Crowne Plaza Hamilton Hotel & Conf Center

I stayed a couple nights here while visiting Hamilton and thought the hotel was excellent. First, the rooms are extremely clean and the staff are very efficient and nice. Location is good too, as you can walk downtown to the library and shopping mall. The convenience store next door is nice to have as well. One tip: get a higher floor, as motorcycles and sports cars on the street can be noisy at night.

My best one word description of the Crowne Plaza Hamilton is «uneven».
It is usually our first choice to stay in Hamilton, as we want to be downtown. It has a parking garage attached & we can usually park right by the hotel door & walk straight into the elevator. All 3 rooms we have stayed in were clean & spacious. & on this last trip, we booked directly through the hotel website & were able to prepay breakfast for just $ 4 per person per day — for a full hot breakfast, with coffee or tea included. A great deal! The omelette I chose would have cost $ 12 if I hadn’t prepaid.
So, why only 3 stars?
A few years ago at Christmas we booked a suite room, since the hotel restaurant closes over the holiday & we wanted to be able to cook breakfast & at least one lunch. The price was only about $ 15 more per day & included a hot tub — sounds like a great deal, right? The hotel photos showed a nice kitchenette with dishes on the counter. Turns out, they don’t include any dishes or even cutlery in the suite rooms, so you can’t use the stove etc. unless you bring your own. Only after extensive arguing on our part were they willing to loan us a few plates & forks from the restaurant. I am not sure why anyone would pay for a kitchenette without even a fork or knife included. Must be a Hamilton thing
But at least we had a hot tub, right? As long as you don’t mind the fact it drains into the shower, it’s a good thing. My partner was ankle deep in tub run off one time while showering. We complained & were not offered another room, nor did they even mention a repair possibility, so I can only assume this was normal for the Crowne Plaza.
But the real downside of the suite room was NO BATHROOM DOOR! Your privacy is protected by a curtain you pull across, flimsy & not even floor length. Who could possibly think this was acceptable? The room had enough space to host a small party, but you probably wouldn’t do that unless your guests were familiar with prison toilets & therefore had long forgotten modesty.
The times we have stayed in regular rooms have definitely been better, but there is still a lack of attention to detail & an unfinished quality to many features. This latest trip we were on the top floor, with signs in the hallway claiming that this floor was child, pet & marching band free. The sign was somewhat diminished by the kid (under 10) sitting beneath it. I can only assume that he was escaping the screaming baby on the other side of the door.
& the kicker from this last trip — they were told to charge the credit card I used for the deposit, but instead charged the credit card we put on file for incidentals. I am not happy.
All this for more than I would usually spend on a hotel in any other city. I would be a little more tolerant if it was $ 90 a night.
You know what? I will probably stay here again, as the Staybridge downtown (owned by the same company) has even bigger drawbacks. I will definitely never pay for a suite again, though!