The Gin Hotel, an Ascend Collection Hotel — Hotel in Lexington

Booked a room by clicking the link from google from their chase hotel partner website. When I got the confirmation for a 1 bedroom room and showed up at the front desk, the clerk said there was no reservation for me, even though I showed her my receipt and confirmation on my phone. My fiancee and I just kind of looked at each other, she said the only thing she could do was book us in person for only the rooms they had available. I said ok and handed her my debit card, she didn't ask me which room, but just gave us a key and said we where good to go.

The room had no AC, the ice machine was not working and the bathroom had no large towels. It was so hot, we literally took cold showers, and then walked the city at dawn and got some ice-cream. Ac still was not working, and I told my fiancé' to ask if they can fix it, and the clerk just said oh yeah it does that some time. After checking out with a receipt the very next mourning, the manger of the hotel called me a half a hour later while we where already in the mountains, saying that, "I didn't pay". I insisted that I did but the manger threatened to contact my bank, so I gave him another debit card in hopes that I wouldn't get in trouble over the phone. Once we finally got into a town with some signal, I could finally check my account, and they charged me twice for two different hotel rooms on both my debit cards.

Then I checked my email for the receipts and there was two different hotel room numbers on the invoice. When I called the manager back, they where very rude and condescending talking to me as if being double charged wasn't a big deal, and that I could figure it out with the bank later. When i asked him why I was charged twice, and why he was calling and harassing me when I had very bad internet signal in the mountains, the hotel manager accused me of lying and said, "that there was no proof I didn't stay in both rooms." insinuating that there was two people so why would there not be two 1 bedroom hotels. I have never in my life been so discriminated against and felt so judged, me being a black women and my fiancee a white man, I truly believe the first hotel clerk just assumed I needed two rooms, and didn't care enough that I had verification of my booking in my email for 1 room. She just assumed I needed two rooms. Then the manager calling and harassing me as if I ran out of a store without paying.

The whole concept that my fiancee and I couldn't possibly be staying in the same 1 bedroom. Then being accused of lying and being charged double for two different rooms that didn't even have any AC when it was 95* outside. It was our 5 year anniversary and the only reason we booked a hotel was to escape the heat from a 8 hour drive in a car with no AC.

I should have known staying in a hotel historically named after Confederate general Robert E Lee was a bad idea. The only good thing was the antique architecture of Lexington and the nice restaurant inside the hotel. I still have anxiety and fear of visiting small towns, it has been a couple years now and this worry at the pit of my stomach still hasn't gone away, when it comes to visiting...

We stayed at the Gin Hotel in Lexington on 8/2/2022. It's in the old Robert E Lee building on Main street. I've previously lived in town, and thought this would be a nice treat for us since they totally renovated the building a few years ago. It was seen as the anchor for the downtown area.

The work done on the building is impressive, and everything looks really nice, but looks can be deceiving. I suppose the hotel tries to sell itself as a very upscale place, and it looks that way from the lobby to the rooms. Lots of glass, brass, and mirrors all around, but the rooms, while decorated nicely, have lots of wasted space, and plenty of missing amenities.

I had asked about a refrigerator in the room, and was told there were none, but that one could be placed in the room at no extra cost. We had planned to get some sandwiches and leave for an early trip home. The "refrigerator" that we got was one for holding a few doses of some meds. It barely held a bottle of water. There was plenty of space for a fridge in the room, and even a microwave. I can get that without asking at any number of hotels, anywhere, regardless of room price.

The lights in the room, while very striking from a decorator point of view are next to useless. They are all or nothing. All ON or all OFF. No way to use one of the wall sconces to read in bed without the spotlights on in the whole room.

We were in a very spacious room with a king bed, but there was only a single nightstand, which caused us to have to drag a chair over to places articles on when going to bed. There were two chairs arranged like a sitting area, but no small table or piece of furniture to put a glass, on. There are also no places to plug in any electronic devices like a laptop or charger. The Wi-fi was not working. Neither my wife nor I could connect our phones to it.

The oddest thing was that while they have an on-sight restaurant and bar, those were closed completely for two days a week. I've travelled to many locations over the years for business and pleasure, and have never seen or heard of a hotel with on premises food and liquor sales to have that facility closed, much less for two days a week.

So bottom line, it's all...

Location was exactly what we needed. Came to visit VMI for a long weekend and activities there were an easy walk. (It is also close to W&L.) The hotel has a restaurant that we did not visit, but there are lots of places to eat close by. The hotel is nothing special. There were some annoying features that resulted in my lower rating: deluxe continental breakfast was ordinary grab and go stuff; coffee ran out in the breakfast area; carpet cleaning needs to occur; needs to be a hook by the shower for robe and towel (had to walk across the tile floor to get to my towel); the faucet in the sink splashes water everywhere (poor design) and I feel sorry for the housekeepers. Speaking of, you only get housekeeping service if you request it prior to 12 Noon. We were next to a mechanical room-a bit noisy. Staff was very nice and competent. An obnoxious large checked into multiple rooms near ours. Yelling, singing laughing, air horns in the hall ways occurred at 11:30 to midnight. The front desk person was quick to respond to our call to quiet them. Another smaller group of the same ppl came in around 2:00. Therefore, I suggest that quiet hours be established. Finally, maybe we were the last to checkout, but when I dropped my key in the bin located on the front desk, the clerk told me we were all checked out, but without looking at the key. So I had to ask for a printed receipt. Again, the location cannot be beat, but for the price that we paid, this hotel had nothing I would...