Won this hotel for $42 for a stay April 22-24 2004 and while the location can't be beat this seems to be one of those gently fading properties that to me at least isn't quite up to 3* level. The hotel is on 9th and Bank St across the street from the State Capitol with a public parking garage right next door between 8th and 9th. The hotel also offers valet parking for $9.75 a day. You can park in the square around the capitol for free anytime it is not in session (between 6pm and 8am weekdays and anytime on weekends). There is a small visitor's center on the capitol grounds in the old Bell Tower. I must say everyone me met was super friendly. My husband and I walked to Capitol Square one night after dinner to look at the statue of George Washington and one of the guards immediately popped over to talk to us and offer us a visitor's map of the downtown area. The lobby is pretty but small with Maxine's (a "restaurant") to the left and two other sitting areas to the right where they offer free daily papers. Maxine's is where they serve a pleasant continental breakfast each day with fresh fruit, hard boiled eggs, cereal, pastries, breads and bagels, juices, etc. and also have a small "happy hour" between about 5 and 7 in the evening. They set out different bottles of wine and beer and free bowls of chips and salsa and snack mix. If you have anything to drink you fill out a slip of paper and turn it in to the front desk. Maxine's also sells prepackaged salads and sandwiches and 20 oz. bottles of Coke products but that's it as far as available food from the hotel. There was also a baby grand piano on a balcony above Maxine's which I suppose was there for atmosphere since I never heard it played. The hotel has a very small gym on the second floor that needs a separate key for entry which you ask for at the front desk. They let you just keep it for your stay and then turn it in when you check out. It was pretty bare bones with one stationary bike, one treadmill, and a set of free weights. There was also a sauna. The two elevators are TINY! It was like riding up and down in a phone booth, and I never did figure out where the ice machines were. Our nonsuite room was on the seventh floor and when I threw open the curtains to let some light in we got a view of the rooms in the next section, a small alley, and not much more light. The room was a very good size with a large closet with iron and ironing board. One disadvantage of having such a large room was that it was always a bit stuffy even with the air conditioning window unit going all the time. There was a dresser with a small basket of goodies that constituted the mini bar, two double beds, a clock radio, a chair with a reading light, and a large 27 inch TV with quite a good cable selection. The bathroom was also quite large; in fact it was a bit of a stretch to reach the toilet paper! There was a mini fridge there stocked with an assortment of wine and beer but again there was an odd combination of elegant and cheap. There was a lot of marble, a low flow toilet, bidet, towel warming rack, hair dryer, telephone (!) and nice Judith Jackson Spa toiletries but the wallpaper was plain white with a blue stripe that was starting to peel away and one of those built-in warming lights on a timer in the ceiling. Water pressure was excellent with plenty of hot water. Richmond downtown is pretty dead at night after all the government workers go home but we never felt unsafe walking around. The hotel is in great proximity to Shockoe Bottom, Shockoe Slip, Canal Walk, and the Civil War visitor center. Please don't mistake me--we had a great time staying in this hotel with no complaints (and certainly not about the price!); however I'm not sure this hotel quite rates a three star. Maybe I was expecting too much but I didn't get a sense of elegance, Maxine's is a restaurant only in the loosest sense of the word, and room service seemed to be a delivery service available from local restaurants.
