Memphis Vitality Hotel — Hotel in Memphis

My boyfriend and I stayed here during our long road trip, anticipating this hotel to be a little more upscale and held to a higher standard than the Inn's we had been staying at. The check in process was more difficult than it should've been. There is no front desk- only a small table with a person with a MacBook to help. They instructed us to check in via our phones and explained how to unlock the door. To unlock the doors, you use two fingers to cover up the sensors and try to get the door to scan a qr code on your phone. This feature did not work, and we ended up typing in a code on the door to get it to unlock (why not just use keycards?). We were assigned a room, but after opening the door we found towels everywhere, the bed unmade, and trash still in trashcans. It was obvious this room was not cleaned before it was assigned to us. When we went back downstairs to request another room, the lady very kindly gave us a complimentary bottle of prosecco, apologized, and assigned us a new room. The second room assigned to us was clean, but the air conditioner did not cool down past about 72 degrees (even though we set it to 67 when we arrived- it still had not cooled down two days later). We are not typically people who complain, so we tried to enjoy our stay regardless. The first morning we woke up to enjoy the "complimentary breakfast" around 8:45am. When we got downstairs there were the food warming trays, but no hot food. Only toast and yogurt were available. The dishes set out to use for said breakfast were dirty- you could see crusty food on them and grease marks. We were annoyed, but figured we should get up earlier the next day to make it "in time" (although the website says breakfast is served until 10:30am). The second morning we woke up at 8am to get breakfast. There was still no hot food, dishes were very dirty, and we were extremely annoyed. The lady standing by the breakfast area asked if we wanted to see a menu. If a hotel is advertising continental breakfast- that is what people staying at the hotel will expect. We declined the menu because we were ready to leave at this point. Also, the second night we wanted to buy a soda from a vending machine. The ice/vending area on the ninth floor (where we stayed) had a sign that said vending machines are on even numbered floors. We went to the 8th floor and found no vending machines. Then, we went to the lobby to see if there were machines there. Someone who worked at the hotel (it was hard to tell because again, there is no reception desk- the woman was sitting at the bar with her laptop) told us there were no machines in the hotel, but went to the kitchen and brought back two sodas for us from the kitchen. This hotel is the worst I have ever stayed at. The people working here are wonderful, and seem like they are doing their best to provide good service despite not having a reception desk (what hotel can't give their employees an official area to be able to assist guests?), but that is one of the only good things about this place. This hotel is terribly renovated- which is evident in the rooms. It seems they rushed renovations to get them done on time- the light switches are dirty, there are gaps where the tiles meet the walls in the bathrooms, and the air vents are not clean. This hotel advertises continental breakfast, but does not actually offer continental breakfast. For over $80/ night, we expected SOME amenities but did not receive any (they advertise having two pools, but we were not interested in that). There is no self serve laundry service (or any laundry service), no breakfast, no electric vehicle charging for our car- nothing you might want out of a hotel. We are understanding people and will overlook small imperfections for the sake of having a good stay but there were simply too many things to overlook. I would've much rather stayed at a Comfort Inn and Suites and gotten the things we paid for. I would never stay here again or recommend ANYONE...

The comments I have seen her are true in my experience.

I stayed on 1/29/25 and found the physical space of the hotel to be very much in flux and extremely uneven in terms of quality (which, to be fair, is somewhat expected when you’re renovating!).

The downside: The rooms are very dated. The furniture is falling apart. My guest room was blazing hot when I got in, the toilet wouldn’t stop running for a bit and there was no shower gel in the dispenser in the shower.

There were bugs (cockroaches? Not sure. Pictures attached) in my room.

One treadmill in the gym doesn’t work great and the belt on another is frayed and wearing.

The check in system is overly complicated and done on a kiosk. It doesn’t work if you’ve booked through a third party, making check in infinitely more complex than it needs to be.

Technology should make our lives easier. This system likely saves money for the hotel with staffing but is not user friendly or intuitive. It takes what should be a 5 minute process and turns it into a 25 minute process.

When I bought breakfast, I tipped 20% (as the staff are great! More on that below!) and saw on the receipt only after I paid that 18% had already been added. I was happy to tip generously but not happy that I was not informed on the tablet that the gratuity was already included.

I ordered in advance as I had a tight turn around for meetings and still waited 25 minutes despite ordering in advance. The food was fine; nothing extraordinary but not bad.

The upside: The hotel is being renovated and the parts that are being renovated are super nice. It is very much in transition and the parts (like the lobby that I have included a picture of) that have undergone the upgrade are great, particularly if they’re a glimpse of what is to come.

Also, a huge upside for me: the people who work at the hotel are top notch, kind, helpful people. An overnight guy, Chris, went above and beyond to help me with the kiosk check in fiasco, kindly showed me the gym (at my request) at 1 am when I got in, and the next day, when I told him there was no body wash, sorted it out instantly. Super professional. Super kind. Super helpful. Deserves a raise!

Similarly, the restaurant has a team of people who could not be more accommodating and professional. While it took much longer than it should have and the breakfast wasn’t exactly what I ordered (though I did make some modifications to be fair) the people working could not be nicer, kinder, more welcoming if they tried. Whoever hires for the hotel does an exceptional job.

TLDR: the unrenovated physical spaces of the hotel are not great, show a lot of signs of wear and things do not work as well as one might hope across the property, BUT - if you’re looking for a hotel that is affordable, close to the airport, on the rise with its renovations and most importantly has an awesome, kind, competent team to help you when things arise, it’s worth a look!

To the owner - your team is top notch! Keep doing what you’re doing. The physical spaces and attention to detail (like soap in the bathroom) need some focus though.

I am coming back in a few days to fly home and hoping for a slightly...

False advertising! I want a refund!

I booked online to stay here for one night while I was on a road trip and thank goodness it was only for one night because this was probably the worst hotel I have ever stayed at.

I don’t even know if they have a front desk. I saw a kiosk or two at the front where people checked themselves in? I couldn’t even find anyone to address my concerns but I’ll get to that shortly.

The photos online looked like this is a pretty upscale decent place and it’s listed as a four star hotel. That is what I booked and that is what I paid for. However, once I arrived, the lobby smells like mothballs, and it only got worse from there. It looks like they did an OK job remodeling the lobby, but even the lobby still didn’t look as nice as the photos made it out to be.

When I arrived to the floor I’m staying on there was a bunch of trash in the hallways. It looks like no one cleans this place at all. It’s very dirty. When I got into my room, it looked like an old hotel that had some renovations done, but the project was not completed fully.

The best part is after driving 10 hours in the car and just wanting to rest for the night, I found out that my room had a giant ROACH and I was traveling with two children — that’s a health hazard and we don’t live with roaches in our bedrooms at home. I would really like my money back and I tried to speak to somebody at the hotel and they will not give me a refund, which is why I am leaving this review so no one else will get scammed like I did.

They told Expedia that I didn’t address my concerns in person so they won’t give me a refund but how do I address the staff when 1. I didn’t even see a front desk? And 2. We were EVACUATED and I had to leave before the scheduled check out time due to this. How is this my fault? As I mentioned I had been driving for 10 hours as well so I was planning on addressing this issue in the morning but I didn’t have the opportunity because of whatever happened to cause the fire alarms. Furthermore, to make matters even worse the next morning at around 8:30 AM, the fire alarms went off for the entire building and we all had to evacuate before I could even get the breakfast that I paid for. They were about 10 firetrucks that pulled up to the hotel and everyone was evacuated outside with alarms blaring early in the morning for an extended amount of time. Thankfully, I just went ahead and brought all of our belongings downstairs with us and we left this disgusting nightmare. I didn’t even get a good nights sleep! I would have been better off sleeping in my car than this dump.

Please take a look at my photos that I took during this horrific day and avoid staying at this hotel at all costs because you will have a terrible, filthy experience and they will not refund you your money for their false advertising!

You’ve been warned.

I’ll be filing a claim with the BBB. This was completely unacceptable for a “4...