Kimpton Donovan Hotel

If you set your expectations properly, this is an excellent hotel to stay in.nnLet me help you set those expectations. Rooms average on the small side, but make up for it with attempt to seem a little more swanky. Rooms don’t seem to have balconies but the view is generally okay. The pool on the roof is only open 11am to 4pm, and the lounge takes its place in the evenings, which is adults only and pretty small. If you planned to see fireworks at all from this building, you need a room 12th or higher and facing south, otherwise you’re not going to have a good time. The only parking here is valet at 50ish dollars a night, and I think 35 dollars per day which goes up to some hour. Most floors have no additional amenities, except for 2nd which has an atm. There is a 200ish dollar deposit for incidentals, which is all the snack food they charge gas station prices for, as well as the potential you use or take the robes (idk which, I didn’t have motivation to get charged 95 dollars for one, either way). If you’re like me, you might have found yourself calling to have a mini fridge put into the room post arrival, but I believe this is not a common occurrence. Probably, they try to include mini fridges prior to people arriving, since it already had a cabinet for one.nnThe staff in general are the nicest people you would ever meet on a regular day. They take proactive steps at times even to make certain you’re comfortable, but have zero willingness to break rules to make this happen.nnDistance wise, this is a pretty ideal location for the price. It’s an 8 block walk to the green to see the museums. That’s maybe a mile away. There are all kinds of restaurants in every direction from the building. You literally can’t walk over three blocks in any direction without finding something to eat, and if you need immediate food, there are a handful of places to eat under a block away. There’s also a CVS on the other side of the street in case you left something at home.nnAdditionally, this hotel is coming up for a renovation, so maybe there are a couple things that you notice need to be fixed. This was also not a common occurrence, but I did notice for instance some loose carpet in the hallway of the floor I was on. Maybe due to my family they put us on a less nice floor? I don’t know.nnFor the amount of terrible planning that went into vacationing here, I think the staff were helpful in making sure everything turned out as good as possible.nnMoreover, and for the uninitiated, the soap they use seems especially pleasant. I think this has something to do with their desire to keep good strong first impressions.nnI wish somehow they could have advertised all the costs in advance associated with staying here rather than just the per night room cost. The marketing in that sense comes off as a bit deceptive, even if that’s not the true intention.nnAs much as I enjoyed it here, I would not recommend smaller kids here in general or for the 4th of July. It just seems like a poor fit to me.