My spouse and I stayed at the Doubletree Guest Suites Cleveland for 2 nights in early September 2013. Self-parking (with in/out privileges) is available for $16 per day, and entitles you to keep your car parked in the garage until 6:00 pm on the day of your departure. The parking garage is several floors high, with stairs and elevator access on every floor. The elevator from the garage leads right into the hotel lobby, although it is not the same elevator that guests use to access their rooms. The parking garage has two spaces prior to entering through the gate/arm where you can unload your car. If those spaces are occupied, just take a ticket, enter the garage, and park your car. The front desk will destroy the paper ticket and provide you with your room key, which you will then use to enter and exit the garage. Upon check-out, there's a box to return your key right next to the access box. The elevators at this hotel work extremely slowly.
Although there are four elevators in the bank, do not expect to get anywhere quickly. The indoor swimming pool was closed for renovations during our stay, a fact that was noted on their website when we made our reservation. We also received a personal email from the hotel manager to make sure that we were aware that the pool would be unavailable while we were at the hotel, although the initial dates quoted seemed to stretch a few extra days. We were unable to see into the pool area; however, the back of the pool area seems to open onto a courtyard shared by the event rooms, so it is possible to get some fresh air before/after your swim (there were not chairs in the courtyard, though).
The hotel restaurant/bar is called the Stadium 3 Bar and Grille. The restaurant area is fairly small, and this is the location of the breakfast, if one is provided with your room rate (not all rates include breakfast). The breakfast was acceptable, although not any fancier than what is provided at a Hampton Inn (we had expected something slightly more extensive because this category of hotel is a bit better). The hostess had great difficulty managing patrons waiting to be seated. The dining room area is totally separate from the bar area. The bar seems to close early - before 10:00 pm on the weekend that we visited.
We had room 1217, which was a standard room towards the middle of the floor and that overlooked the city (but not the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame). Our room was a decent size, with a king bed abutted by two nightstands, a sofabed, and a glass-topped coffee table. Our room also held a desk and chair, and a bureau on which the flat-screen TV sat. We had an empty mini-refrigerator and a coffee maker, as well as an iron and ironing board. Our air-conditioning worked well; however, it dripped condensation on the carpet, making the floor a wet mess. The bathroom was a bit compact, with a single sink/vanity that did not offer much counter space. Toiletries by Crabtree & Evelyn (Citron) were provided (shampoo, conditioner, body lotion). There were two trash cans in our room that had separations for paper and plastic/glass recyclables.
The hotel has an executive lounge; however, it is only open Monday through Thursday, so we were unable to see it or partake of its breakfast or evening happy hour. It did not sound as if one could even access the lounge area on the weekend, even if you are just looking for a quiet place to relax (without any food or beverage).
The hotel is within walking distance of Cleveland Browns Stadium and the science center, and is the closest hotel to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The hotel offers complimentary shuttle service to the downtown area, but not to the museum/hospital areas. The hotel is an easy walk to the true downtown area (such as East Fourth Street), but is located on a more quiet side street away from the real action.
We were happy with our stay at the Doubletree Cleveland. As Hilton loyalty members, we looked at the other two options in the downtown area, but feel that we picked the best choice for us. The Hampton Inn has a great location, too - perhaps as good as the Doubletree, depending on what your sightseeing plans are, but we think that the Doubletree was just a bit more luxurious.
