Hotel Lawrence

I stayed at the hotel Lawrence in Feb. 2014. It was snow in the area so my transportation plans got cancelled. I needed to stay a few nights in Dallas so the hotel Lawrence was it! It was most economical amongst all the others in the area. Upon checking in I noticed the nonchalant disposition of the staff. Not very friendly, kinda just blah. I eventually get to my room where I relaxed for the first night. After my second day at the hotel I started noticing very strange things taking place. I remember hearing water dripping through the tv in my room. I thought it was because I left my jack in the box cup on top of it. But I was wrong. I picked up the cup frantically only to discover the cup was bone dry and the dripping sound ceased. Later that night I heard a few people walking down the hallway. It sounded like they were getting in from a night on the town. I heard an epic fight right outside my door! I went to look through the peephole and the commotion stopped immediately. I remember hearing a glass break, but once I opened my door there was nothing in sight. I began googling the hotel Lawrence out of curiosity only to find out that the place is haunted!!! I am a firm believer. If you want a nice spook check in to the hotel Lawrence. I won’t be back

Run for your life. I have never ever seen such a pit. Nothing works and the place reeks of a terrible odor. There was a burn in the carpet from an iron and the shower was a trickle. If I had had a 30 minute window to switch hotels I would have been so out of there. The poor hotel staff were struggling dealing with millions of complaints. It was shocking.

Would have given it a 1 star, but this place is very affordable. My total price was $ 64 bucks, in downtown Dallas! Sweet deal.
This place is old and in the process of renovation. Low quality, cheap price. Not romantic.

There were used mattresses propped against the walls when I got to my floor. It looked like the place had been abandoned years ago.
The front desk staff was not very knowledgeable or forthcoming with information about activities or nightlife in the area when I inquired.

The Hotel is under renovation so hopefully this review will be meaningless soon. The carpets and bedspreads were stained. The shower leaked. I found garbage and someone’s shoe under my bed. There was only one working elevator and waits were up to 10 minutes. On the upside, the staff was extremely friendly and the breakfast was great.

Right upon entering the front doors we met a very rude front desk clerk that informed us no rooms were available till later didn’t even ask names just said come back later. After checking in later room was filthy with garbage under one bed and clothing from another guest under the other. Wires were hanging out in the hallway for who knows what and the elevator stated «no more than 4 people at a time». The hotel is remodeling FYI but needs to take extra steps to clean up or close down until finished.
After stating our complaints to the same front desk agent the morning of march 8^th she told us to contact
which is a complete cop out. Took no responsibility, no action, to resolve our issues. Will never stay here again.
Clean it up! Train them up!

You know that uneasy, anxious feeling you get when you know something is just not right? Yeah, that’s what I experienced when driving up to (not even yet entering) Hotel Lawrence.
1) it’s next to a courthouse… Not an ideal location for a hotel you want to feel comfortable/​secure in. 2) the place was under renovation– this was the least concerning part. 3) the room has stains all over the carpet, cobwebs in the curtains, and the walls were all patched up with spackle– gross… And the phone didn’t work… Creepy.
Which leads me to when I first plug the hotel into google, you get haunted, making the horror-​film-​worthy room all the more unacceptable.
Needless to say, with the grossness of the room I checked out after an hour and went elsewhere. One redeeming factor was the staff was nice.

Hotel is undergoing renovation into a LaQuinta Hotel. I hope much needed upgrades will be included for rooms. Carpets are worn, iron wasn’t working, paint chipping, old T. V from 90’s, elevator sways. Other than that hotel was a great deal for the downtown Dallas location. The JFK memorial and museums are about a block away.

Okay, I honestly think my stay at this hotel was amazing! Great place, awesome staff, really good location, a very enjoyable stay to say the least.

I want to thank all the people here before me who’ve left honest reviews on this hotel and for their principal of telling it like it is. If I had read the reviews FIRST I wouldn’t have had such a terrible one might stay. :(
Noisy old musty hallway terrible service and I think there are people who actually live here full time!

I cannot recommend this hotel. It’s quite old and my room had a distinct odor. The shower in 516 doesn’t drain so the water was up to my ankles. The breakfast is why I’m giving this hotel 2 stars instead of 1. The staff is pretty friendly, but when I told them about the shower upon checkout, they didn’t seem to care. Also, I elected for the larger corner room, but the toilet is pushed into the corner and there is no way to sit on it because there is a wall in front of it. I had to use it sitting sideways. You get what you pay for.

My rating is solely based on the quality of the facility. Hotel Lawrence is a run down hotel. When you walk in you are greeted with the smell of freshly baked cookies but also that old musty smell which makes he first impression less than stellar.
The hotel is in desperate need of renovation which you can only equate to poor ownership. It’s a hotel that falls back on the fact that it is walkable to the convention center and museum-​and it’s cheap compared to other downtown properties.
I was fearful for my life when I got into the elevator and what was worse is that it didn’t have that inspection certificate posted which really frightened me. The hallways were dank and dark-​the carpet and walls were old and in need of some tlc.
The room wasn’t great and I’ll be honest it looked like a place that was a good candidate for bed bugs. The tv was old. And the furnishings were very worn. The one positive was the bathroom which had been updated which made my stay their doable.
So yes. The hotel itself is not great but the bathroom is good and the service is excellent. As others mentioned the staff goes out of their way to make you feel welcomed. If the hotel was not in such disrepair and had been at least average I would give this place a much higher ranking.
In the end you get what you pay for.

This is a boutique hotel that definitely has charm.
I was surprised it was right across from the book repository Oswald camped in.
The room is no frills. It really is just a place to rest your head. But it’s walking distance to the quote historic west end.
The shower is weird and the faucet is completely impractical.
The breakfast is better than a lot of four stars I’ve been to. Why? They had peeled hard boil eggs. I was shocked.

It’s not that bad, y’all.
This was my second stay at the Hotel Lawrence, once earlier a few years back. I paid about $ 60 a night with taxes/​fees through Hotwire, so my expectations aren’t as high as other people seem to have about this place. There’s a lot that can be improved, but it gets four solid stars from me because for the price and location, you can’t beat it. I don’t believe in ghosts or any paranormal stuff, so if you’re ~afraid~ of ghosts, look elsewhere, I guess.
The room: Small and basic. All I really needed. If you care about watching TV, yeah, they’re still old CRTs, but that’s not something I care about when traveling. The view I had wasn’t great, but it was quiet. Ask for a room facing north/​towards downtown if that’s important. The beds are super comfy, even if they aren’t some high end brand they can advertise as some fancy Tempurpedic Sleep Number Memory Foam Sleep System. I’ve never slept so well. The shower, however, now that’s life changing. The shower is so amazing that I don’t know if I can go back to my boring shower at home. Two amazing showerheads to blast your body clean with super strong water pressure. So amazing.
Breakfast: meh. They really need a better breakfast attendant to make sure that everything is well stocked. There wasn’t any butter left for my waffles so I got to invent the cream cheese and jelly waffle, and the juice machine ran empty while I was there. I was excited for the Texas shaped waffles, but the waffle machine is now normal waffle shaped. Oh well. There’s the usual cereal, yogurt, bread and pastries as well as bacon, eggs and biscuits+gravy. I’d like to see more fresh fruit than the sad looking oranges they had.
Location: 5,000 stars. It’s close to West End, close to Union Station/​Reunion tower and downtown. A two minute walk to Union Station connects you to the TRE/​Amtrak/​Red and Blue lines of DART. If you’re like me and don’t want to deal with renting a car, it’s easy to hop on DART from DFW or catch the shuttle bus+DART from Love Field here. Parking looked not great, so this is best for the people who don’t care to drive while in Dallas. Maybe my views are skewed about the neighborhood after staying in scary hostels when I was younger, but it wasn’t scary and I didn’t feel at all afraid of walking to and from the hotel after dark.
Service: Everyone I encountered was incredibly friendly and I never met an employee that was rude. Service would benefit from a dedicated breakfast attendant that kept on top of items running low and clearing tables. Warm cookies in the evening = happy Natalie.
The bottom line: I’d stay here again for the price. The elevator is creaky but it’s an old hotel. Whatever. If I paid the rack rate for this hotel, I’d probably be more annoyed, but it’s really not that bad. I hear that they’ll be renovating the hotel next year, so that’s great.

Aw, come on, guys. Lawrence ain’t bad. I researched hotels near Dealy Plaza… sure, Hyatt Regency is nicer, but it’s also 3x the price of Lawrence.
I stayed on the (apparently non-​haunted) fifth floor. I had a view of the infamous Book Depository window from my room. My room was small and clean. The halls and elevators are a bit creaky, but I felt the place had character.
Breakfast could’ve been better. The staff really struggled with getting out coffee for us – we waited 15 minutes for it. I had the obligatory Texas-​shaped waffle; the waffle iron was pretty temperamental.
Parking was behind the building, tack on another 12 bucks for that. They let me stay parked there after check out when I walked to the nearby observatory.
The showers could use some updating. In all I enjoyed my stay at Hotel Lawrence. It’s an inexpensive place to stay when you explore historic downtown Dallas.

Once you pass the front doors — conveniently propped open with an aged concrete ashtray — you step into a shabby lobby complete with graffiti on the jamb surrounding a non-​working elevator. There’s no valet parking, despite what you may have been told over the phone, and the free shuttle service advertised on their website is no longer available. I parked in a lot behind the hotel under a streetlight… which turned out to be burnt out. The clerk said he would have offered me complimentary milk and cookies, but they were all gone (?!? — so why offer?) — but that I could try again in two days (they are only offered every other day in, presumably, a cost-​cutting measure.) The hallway to the room was gloomy, with exposed pipes and worn carpet. The room itself was a poor condition, with gouged walls, peeling paint, and cracked and damaged furniture. Half the electric outlets did not work. The bath looked lovely at first, and appeared to be recently updated — however, the work was done by poor craftsmen who did a terrible job with even basic things like attaching pipes and fixtures to the walls. The city was busy and hotel rooms were hard to come by, which is how I ended up at this «luxury» property with only sheets on the bed (there was one of those foam blankets in a drawer, though — yay). Nevertheless, I immediately cancelled the rest of my stay and left after a fitful night, preferring to take my chances. I found another hotel room for just a few dollars more a night, closer to my destination, and in excellent condition. If you are trying to save money, you can still do much better than this decrepit old place. And if you have money to burn — these aren’t exactly Motel 6 rates, despite the hotel’s miserable condition– take a trip to Sochi. The hotel will be comparable, plus you’ll get frequent flyer miles.

How can anyone really rate this place above 1 star? Even at 1 star is a generous rating!
I’m a frequent Hotwire user. Last couple of times I was booked in at the Westin and Hotel Palomar. Both nice hotels and had value for the money. Third time is not the charm as Dallas hotels were booked this past week due to a huge southern Baptist convention. I booked was was supposed to be a 3 star rating. And got Hotel Lawrence. What a heap of junk it was.
Located on the west historic end of Dallas. This place is old. Way out of date. Grimey. And creepy. I don’t even know where to start… Parking. There is no private lot. 6pm — 7am is free metered parking on the street. Otherwise it’s $ 15/​day to park in a private lot around the corner from the hotel. Lobby is dark and grim. I requested a 2 bedroom for 2 adults via Hotwire… when I got there, the desk guy said it’s an additional $ 20/​night to have a double bed. So what was advertised at $ 110/​night is actually +$ 15 for parking and +$ 20 for beds… all of a sudden it’s a $ 145/​night for a crappy hotel.
The elevator claims it’s limited to 2000 lbs although you could probably fit at most 5 people in there without luggage. And it’s slow as molasses. It only seemed to work in the evening as every morning the elevator was out of service and we needed to talk the stairs down.
The rooms were dingy. If you were to the left of the hallway, you would face a small park and construction. Rooms to the right of the hallway was backed up against a fire escape with bright flood lights that shined through the window at night. Atop of that, there was the old museum across the way with a clock tower that rang out every hour.
Carpets were old and dingy. There is no fridge or microwave. The TV was an old school boob tube that only picked up a handful of scrambled channels. One of my pillows didn’t even have a case. And what sufficed for a blanket was no better than what they give out at jail (yes i’ve stayed there too). It was a small thin fleece blanket with two bed sheets on top and bottom. The bathroom was somewhat updated with a bowl style sink that didn’t fit the rest of the décor. The bathtub was stained and slow draining and water pressure was pretty horrible.
The «free breakfast» on the 2^nd floor is in a cramped room with no A/​C. Warm fruit bowls and yogurt and a selection of cereal and a waffle machine. Is about what you get.
Okay — so the beds were relatively comfortable. But when I decided to google this place to see how they managed a 3 star rating… the top 10 searches read: Hotel Lawrence Haunted. WTF…
Really? A haunted hotel? Claims of girls crying in empty rooms, heels clacking in the lobby in the middle of the night. A wandering man in the hallways… and another man who won’t let you enter the room unless you ask him to move.
This place is down right a sad sight. And just needs to be shut down. NEVER again will i stay here at Hotel Lawrence. I’d rather sleep in my car.

Where do I even start with this hotel? If I could give it zero stars I would.
The front desk staff were rude and indifferent. The hotel itself is so old it makes you wonder why or how this hotel is still in business and not closed down. The whole hotel smells weird. The elevators feel like they’re break down any minute and trap you in.
The hallways have lights that are flickering or just don’t work. The rooms look like rooms from horror movies. Everything is so old and don’t work. There were no electrical plugs to charge my phone or my laptop. The bed would make so much noise when you lay on it. The bathrooms had no hot water.
I could go on forever. I asked for a refund and they said no. I simply walked out.

I stayed here with a couple friends this past weekend, and our experience was pretty bad. I was a little shocked…
After checking in to the hotel, we went up to our room to unpack. I attempted to call the front desk (for a cab) with no dial tone. I discovered not only was it unplugged, but the phone was ripped out of the wall (including the lamp) with wires exposed. I called (with my cell, obviously) to have the phone replaced. For us, it was a safety hazard. If anything bad were to happen and either our phones didn’t work or couldn’t find them, we needed a phone to call for an emergency. I didn’t think this was a big deal… at first.
Over the course of a couple hours, I called 3 times to have the phone replaced. I finally got fed up and took it down to the lobby to show them. I wanted to have it fixed/​replaced before we came back, which gave them 7 – 8 hours. The maintenance guy took the phone and went upstairs. I figured the issue was about to be resolved.
When we returned, I went to check the phone. He literally put the SAME PHONE back, and tried to hide the wires under the desk. I went back downstairs, and all he could do was make a note of what happened since there was no maintenance or manager on staff.
The next morning, I took the phone back to show a manager. Since there isn’t one on weekends, I decided to call the next day.
I called the manager, and he tried to tell me how to use a phone and I must not have known how to. Do not insult my intelligence, I know how to use a freaking phone. He didn’t seem to get the fact that it was ripped out, with wires exposed. I told him I was going to send him the photo that I took and he said he was going to «investigate.» Pfft, yeah right.
I posted the photo as well here on Unilocal.
Also, this place was really creepy. Pretty sure it is actually haunted. And it seemed pretty dirty. Staff wasn’t friendly (except for Michael, he was awesome).

This is an awesome (haunted? nohoo.) hotel with an authentic atmosphere!
I didn’t know ANY-​thing about the hotel when arriving there late night after a long drive. My man had booked it after having read very good reviews in
.
I got a bit suprised when I began to read about the hotel’s history and its haunted experiences. But… hmmm. as a Christian I don’t believe a word in these stories! Or… hmm. should I… ;)
We were really happy about choosing this hotel — everything worked, and the breakfast was delicious!
(AND: From here you see to the Sixth Floor Museum & Oswald’s shooting location :)