Aloft Durham Downtown — Hotel in Durham

The Downtown Durham Aloft provided a great room but lackluster service.

After deciding to see a performance at the DPAC, my girlfriend and I decided to stay at the Aloft, conveniently located right next door to the venue. This was the first time I’d stayed at a Starwood property, but to be frank, I was not impressed. From the time we walked in, I knew that this wasn’t going to be anything better than a standard hotel stay.

When we first checked in, the gentleman at the desk went back and forth between addressing our check-in and another guest’s issue instead of just politely asking one of us to wait. And once he made our keycard, he handed it over and said “you’re all set” without giving us any overview of the hotel’s amenities or even directions to the room.

The room itself was neat and clean. I was impressed with the visual aesthetic of the space. It was laid out efficiently, and I was pleased that it came with free bottled water and a refrigerator to use. The bed was comfortable, and there was plenty of space to relax and get work done.

After returning to the hotel from the performance, we decided it wold be nice to get a drink at their WXYZ bar. My girlfriend ordered a margarita, and I grabbed a beer. And while the drinks were good, the service was anything but. We spent more than ten minutes waiting on the one bartender — who seemed new — and in that time, we had plenty of time to notice how messy the rest of the lounge was. On every table, there were discarded glasses, bottles, and napkins that had not been cleaned up, giving the hotel a trashy vibe. It didn’t help that the girl working at the front desk wasn’t helping clean up at all, despite not having any guests to attend to on her end.

On our way to leave the following morning, the front desk representative was friendly and asked how we’d like to receive our receipt, wishing us well. But two hours after we left, my girlfriend realized that she had left her Blender Bottle in the fridge. When we called to find it, the staff said that there was nothing to be found in the fridge, even though my girlfriend remembered with total clarity leaving it in there. We followed up later after the housekeeping staff had a chance to thoroughly look over the room, and they said once again that they had not found it, even though we were 100% sure that it had been left in the fridge, meaning that this stay had cost us a piece of property. So if you stay at this Aloft, make sure you don’t forget anything. You might not get it back.

If you’re going to see a show at the DPAC, the hotel is a great location, but the staff leaves a lot...

After deciding to see a performance at the DPAC, my girlfriend and I decided to stay at the Aloft, conveniently located right next door to the venue. This was the first time I’d stayed at a Starwood property, but to be frank, I was not impressed. From the time we walked in, I knew that this wasn’t going to be anything better than a standard hotel stay.

When we first checked in, the gentleman at the desk went back and forth between addressing our check-in and another guest’s issue instead of just politely asking one of us to wait. And once he made our keycard, he handed it over and said “you’re all set” without giving us any overview of the hotel’s amenities or even directions to the room.

The room itself was neat and clean. I was impressed with the visual aesthetic of the space. It was laid out efficiently, and I was pleased that it came with free bottled water and a refrigerator to use. The bed was comfortable, and there was plenty of space to relax and get work done.

After returning to the hotel from the performance, we decided it wold be nice to get a drink at their WXYZ bar. My girlfriend ordered a margarita, and I grabbed a beer. And while the drinks were good, the service was anything but. We spent more than ten minutes waiting on the one bartender — who seemed new — and in that time, we had plenty of time to notice how messy the rest of the lounge was. On every table, there were discarded glasses, bottles, and napkins that had not been cleaned up, giving the hotel a trashy vibe. It didn’t help that the girl working at the front desk wasn’t helping clean up at all, despite not having any guests to attend to on her end.

On our way to leave the following morning, the front desk representative was friendly and asked how we’d like to receive our receipt, wishing us well. But two hours after we left, my girlfriend realized that she had left her Blender Bottle in the fridge. When we called to find it, the staff said that there was nothing to be found in the fridge, even though my girlfriend remembered with total clarity leaving it in there. We followed up later after the housekeeping staff had a chance to thoroughly look over the room, and they said once again that they had not found it, even though we were 100% sure that it had been left in the fridge, meaning that this stay had cost us a piece of property. So if you stay at this Aloft, make sure you don’t forget anything. You might not get it back.

If you’re going to see a show at the DPAC, the hotel is a great location, but the staff leaves a lot...

I'm not trying to get anyone fired, but it was a sketchy experience from the moment we walked into the lobby (no one was at the front desk/reception area at 10pm). The Bartender was sitting nearby who shouted out to the hospitality person that we were there for check-in. Not a problem really, at least not until the hospitality/reception person says something like, "I thought everyone with a reservation for tonight already checked in," which caused me stress and anxiety, wondering if I made a mistake when I made the reservation. Well, our reservation was in the system, no problem (booked thru Expedia), and that was a relief, but I was annoyed with the statement that he thought all reservations had checked in, clearly just an excuse for being away from his post... Anyway, once we got to the 2nd floor, with our 3 large suitcases and carry-on bags, our room was al the way at the very end of a long hallway, and when we opened the door, we realized right away it was a handicap room (less appealing), but it was so late (and we had an early flight to catch), we really didn't want to drag our luggage all the way downstairs to get a different room (or call for help with our luggage, and change room, because we didn't have cash on us for a tip) so we decided to just accept the handicap room and get ready for bed. We soon realized that the bathroom/toilet area had a light-fan combo switch (both on at the same time) and the fan was LOUD, plus it was so dark in the expansive handicap bathroom/toilet area, we had to leave the light/fan on all night to find our way to the toilet in the middle of the night because the toilet was positioned in the far back corner (to accommodate a wheelchair)...Personally, I need to use the toilet at least a couple of times in the night, and always do so in the dark so I can get back to sleep quickly (the light in my eyes wakes me up), but not this time! With the light on, connected to the associated obnoxiously loud fan, after using the toilet, I struggled to fall back asleep each time; I felt like we were given this room because we were judged as "old"? (60+), and that's an insult because we are active, healthy and neither of us uses a cane (we are NOT handicapped). NOTE: The person checking us in could have at least ASKED if we'd like a handicap room, and not just assume; It was a sub-par experience (unlike my first time at the Denver ALOFT which was amazing and...