday.

Here are some tips for those who stay at the Omni.

1. Sign up for the loyalty program. This gets you free Internet for the duration of the stay. And, of course, you accumulate loyalty points over time.

2. Parking is free

3. There is an excellent coffee shop called “Mudhouse Coffee” just outside the side entrance of the hotel. It has excellent coffee and a...

I stayed twice here at the Omni Charlottesville just before Christmas 2024. Upon checking in I was greeted by James, due to my lateness I was keen to get to my room, I was not given the brief on breakfast, facilities, Wi-Fi or anything else, I found him to be stand-offish at best. The room itself was very nice, the bed very comfortable with good features, my room overlooked the town and mountains. I was very close to the lobby, so I would hear very loud Americans yelling and bellowing down the corridors, I could also hear the motors of the lift shafts, made slightly better by ear plugs. I asked for a late checkout the following day, I felt I was fobbed off. I was awaiting a collection to be transferred to my next venue, but the reception team never gave me the message, they did not even call my room, so I wasted a day walking the streets of Charlottesville trying different venues. At the end of my other retreat I returned to this hotel. This time I had two nights, I was suffering with the flu and looked forward to being able to rest, this was not to be. From my room I could hear two VERY loud American's listening to music and talking about taking psychedelics, that is how well I could hear them WITH ear plugs! I called Reception and spoke to Samir, a lovely assistant who was very apologetic and kindly offered me another room not far away, it was just the other side of the room I was in, although he assured me the wall was thicker. He was right, but I could still hear their festive partying in the room and had to call again, rather embarrassingly. Samir was wonderful and found another room, each time going above and beyond to offer me kindness and assistance. The new room was not what I had paid for, but at least it was indeed quieter, I happily accepted the room. Were it not for Samir my rating would have been lower. Breakfasts were lacklustre, the buffet offered limited gluten free options. I was given assurances for gluten free, but found I would end up with a stomach age thereafter, so something had wheat or barley in it, this lack of allergen information was problematic enough that I decided not to eat there. I would have loved something gluten free with salmon and eggs, but this seemed to be too difficult, so instead I was left having a very bland breakfast, cup of filter coffee and heading out instead. The gym is adequate, irony is I was too ill to use it, but I went in and was pleased with the limited selection. The pool is small, the hot tub uninspiring, no music played, but it was nice enough to spend 20 minutes in. All-in-all the hotel is very pricy for what you get, one person made my stay better, otherwise this would have been a three...

My husband and I stayed here for a week while he was attending his on-grounds residency for his MBA program. The school set aside rooms for the students, so we didn't really have a choice in the hotel. And honestly I most likely would never stay here again, at least not by my own choice.

Brownie points, they allowed us to bring our golden retriever after we called and asked (FYI: there is a $125 pet cleaning fee).

The biggest perk about this hotel is its proximity to the downtown Charlottesville mall. It's within walking distance to a plethora of restaurants, coffee shops, bars, shops, and venues. It's also not too far from UVA, and I was able to walk from the hotel to Grounds a couple of times the week I was staying there with no issues.

The rooms are incredibly outdated. The furniture, the wallpaper, the decor... everything feels like it was in vogue 20 years ago. It's definitely an older hotel and emulates that dated vibe. While the rooms were clean, it just didn't make for the most comfortable stay. There's no overhead lighting so I had to turn on all the lights practically all day if I was working in the room.

The bathroom is very small. There's barely any clearance between the toilet and the door, and you have to shut the door to shower (to add to that, there's also no fan in the bathroom). There's also no conditioner, although they provide two different types of body cream.

There is a parking garage with in and out privileges, which was a plus. You need your key card to get in and out of the garage. Upon arrival, pull up to the front of the hotel to check in and get your key card so you can then drive into the garage. You also need to the key card to use the elevators. There were a couple of times my card did not work right away and I had to retry again and again.

Service was overall helpful and accommodating, with one exception. Typically, we asked for extra waters every day and we'd get them no questions asked. However, there was one time when my husband asked for a water and the front desk staff was about to hand him a bottle but all of a sudden, the manager on duty came up and reproachfully said it cost extra. It's not even like it was Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, or some artisan water. The attitude was what was particularly unpleasant.

Overall, it's convenient to downtown mall, has vehicle in and out privileges, and is generally clean. However, I would highly recommend that Omni update this hotel to keep up with the other hotels in...