Detroit: Doubletree Downtown Detroit Fort Shelby (July 2017)



Doubletree Suites Downtown Detroit - Fort Shelby - Convenient to Joe Louis Arena, Fort/Cass People Mover Station
 
My spouse and I stayed at the Doubletree Suites Downtown Detroit - Fort Shelby for four nights in early July 2017. We booked our stay online using the Hilton HHonors website. As Diamond members, we are entitled to a complimentary upgrade at check-in based upon availability, but because this hotel was so crowded when we arrived, we were assigned the room category that we booked (as well as the exact room that we chose during the electronic online check-in). 

The Doubletree is located in the downtown area on West Lafayette Boulevard across the street from the local television station WDIV Channel 4 and a block away from the city newspaper offices. The hotel is close to Joe Lewis Arena and is one block from the Fort/Cass People Mover station. We walked to downtown attractions such as Comerica Park, Ford Field, Greektown, and Eastern Market. The hotel is slightly isolated in terms of outside food and beverage- we found only the Press Room Café (only open weekdays from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm) and the Anchor Bar to be easily accessible. (Interestingly, the Anchor Bar was once a tenant of the hotel building before it moved to its current location around the corner.) However, there are myriad restaurants a few blocks away near the stadiums and other downtown hotels. A Sunoco gas station with a small mini-market is located across from the side entrance of the hotel, but it closes early and does not sell wine or beer.

The Doubletree property offers a large lobby area with comfortable seating, one alcove of which is reserved for the small business center (with two computers and a printer). The lobby also features a market-type counter that serves Starbucks coffee, cold drinks, pastries, and prepared sandwiches; communal high-top tables offer many charging stations beneath. Unfortunately, the counter is only open from early morning until mid-afternoon, so you cannot stop by in the evening to purchase drinks or snacks for your room. (The Doubletree does not offer a pantry area, but perhaps front-desk staff can retrieve items from this market area, if requested.) A fitness center is available. One of the best features of the Doubletree (besides those deliciously warm chocolate chip walnut cookies upon arrival!) is its complimentary shuttle service that will take you anywhere within a three-mile radius. We used the shuttle multiple times during our visit, and it seemed like a hugely under-utilized amenity because the van always seemed to be waiting for us when we exited the side door. We expressed our gratuity to every driver, but none more so than the enterprising older gentleman who drove us (and picked us up) from our Global Entry interview at the nearby US Customs and Border Protection Detroit Service Port office. (FYI: It is possible to get there using West Fort Street; it is NOT necessary to take any major highways as Waze and GPS suggest. Even though the customs property is located less than 2 miles from the hotel, you cannot arrive or depart on foot. Even the local taxi drivers and private car services would not agree to transport us, but the Doubletree driver was willing and able and met the challenge successfully! We wish that we could remember his name so that we could praise him to the hotel – it might have been Anthony.)

Originally called the Fort Shelby Hotel, the building was constructed in 1917 with 450 rooms spread over 10 floors. Over the years, the hotel has changed ownership and names (including the Pick Fort Shelby and The Shelby Hotel) until it was reopened as the Doubletree in 2008. The current hotel offers 200+ 2-room suites, with 50+ apartments located on the upper floors. Private rooms and event space are available. The hotel gets its name from Fort Shelby; which played an important part in the War of 1812. Built by the British in 1779 and originally called Fort Lemoult, it was later renamed Fort Detroit, and finally Fort Shelby. Over 8,000 artifacts from the fort are now housed at Wayne State University’s Anthropology Museum.
All accommodations in this hotel are two-room suites, with either one king-size bed or two queen beds. Upgraded rooms include corner suites that have slightly more square footage (750 instead of 650) and possibly more windows. We only had windows in our bedroom, but not in the living room area, which made the living space dark. Our living room contained a sofa and an easy/lounge chair (but no ottoman), along with a coffee table, side table, and TV stand for the flat-screen TV. The living room also contained a glass and brass table that held drinking glasses, an ice bucket, and a coffee service. We requested that a small refrigerator and microwave be placed in our room for an additional $7 per day. A hallway connected the living room to the bedroom, with the bathroom located off the hallway. Our bathroom was huge, with a shower/bathtub combination, toilet, and vanity with a single sink. Toiletries included shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, mouthwash, soaps, shoeshine cloth, and makeup remover wipes; a hairdryer and plenty of towels were also available. In some photographs that we have seen of other rooms in this hotel, other rooms had different configurations in which parts of the bathroom (like the sink and vanity) are located outside of the room that contains the toilet and bathtub, but in our room, everything was contained behind the door. (We actually prefer the vanity outside the bathroom so that multiple people can get ready at one time.) The bedroom contained a king-size bed with nightstand on each side, dresser with a second flat-screen television on top, closet (with an iron, ironing board, and electronic safe), two large windows, and a desk with chair. In online photos that we have seen of other rooms, the desk and chair are sometimes located in the living room instead.

We are disappointed in the Doubletree/Hilton website for this hotel, which seems to indicate that the Round Bar also operates a sushi bar. Although the sushi bar itself is still there, its chairs have been removed, and table linens are piled up on the counter as a sort of storage area. Also, the chain-branded website indicates that you can dine for lunch and dinner in the Motor City Kitchen (MCK), but in actuality, the true MCK area is open for the breakfast buffet only. The Round Bar at MCK serves lunch and dinner, but not the restaurant across the hall. The photographs of the Motor City Kitchen show some booths available, but only table seating exists now. The Motor City Kitchen contains a dedicated breakfast buffet area that can be closed off by doors, in addition to two small private dining areas. As Diamond members, we were entitled to daily breakfast. The buffet includes a variety of hot dishes (scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage, bacon, grits), as well as cold items (cereal, fruit, yogurt, breads and pastries) and juices. The buffet also offered one rotating specialty item each day: freshly-baked warm fruit scones, breakfast wrap pieces, breakfast club sandwich quarters (all of these were very good!). On only one of our four mornings, were we asked if we would like a made-to-order (although behind-the-scenes) omelet, but we declined. The breakfast servers were among the friendliest people that we encountered in all of Detroit (and that’s saying a lot because everyone in the entire city could not have been nicer or happier). A hostess will seat you at one of the various configurations and shapes of tables and chairs in a room surrounded on two sides by windows that provide lots of light. 

Our stay at the Doubletree Fort Shelby was good because we always enjoy the extra room that a suite affords, but next time we might try one of the other hotel options in the city.









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