Hotel Review: Embassy Suites Charleston, W.V.

Whether you are traveling north or south along the I-64/I-77 corridor, Charleston, West Virginia, is a great place to pull over for some needed rest. It might seem a little strange to stay in a bigger city when there are options south of Charleston like Beckley and the Tamarac area, but surprisingly, the downtown was quite nice, safe, and a quick on and off the highway.

The Embassy Suites sits just off exit 101 and offers, as its name implies, suites that can accommodate larger families. Our room had two beds and a foldout couch in a separate living area, hence a suite. There were five of us traveling, which made the accommodations much more appealing.

Arriving at the hotel, however, can be a bit challenging, and it does take away some of the charm of what it could be.

Embassy Suites in Charleston is worth the stay, but it comes with some downsides

We are members of Hilton Honors, which is important because our stay cost us 50,000 points, which would equate to around $150.00 for the night. When we arrived, we were excited about the breakfast options, the in-hotel restaurant, and the kids were thrilled that there was an indoor pool. Let’s start there!

The pool was, as you would expect, enclosed and full of loud, sometimes bratty kids. There are a lot of kids who were here the night we were. Unruly isn’t a surprise. Thankfully, as a father of four, it didn’t bother me nearly as much as it might others. The pool room is accessible by keycard, and once you enter, you are hit quickly with the smell of chlorine, a common problem with indoor hotel pools.

The lobby is quite nice once you enter. To the right, you will find the guest services. The atrium interior climbs nine stories with rooms circling the open area from floor to ceiling. They easily could have filled that open area with more rooms, but the aesthetics of having it open add to the charm. Upon arrival, we were given two free drink cards for the bar. The hotel offers a social gathering between 5 and 7 pm, and your first two drinks are on the house. That’s great, especially because the cost of the drinks outside of that two-hour window is quite expensive.

For clarity, I bought a glass of Clos du Bois Cabernet Sauvignon, and a 4-oz glass cost over $14.00.

Breakfast and food

If you like eggs, be smart and skip the ones on the buffet. They provide an on-site cook who makes omelets to order. My wife opted for the eggs on the buffet and hated them; I chose to wait for the omelet and loved it. While the breakfast is nice, it isn’t open long. On our Saturday morning, the area was only open until 9:00 am, and they closed up quickly when it hit 9. At that point, you can’t even grab an extra cup of coffee.

They do have a restaurant, but honestly, it is more or less a menu you order from and sit at an open table near where breakfast is served. This is in the wide open lobby. We tried the cheese steak and fries the night before, after dining at a restaurant near the hotel, which wasn’t very good. I expected a lot more from Outback Steakhouse.

The cheese steak was good for a hotel, but nothing special to warrant the $18.00 price.

The downside

There are always areas that hotels can improve. Whether that is food options, prices, or bedding. This hotel is not any different, but the biggest takeaway forces me to cancel the second night we had booked on our return from Ohio.

While the beds weren’t exactly comfortable, the parking was atrocious. You have two choices: pay $21.00 for the valet parking (they allow you to come and go at no charge) or park in the free area across and down the street in the mall parking garage. We parked there. It wasn’t much of a walk, but understand the hotel sits between a series of one-way streets.

To park there you must first go inside (park in the tiny turn around in front of the hotel entrance) go insde and get your parking pass, and then proceed to the garage. You have to drive around the mall, making three right-hand turns and then pulling into the parking garage. Embassy Suites has its own section you will be directed to, but don’t miss the entrance, or you will be driving around the mall again, like I did.

The parking garage is safe, and the walk was minimal, but if it had been raining, there would have been no protection for part of that walk. It also has height restricitions so pay attention. We were renting a U-Haul for our return, and parking would have been a problem, so we cancelled. it.

Overall rating – 3.5 of 5 stars: The parking brings this down, as does the quality of the bed itself. What it lacks there, it makes up for with the breakfast options and on-site food options, even though the food isn’t of excellent quality. The bar is good for those two hours, but after that, you are paying far too much. Despite the 3.5 stars I give the hotel, I’m not likely to stay here again unless I am by myself, but in that case, I’m not staying in a suite.