Element Denver Downtown East — Hotel in Denver

I had a great stay at the Element Downtown Denver during a business trip over the Columbus Day holiday weekend. In fact, I’m a bit surprised at some of the low rating reviews but I understand everyone has different experiences. This was my first time to Denver and I had a relaxing and efficient stay. I had been in town for a conference and have never took a business trip this far away from my home or employers. I booked my reservation via the Marriott site back in August and prepaid my visit. The hotel offers quick and easy credit card authorization for businesses. My supervisor simply accessed an email link, signed the agreement, and I was set. The hotel is about 11 minutes from Union Station. I easily took a Lyft ride for $8 with ease. Upon arriving, I was greeted and checked in within minutes. The hotel seemed simple but modern, cozy, and charming. The lower level features a gym, lounge area, full bar, business center, dining area, and a small convenience/mini-mart area. There were some reviews that mention the property being next to a bail bonds. This is true. In fact, it is within feet of a courthouse and detention center. To me, that only means I’m all the more safe because there are guards and officers right down the block (shrugs shoulder). Granted there are some people who will commit crimes anywhere, but near a courthouse seems far-fetched. You may also see a few homeless people around the neighborhood, but it was nothing crazier than any other major city. The first few days I did feel like the neighborhood was a little sketchy but that’s only because it was unfamiliar. Within time, it felt like home (New York City). The morning sky was beautiful and there is some sort of creek not to far where I saw people jogging daily. All-in-all it was a great stay. Below are a few highlights from my stay.||Pros:| - As mentioned, the property is modern and charming. Each day there was complimentary fruit infused water and hot beverages available for guests. In addition, there is a small retail space next to the front desk where you can purchase snacks including chips, candy, beverages, as well as premade meals and ice cream from some local restaurants. | - The common areas in the hotel were clean all around. I especially loved the outside fire pit. It was so relaxing and cozy after a long day of learning and networking. | - I stayed in room 620 on the 6th floor. It was a studio room that included a flat screen TV, working desk, a comfy king sized bed, and kitchen amenities such as a mini-fridge, microwave, sink (including dishwashing soap), plates, and utensils. Everything to create a home-like space home during your travels. Additionally, the bathroom was very nice. I loved the medium counter space which allowed me to plug in two of my appliances at once time and still have room for makeup. Lighting was perfect and I enjoyed the mirror on the door. Moreover, the shower pressure and temperature was great! Overall the room was very comfortable and clean, I had no issues. I did not allow for room service, so I cannot comment on that.| - The room features its own thermostat. This was great because the weather in Denver fluctuates. In the day it would be warm but at night it was cold. I liked being able to adjust the temperature based on my needs. | - Travel around the hotel is relatively easy. It’s about a 10 to 12-minute walk to the conference center or take a lyft or uber for about $11 (depending on time of day). There are a limited number of restaurants within walking distance, depending on how far you can or are willing to walk. There’s a Starbucks and Subways within a block radius. If you’re up for a 15-minute walk, the 16th street mall and the Denver Pavilions are close by. In addition, the art museum and state capitol are within a 15 to 20-minute walk. Most days I walked everywhere. Very rarely did I take a cab, but I suggest doing what’s most convenient.| - For Marriott Bonvoy members, the hotel allows for the mobile key option. Meaning, I did not need to use the plastic key card. I simply opened the door using the app on my phone. Super convenient. | - Breakfast was included in our stay and the food was decent. It was pretty much your typical self-serve continental breakfast. A selection of baked goods including toast and English muffins, then some fresh fruit, a yogurt bar, and cold cereals. The hotel offers a limited variety of protein. Hard boiled eggs are available daily but there is also a hot bar where staff prepares a small variety of dishes each day. It was typically 3 options including turkey sausage and 2 egg based dishes. The turkey sausage was dry and cold. I wished they’d offer turkey bacon or maybe pork sausage a few days instead. The egg dishes were good. I had an omelet with spinach and cheese. Another day was scrambled eggs with veggies. I would have also liked to see orange juice available. Moreover, they have great operating hours (M-F 6:30am-9:30am; weekends 7am-10am). Very helpful when considering early flights or early conference days like I had. Overall it was decent and efficient.| - The hotel offers a daily happy hour where they provide a complimentary drink to guests. I narrowly missed it but I encourage all to attend.| - Lastly, staff were very kind and attentive. Although I did not require any specific assistance during my time, I always received a greeting when I encountered a staff member and they were always available, if needed. ||Cons:| - This isn’t a con per se, but if you are looking for a hotel with an active, lively vibe. This is not it. It was very quiet throughout my stay. Some evenings I’d pass thru the lobby and it was less than 10 people either working or talking on their phone. The bar was also empty. I’d say it’s an ideal space for someone traveling on business.| - Marriott takes note of amenities you’d like to have available prior to your arrival such as extra towels or pillows. I prefer and requested foam pillows since they are the closest to firm. I received regular, soft pillows on check-in, which were very lightweight and lacked support for my neck. I made a request for a foam pillow thru the app and fell asleep unexpectedly before I could receive the pillow. When I woke up in the morning, I found the pillow at my door. It was another regular pillow. When I reached out to guest services via the app again, I was notified that they don’t have foam pillows. So why is the option offered on the app? They should have also kept the pillow that was delivered to my door. I did not want to put that on my bed since it had been on the floor. I’m grateful however, that they responded in a timely manner.| - I loved the bathroom except for one minor issue – there was no soap dish or even a compartment. I travel with my own bath products including bar soap and body wash. I had place any of my items while I showered, so I had to place them on the floor. Not ideal but I highly suggest they install something. ||Overall, I had great experience! The location and amenities were ideal for my trip. Compared with some of the hotels closer to the convention center, this appeared to be less hustle and bustle. It was much more relaxing. Most days I could not wait to go back to my room and relax in the warmth of the heat and hot shower. I would definitely return in the future and I highly...

We were incredibly disappointed with our long term stay at this property. We found the rooms, service, and food to be just so underwhelming.

That being said- the location is excellent. If you don’t have to be in this location, stay elsewhere.

We arrived early for check in, and were perfectly fine with waiting until our room was ready. But they never called us like they said they would. So we waited until the check in time and went to the desk to ask about the room- they said that it had been ready for some time. So rough start.

Once we did check in the room, we were bummed that our high floor request was not accommodated, especially since our room looked directly at the back of the row houses on the next property over, and because they (for some strange reason) specifically told us that all our accommodation requests had been honored.

And the disappointment just continued- we had completely mismatched plates and flatware and all of like 6 hangers in the room. We were staying for 6 weeks, so they could have considered that when preparing our room.

This is specific to our stay- but we were both working from the hotel for the 6 weeks we were there, so requested an additional desk and office chair. They had an extra chair to bring us; which was nice. But they were completely inflexible on offering a 2nd desk, despite us being there for such a long stay- they couldn’t be bothered to get an extra desk for us, anyone else in the future who may have similar needs. We just didn’t feel valued after this.

They do have breakfast, but it was constantly understaffed, meaning overflowing trash cans, messy serving stations, dirty tables, and consistently empty food platters. Even when there was fruit- it regularly looked like just the lowest quality, cheapest fruit available.

Then we had a couple issues with our room. The first was the dishwasher, which was a recurring theme for the full 6 weeks we were there. It was leaking, we called maintenance 5 times during our stay to stop it from leaking. The first time, they came to our room, wiped up the water with a towel, and then told us to call them if it leaked again. The next 3 times they came they were unable to stop it from leaking. There were many many staples sticking out of the frame of our bed, which I only discovered when I cut my leg on one. I called the front desk and asked them to send maintenance up with a happy to ensure the bed was safe for us- the maintenance person knocked on our door, handed me a hammer, and then left. Surreal. The ventilation in the kitchen is non existent. It’s just a fan that cycles the air back into the room. So if there’s any smoke, it doesn’t go away, it just mixes in the room. While we’re there, there was already one fire alarm that resulted in evacuating the building- so we didn’t want to risk that. We opened the window while cooking to let fresh air in- and then it wouldn’t close again. We let the front desk know the next day, that the window was stuck open and wouldn’t close. They sent maintenance who closed the window, but didn’t fix it. But they also didn’t tell us that, so when we opened the window again we were frustrated to find that again it wouldn’t close. So we spend the 6 weeks pretty much just being as careful as possible in the kitchen and setting up a multi fan system leading to the window in the bedroom to air out the kitchen. Just terrible.

We used the gym facilities while we were there, but we’re dismayed to find that garbage or spills made by others one day we’re still there the evening of the next day, and that made us question really how clean the gym facilities were. Also- just a suggestion- a spray bottle should be made available for cleaning the equipment, rather than the wipes setup that is there now.

We struggled for 15 min. with the internet connectivity to upgrade to the higher speed internet before reaching out to the front desk who said “it’s all high speed internet”. If that’s the case then remove the “internet upgrade” option from...

Do you dream of drying your hands with someone else's nail clippings? This is the place for you (+ Disability concerns). This hotel experience makes me nervous about ever traveling again. The property says they offer parking, but did not have spaces available for the weekend we were staying for. The first room we were given had not been cleaned. There was food on the table, the carpet had not been vacuumed, and there were hairs in the bed. We were given a new room which was also not clean (some pics attached). The toilet was dirty, the surfaces had not been wiped down, and there were fresh stains on the sheets/pillowcases, and the bar soap holder was covered with old soap. There were also nail clippings in the wash cloths. We tried to find another hotel but unfortunately no other hotel in the area had room. We asked for new sheets and pillows which were dropped off at the wrong room. We had to buy our own cleaning products to clean the room. The carpet in the hallways was obscenely dirty- it had obviously not been vacuumed for some time. On the morning we were checking out, the smoke detectors were being checked by maintenance. A maintenance member knocked on our locked door at 9 am. I said not to come in since I was not dressed and he came in anyway. I almost immediately received a call from a manager at the front desk not with an apology but with the request that I let the maintenance worker in to check the smoke detector. After I told him what happened he didn't know how to respond. We received a 20% discount which still accounts to spending more than $200 to stay in a dirty room and having a maintenance member open our room door when I was not dressed. I am a chronically ill woman and this stay endangered both my physical safety and health. I advise to avoid this hotel.

Additionally, we were staying in an ADA room, but the shower raised some concerns. The shower drain is at the edge of the shower but the bathroom slopes away from the drain. This caused the bathroom floor to be covered in water, even if I stood directly over the drain while I showered. Someone with a physical disability could easily slip and fall with how the shower is...