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Tonia B.
Tempe, AZ
Four-star rating
10.11.09
Seems that a lot of negative reviews of the Clarendon come from never having experienced all that is the Clarendon. I’ve been there on several occasions and never had a bad time. This past weekend was the first time I stayed there, and it was complimentary thanks to the gift certificates I received when I attended their Snow Ball New Years Eve party at the beginning of this year.
First off, the decor should be enough to sweep you off your feet. The lobby is exquisite and I want that wall treatment in my next house. The rooms are well thought out and modern and stylish. When you first enter, the lights are on for you, and soothing instrumental music is playing from the alarm clock. That right there was enough to make me want to fall asleep. Then I made the mistake of laying on the bed. I have to revoke my claim that I have the worlds comfiest bed. This bed was so seductive that I went to bed at 10:30 that first Friday night. Yes you heard me. 10:30. Lights out for Tonia.
I enjoyed having Gallo Blanco right in the same building as well as the rooftop bar, which made for a great Saturday night. When I left Sunday morning, for some reason my 2nd night was charged to my account, but Matthew, who was working the front desk carefully went through and corrected the situation for me. He was awesome.
My only complaint about the Clarendon is that I’d love to see some cute glassware instead of the disposable cups in the rooms. Also, being that it’s an old building, despite having four or five routers for guests, I was never able to get a wireless signal, and was told by the front desk they barely get one either. There should be some way to make that work.
With reasonably priced, modern, comfortable-as-hell rooms and a staff that will sweep you off your feet, I’ll definitely be back.
The Clarendon Hotel is located at 401 W. Clarendon Ave. in Midtown. — light rail station at Central/Indian School. (602) 252.7363
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Hey there – thanks for the write-up on The Clarendon – as the owner and GM of the hotel, I really appreciate the positive feedback. When I bought the hotel 5 years ago with two friends and a bunch of credit cards and home equity loans, we had no idea what we were about to get ourselves into!
Regarding the paper cups in the rooms… we moved away from glassware in guest rooms for a few reasons – first, no matter how much oversight we have, I couldn’t guarantee housekeepers were properly sanitizing the glassware – I can tell you that in pretty much every hotel on the planet you don’t want to use the glasses in your rooms, ever. The beds are amazing, and are our number one compliment – we spent about 3 times as much on our beds as other hotels spend on their beds. Regarding wireless, we had a few of our 16 routers on the fritz when one conked out and caused the rest along the same wire to not work… we’ve fixed this and have added 6 more wireless access points and so far, so good.
My goal is, and always has been, to create something unique and different for Phoenix that the community would be proud of, staffed with people who have good hearts and are sincere about making sure everyone has a good time – not just at The Clarendon, but in Phoenix and all of Arizona as well.
If there’s anything you can do to spread the word, we’d really appreciate it – and if there’s anything I can do for you, let me know – we’re all here to reciprocate and make sure that Phoenix is the awesome city it deserves to be!
Ben