CANVAS Hotel — Hotel in Dallas

Booked this hotel for one night for my birthday. The parking lot is tiny. No spots at all. Had to park in the South Side Ballroom parking lot across the street, pay $20, then hike up the hill to the hotel with all my bags. I planned on using the pool with my friends and enjoying it, which is why I booked this specific hotel. I had other business during the day so I had to check in at 8. Then, I get there and check in, but the employee tells me that the pool closes at 8. I proceed to tell him it’s my birthday and I came just for the pool. I ask if there’s anything he can do or if I can speak to a manager. He asks two of the managers and they both said no, but I didn’t get to speak to them. I came back down stairs and asked to speak to a manager. I asked how they closed the pool and he said they just kick everyone out. They wouldn’t let me swim. He said they shut it down but when I went to the rooftop the pool was perfectly fine to swim so I don’t understand. What’s the point in booking the place if they aren’t even going to let you use the amenities? The sign on the pool says that it’s open from 7am to dusk. Then, I brought my own birthday cake up to the roof top and wanted to enjoy it up there and everyone sing to me and light the candles. We get five steps past the elevator and the employee upstairs yells at me and my friends. He says no outside food or drink. But this is a custom birthday cake that I know they cannot offer me. The other employee tells me that I can bring it to the downstairs bar but I have to pay a $50 fee. A $50 fee to eat a cake I brought? For my birthday? We then had no option but to do cake in the hotel room. After we were done we wanted to go back up stairs to the rooftop and enjoy the view. On the hotel website and TV it says the rooftop is open till 11pm. We get up at 10:26pm and the employee yells “WE CLOSE IN FOUR MINUTES!” The whole time was a horrible experience and I just wanted to enjoy my birthday. The room itself was mid, there is not even a microwave. Then I finally got to use the pool the next day but it is very small. You can hear all the other families and their screaming children. It is very intimate, everyone is close in proximity. They told me the pool opens at 9am but the sign on the pool says 7am. They keep contradicting themselves. Then I was swimming and wanted to enjoy the bar because I just turned 21 but the bar didn’t open till 1. This is not 1920 where alcohol is illegal, we want to drink. Then I called at 8:30am to check if I could do a late checkout. They told me yes, I can check out at 1pm. Then I come back to my room at 12pm and my key card did not work. Then I had to go downstairs to the lobby in my wet swim suit and ask the front desk employee why my card wasn’t working. He said the cards automatically stop at 12 for checkout. That is exactly why I called at 8:30am to prevent this from happening. Then I asked him if they had the luggage trollies and he said “Somewhere on the side.” I then proceeded to hunt around the side of the lobby looking for one when he should’ve been tracking one down for me. I asked again telling him I don’t see any and he says I don’t know. I asked if he could find one for me and bring it up to my room or call my room and he never did. Then I came back downstairs and he said they don’t have one. I had a lot of bags I had to carry myself because I was celebrating my birthday. Then I finally checked out and I asked for the head managers name and card. The front desk employee didn’t ask me how my stay was or for any feedback. Then I had to hike to the car because the parking was full and I had to carry all the bags because they had no trollies for the luggage. Customer service at this place is absolutely out the window. One year later, they...

Pro: -rooftop view -staff is nice -clean

Cons: -city view suite upgrade is NOT worth it and is terribly overpriced -direct booking is an awful user experience and feels like a scam -Parking sucks and is shared with a very busy restaurant next door, extra parking potentially provided across the busy street -room service sucks and is not worth it -you as the customer have to bother them about everything, nothing is taken care of for you despite the fact they are expensive and apparently a 4-star hotel

My experience:

We decided to book at Canvas for my mom’s birthday based on all the claims of an amazing view. I admit the view from the actual roof top is quite nice, but that’s about it. From beginning to end, my visit to Canvas Hotel has been an awful disappointment and I will never recommend or return to this place.

I booked 2 rooms total and made sure to book my mom’s room direct with them and paid extra for a City View to ensure she would get a nice room. Although the city was in view, what they don’t mention is that 90% of the view is the hotel’s own nasty overhang, the parking lot, and the roof of the restaurants next door. The upgrade for a nice view is not worth the value at all despite costing an extra $150/night… AN EXTRA HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS. For a room on the third floor. For that much, you’d expect your view to be at least a little nicer. I was embarrassed to show my mom the hotel room for her birthday. Even worse, the key card they gave me when we checked in didn’t even work and we had to have the cleaning service open the door for us...

Furthermore, when I booked DIRECT, their website said we would receive a $50 dining credit, which we didn’t receive and they never even mentioned. They don’t send any confirmation emails or codes or receipts or even give you a physical copy so you’re left in the dark in regard to what you’re being charged for or what you should be receiving. I had to remember the voucher by visiting the site and ask them for it on the day I checked out. They would never have reminded me or provided it without that.

Also, one night, we asked the front desk if there was any ice cream and were told there was a scoop that comes WITH their chocolate cake. When we actually ordered, this single small scoop cost an EXTRA $5 and came with chunky bits of ice in it. With auto-gratuity, this cost nearly $18. Despite this, my sister wanted it again the next night, so I begrudgingly ordered it again only for it to never come (without any cancellation email or anything at all) even though they charged me for it. I had to dispute this with them and they couldn’t even confirm that they would cancel it. I’ll have to follow up on this with my bank.

Worth mentioning is that the parking situation is terrible. They have a small lot available but it’s shared with the restaurant next door and gets extremely busy whenever the restaurant is open. This forces customers to have to park in the street or across the busy street the hotel is located on.

I am just incredibly disappointed. I’ve had better experiences at last minute motels than here and it was my mom’s birthday which only made the disappointment worse. They don’t even give you a cheap toothbrush and tiny tube of toothpaste lol. I feel so much regret just thinking about this place because it should’ve been a luxury for my mom. I left them 2 stars for the rooftop view, the cute lounge in the lobby area, it’s clean, and because their staff is very nice. It’s not the staff’s fault the way the owners run and promote the...

The good: CANVAS is beautiful, inside and out. The lobby features several lounging areas that are expertly curated, perfect for photos. It smells incredible and the staff were very warm and friendly. The elevator requires a room key to access your floor which cuts down on excessive hallway noise. The rooftop bar serves fabulous drinks in the $17-$20 range. The infinity pool is lovely, provides nice large towels, and the area is clean with ample seating.

The bad: While the room is attractive, there are several practical issues. First, the headboard banged against the wall at the slightest move. The shower is built so awkwardly! There isn’t a door so much as a half wall made of glass. This means that cold air is rushing in during your shower at all times. Not only that, you have to enter the shower completely in order to turn it on! You are blasted with cold water before it has a chance to warm up. There isn’t even a real door to enter the bathroom. The sliding barn door offers hardly any privacy. The room doesn’t have a luggage rack, so you have to open your luggage on the bed (ew) or get down on the ground.

The ugly: A huge reason I chose the CANVAS is the shuttle service. If you still choose to stay here and want this service, double and triple check that they have drivers. Upon check-in I was advised to call 20 min before wanting to use the service and they’d find a chauffeur. Unfortunately, the day I stayed, they had no drivers. Everyone is charged a $20 fee (presumably for amenities) and the primary amenity I booked for was unavailable. The pool closes way too early (dusk) and many of the photos online of the pool are AT NIGHT showing off the beautiful night skyline (that you will not enjoy when you stay). The one thing I ordered from the small breakfast menu was unavailable. If your menu is small enough to fit on one side of one page, it’s wild to be out of anything. The noise at this hotel is unbelievable. Come prepared with ear plugs, I am not exaggerating in the least. You can hear absolutely every sound from the road. The cargo trucks at 5am were extremely loud. The room is industrial, there isn’t enough sound dampening and it echoes in both the room and bathroom. A thick curtain could help with that, they should consider installing them in each room.

Overall, the location is convenient, staff is lovely, and the aesthetic is attractive. If you choose to stay, you can use white noise, earplugs, eye mask, and...