Kinley Cincinnati Downtown, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel — Hotel in Cincinnati

We really wanted to enjoy our stay. We were in from out of state for a Friday wedding. Being a member of the bridal party, I booked Thursday-Saturday night, to allow us a day after the wedding to enjoy the city and catch a Reds game. When booking, all rooms had the same rate. Given our 5 hour drive in from out of down and concern for rush hour traffic, we opted to go straight to the rehearsal and dinner Thursday evening rather than checking in first. When we did check in around 9 PM, we were informed that there had been a mix up with the welcome bags left for us, and they did not have one for us. The one visible behind the desk was "for someone who had already checked in." We didn't make a big deal about this, because mistakes happen.

We then proceeded to head to our small yet well designed room, which was just large enough for a king size bed, two nightstands, and a bench at the foot of the bed. The only other furniture in the room was a small minifridge/narrow closet attached and TV attached to the wall. As we went to retrieve the complimentary bottled waters from the fridge, we found one of them was open and half gone. We were told this was a housekeeping oversight and offered replacements. In the mean time, we had noticed the floorpan on the fire escape route diagram on the back of the door, that clearly showed our room (308) being at the end of the hallway, was was considerably smaller most others on the floor.

The next day, my fiancé set up his laptop on a nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed to work since there was no desk or even chair in the room. Our suspicions were confirmed when I saw a friend's room that was considerably larger and contained a decent size desk. We certainly understood not all rooms were alike, but we had booked at the same time, through the same website, and paid the same nightly rate. The only difference was I was staying three nights instead of only 2 nights.

We did bring up our disappointment during checkout, and received a verbal apology and an explanation that they do not pre-block rooms, and so because we had checked in later Thursday evening, that was the room available to us. We also asked about the welcome bag still sitting behind the counter, which in fact did have our names on it. So, three days later, we finally received the welcome bag intended for us after initially being told it was for "someone else."

Obviously we understand the physical space in the hotel may not allow every room to be the same. The hotel offers variety of room types based on bed size, even including bunk beds. However, if a room is not similar in size and furnishing/amenities, I don't think the rate your be equivalent to larger, better furnished rooms. I certainly don't think it is fair to penalize guests who check in later, especially if they have traveled and are staying multiple extra nights. While the staff were pleasant and helpful and the location convenient, we cannot recommend this hotel. There is no way to know what you are getting for your money until you arrive, and hopefully you can arrive early because that is the way they determine quality...

I'm not even sure where to begin with our experience with Kinley. When we first booked the hotel for our wedding block, we booked through Ashley Scalia and she was incredible. We had no issues. Apparently, she left at some point between when we signed our block contract in January and October, when I reached out to firm up any details -- I received no response, because she was no longer working there. The new contact, which we had to call to even find out about, was Gina. She was nearly impossible to contact (not answering phone calls, not returning messages, etc). At one point my husband called and was transferred to her office, and he said it sounded like she picked up the receiver and immediately put it back down. It took us several tries to find out that our block had been sold out from under us. We had out of town guests scrambling to find accommodations as the hotel was full, despite having several rooms left in our block. The response time was so poor that we ended up driving down to the hotel to try and sort this out in person. The only helpful employee during this was Tenisha, who helped us secure rooms for our guests. She was wonderful. This brings us to the day of our wedding (Nov 13, 2021). The issues didn't stop. We had guests given room keys for already occupied rooms. One of our wedding guests walked in on someone in their room!! They screamed and called down to the front desk. It happened to myself and my husband as well -- we were given a room key and it didn't work on the door. We heard someone come lock the deadbolt from inside! We went back down to the lobby and they gave us a new room. The new room wasn't what we paid for either, it was a standard room when we paid for a king corner room. It's pretty ridiculous that I had to walk around the hotel at 1am with my luggage while wearing my wedding dress after nearly walking in on someone in what was supposed to be our room. When we finally got into our room, the pillow on the bed was covered in makeup to boot. The next morning they only charged us for the basic room but it was disappointing not to have the king room on my wedding night as was planned. Overall, this was honestly a nightmare. It was frankly embarrassing that our guests had so many issues, and it added stress for us on top of wedding planning. I figured things on my wedding day wouldn't go perfectly, but it is completely inexcusable to have duplicate room keys for occupied rooms (not to mention the safety issue this presents!). This hotel might be fine if you're just staying for a night or two, but if you want a wedding or event block....look elsewhere. We also will not be recommending Kinley to our venue, as they asked us to let them know what we thought of the hotel since they need recommendations for...

To anyone considering a stay at this disastrous excuse for a hotel, I plead with you: reconsider immediately.

It started with the valet telling us that we needed to circle the block over and over until they had a valet person available to take our car and that was just the start of the most horrendous hotel experience I've ever seen.

My arrival in the lobby was an auditory assault. The music inside the lobby was obnoxiously loud to the point where any attempts at conversation were futile. This became especially problematic when the staff at check-in, through a series of strained shouts and hand gestures, tried to communicate that my reservation had been canceled due to a child falling ill. The absurdity of the situation peaked at the revelation that I, a childless individual, had been the victim of a misplaced cancellation. You would think they would call or email you if your room was canceled, but nope, not this "establishment".

Incredibly, this was not an isolated incident. At least five other couples that were there for the same wedding were informed that their rooms had been mysteriously canceled despite recent confirmation emails to the contrary. They left their guests high and dry, with one unfortunate couple having to resort to sharing rooms with others. It was an outrageous spectacle that made me question whether this hotel is running some sort of scam. They did not even offer any kind of compensatory relief.

The disappointment didn't end there. The rooms don't even have irons and ironing boards.

A saving grace could have been a comforting meal or a stiff drink from the hotel's bar and kitchen. Alas, even this was too much to ask. The hotel's culinary offerings were unavailable 90% of the time, despite promises to the contrary. It felt like a taunting mirage in an otherwise barren desert of customer service.

In all my travels, I have never encountered a hotel experience as profoundly awful as this. The question remains, is this establishment an ill-managed business or a well-planned swindle? Whatever the answer, I know one thing for certain: I will never again darken the doorstep of this hotel or any associated with its company.

Consider this a plea, a warning, and a beacon of hope saving you from the calamitous disaster that is this hotel. Do not waste your hard-earned money, precious time, or invaluable peace of mind on this shameful blight upon the hospitality industry. Consider anywhere else but here for your accommodations, lest you wish to share in this...