VA Richmond Aloft West Innsbrook

[Peter Piper]

An ultra-modern experience aimed pretty squarely at a young crowd. This place features radical, modern, minimalist decor that you will probably love or hate.

The positive: It's pretty clean and new. Beds feature duvet-style covers. Lobby is set up to foster interaction. It is in a newer development with a few restaurants as well as a trader Joes. It is located right next to a whole foods, which is a big plus. Gym/excerise room is quite nice, better than in most hotels.

The negative: It is oriented towards a trendy, hip, young, night-club hopping crowd. It is not warm feeling at all but instead quite spartan and minimalist. No pictures on the walls. No chairs in the room except for one desk chair. it looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. I like the idea that the lobby is set up for more interaction, but this feels like a glorified, high-priced youth hostel. One annoying aspect: no real privacy in the bathroom due to the fact that it is a sliding door which doesn't fit tightly and has a one-inch gap at the top. No courtyard or any nice place to sit outside.

Swimming pool is quite small.

The complimentary breakfast that someone wrote about in a review no longer exists. You can get breakfast sandwiches at the little hotel shop, but you're better off walking across the street to Whole Foods, less than a five-minute walk.

The hotel is set in a new development, basically a fake town sort of thing. You can see off to the edges of it that they had to clear a beautiful forest area to put the development in. Of course that's not the hotel's fault but it's very sad that developers are allowed to destroy America's remaining open spaces.

If you're the kind of person who likes to rent an apartment in the absolute newest apartment building and have your bed on the floor and have almost nothing in the place, then you'd feel right at home here. If you're looking for a romantic weekend, with old-world charm, this is definitely not the place.

If you are an older person used to traditional hotel comforts you will definitely have to keep an open mind about this place. As a Priceline/Hotline customer you are hopefully used to trying to make the best of it even if it's not a place you'd normally choose.

It's an interesting place for the design, but the whole concept leaves me a bit cold and it would not be my first choice of a place to stay.

[Peter Piper]

I wanted to add that, some people who really like this place. So if this sounds like your kind of place, don't be put off by my review. If you go for ultra-modern and trendy style, or if you are just curious about it you will probably enjoy it. If you are looking for traditional hotel comforts you may feel a bit put off. If that's the case, try to accept it as a chance to try out a new concept.

One plus in this hotel is that the exercise room is one of the best I've seen anywhere. It's like a small health club. Unfortunately the pool is quite poor, almost too small to swim in and was very murky on the day I was there. The other big plus at this hotel is the whole foods right across the street.

There is a mall about a mile away, the Short Pump Mall. I didn't get a chance to check it out.