Clarion Brandywine Hotel, Wilmington DE - my oh my...

When I got here at 1:30AM last night (exhausted), the front door was locked. I picked up the phone in the entryway to speak to the front desk person. “May I help you?” “Yes, I’m at the front door and need to check in.” “Do you have a reservation?” “Yes.” “Are you sure?” “Uh, Yes.” “Okay, well, I don’t have anything for you.” {long silence.} {click.} {door opens}. Fortunately, she meant that she didn’t have record of my reservation, not that she didn’t have a room. Apparently the problem was that I made the reservation on the int-erned-net so they weren’t expecting me - despite the fact that I received two confirmation emails from them and fortunately had printouts.

She was able to get me checked in, and let me know that my room would be on the front of the building facing the street. "Some people don't like the sounds of the traffic. If you don't like it, we can move you later in the week." I replied, "at this point I'm simply exhausted and am grateful for any bed. Thank you."

While it was kind of the clerk to mention the traffic sounds, what she didn't prepare me for was the invigorating serenade of jackhammers and dumptrucks I would get to enjoy all night long... right outside my window. My hotel room faces the street… the street that is currently under major construction. No biggie. I’m a sound sleeper.

Anyway, I finally got checked in and immediately tried to check email. Yes, it was 2AM – but email’s important! Their wifi won’t work with my laptop, so I can’t connect. Says “invalid user name and password.” I called downstairs and they said there is no user name and password. Ah well. No biggie – probably for the best anyway so I can crank through project schedules without getting distracted by email.

It was really cold in the room this morning, so I turned the heat up to 80 before leaving for the office. It’s still really cold. I went downstairs and asked the front desk how to turn the heat up, thinking I must be doing something wrong. They said they turned the heat off, because someone in the back of the building said they were hot. “So … the knob on my wall does nothing, the temperature is centrally controlled, and there’s simply no heat?” “Right.” {blank stare} Ok then.
Welcome to my 45-degree, $120/night suite.

And there’s no good food within walking distance (the walking is scary anyway). Food is limited to delivery – pizza, Chinese, or seafood drenched in “sensational butter garlic sauce.” I think tomorrow night I may drive to Christiana to find good food. Oh, the irony.

Brrrr… still cold. Really frikkin cold. I’m in jeans and a sweater and under the covers, yet brrrr. And noisy. I should check the window. Oh, the windows don’t close all the way. Hrmph. There are actually two sets of windows - an older, sturdy wooden set (that doesn't move at all) on the inside of the window frame, and some flimsy metal-frame replacement windows on the outside of those. There is a gap between the bottom part of the window and the top. Maybe if I just wiggle it a little bit – doh! It FELL OUT altogether! Like, almost dropped on the street on the construction workers (maybe not such a bad idea, actually). Oopsy. … … … I was able to hang on to it and put it loosely back in place (it doesn’t actually fit the frame, but rather was just resting on the window ledge - so there is an inch-an-a-half gap where cold air gushes in). The lack of functioning windows, added to the front desk's decision not to run the heat, certainly made for a very cold stay.

I covered the gaping hole of cold air with a towel, but determined I needed more towels to properly do the job. So I went downstairs to the front desk: “May I have some more towels, please? I figured out that part of the reason my room is so cold is that the window doesn’t fit the frame and there is an inch-and-a-half gap that across the top where the cold air is coming in. I have covered it with a towel, but it needs more towels.” “How many would you like?” “I think four should do it.” “Sure thing! Here you go – four towels.” Apparently that was a sufficient solution from the hotel management perspective.

The only redeeming value of this place is that last time I stayed here they had a really great, relaxing bluegrass jam in the lobby on Tuesday nights... but alas - the front desk clerk said they don’t do that anymore.

I was supposed to be here for 6 nights. I stuck it out for three, but after that went back to the pure comparative luxury of the Fairfield Inn in Christiana. When I let the clerk know I'd be checking out early (the same clerk who told me there was no heat and was kind enough to give me towels to plug the windows), he simply smiled and recorded my change of plans in the computer.


All in all - the room is big and nicely appointed, and the staff here are quite friendly, but entirely oblivious to the concept of customer service. It made perfect sense to them to turn off the heat to the entire building because one guy in the back was cold, but did not occur to them to turn it back on (even at a low setting) because another guest was freezing. They were quick to oblige my request for towels to plug the windows, but it never occurred to them to repair the windows, or to move me to another room. When I let them know I would be checking out 3 days early, no one asked why; when I actually did check out, I was not asked how my stay was. This hotel does not "walk the talk" about the 100% satisfaction guarantee they advertise.

Should your travels ever take you to Wilmington Delaware, I recommend the Courtyard Marriott downtown, or better yet the Hampton Inn or Fairfield Inn in Christiana. The Fairfield just started a $70/night rate for Bank of America employees. Sweet!

PS... I did find the old bluegrass jam that used to play at the Brandywine. They now meet at the minimart next door, pickin' fiddle and mandolin right between the bottled water and the peanut butter aisle.