SpringHill Suites Durham Chapel Hill

My brother and I stayed here in December 2015 while in town caring for our father who was not in good health. The staff, specifically Antonio Kennedy, could not have taken better care of us. His smile and cheerful personality was welcome after a long, stressful day.

Stayed here for 4 months while doing a consulting job.
Pros:
–Clean
–New (about a year or 2 old)
–Friendly Staff
–Complimentary full breakfast every morning
–Very good location-​amongst several restaurants and shopping destinations
–Less than 1 minute from the interstate
–Indoor heated pool and jacuzzi
–Market for snacks and necessities
–Outside fire pit with sitting area nice in the late evenings and at night
–Microwave and mini fridge in each room
Cons:
–Wifi is very slow
–Laundry room very small for a 6 story hotel-​2 washers and 2 dryers, with one usually broken
–Prices for items in mini market are very expensive
–Workout room is pretty small-​4 cardio machines and free weights. No more than 3 people can be in there comfortably at once.
–Pool and jacuzzi closes at 11, although it is indoors.
–Window barely cracks causing lack of available fresh air causing room to be stuffy
Overall, this was a decent stay. This is no direct reflection of the hotel, but the Marriott rewards program is horrible. 104 nights here only got me about 10,000 points which will not even get me a night at a higher end Marriott hotel. Maybe now that they are merging with Starwood hotels, they will re-​evaluate this program.

I stayed at springhill for a wedding, love the city, but night was almost ruined by Mr night watchman Steve that kicked us out of the fire pit area, and then locked us out of the hotel while having a smoke. Nice enough rooms, and amenities, but the service was enough to make me go somewhere else. Think twice before trying to have a good time here, they are not interested!

Terrible customer service! Worst Marriott franchise chain we stayed at. And, we’ve stayed at a lot of them, from west to east coast.

Stopped here on a vacation heading back north… great place to stay in between Durham and CH… breakfast in the AM is included… nice to have a little area outside of bedroom so that adults can work while kids sleep

This was a pretty decent hotel for being part of the Marriott group.
Pros:
— Clean rooms and clean lobby
— Hotel sheets are comfy which is important because I’m so sensitive
— Friendly service
— Décor is bright
— Wifi has decent speeds.
— Microwave and mini fridge in each room made it convenient
— Partitioned room was decent. I liked how the toilet was in a separate room from the shower so one doesn’t have to wait on the main bathroom just to use the toilet.
— Convenient location to restaurants, shopping and grocery stores (Walmart, Target, Whole Foods).
— Free breakfast. As a vegan, I could still eat oatmeal and granola.
Cons:
— Smelly elevator
— Rooms have a slight odor to them but I wonder if it’s because there’s not enough fresh air circulating
— Bath towels are a bit small, soft and thin, but it’s better than the stiff bleach-​smelling hotel towels I’ve used before, so this is acceptable.
— The sofa bed slash sofa chaise was kind of cheap, but surprisingly comfortable for lounging. It sounds like it’s stuffed with plastic bags and not some kind of padding.
I would gladly come back to stay at this hotel for the location and convenience.

The room was nice and clean, the hot breakfast was disappointing. Coffee was sub par. I would try another to look for a better value.

Enjoyed the layout of the rooms. A bit of modern style that doesn’t go over the top. While not the highlight of most hotel rooms, little touches like convenient light switches and bed night stands can go a long way when on the road.
Breakfast buffet is the usual fare, except they have a pancake maker instead of the usual waffle maker I’ve seen at other hotels-​with-​free-​breakfast.
They offer «wired» or ethernet connections, but they don’t have any ethernet cables so you could use them either for sale or loan. So, can’t say for certain if the ethernet-​based internet works.
The biggest disappointment is the staff.
While not my biggest concern, the cooking/​meal staff was slow to replenish breakfast foods or get started on time. The infamous pancake maker caused consternation with other guests – I was okay making due with other items – but caused unneeded bottle necks while they waited for someone – SOMEONE! – to refill it.
When we settled in for the first night, I attempted to use the room’s phone to call the front desk only to learn they don’t work. I called the front desk with my cell phone and was promptly told, «I don’t have anyone that can come up there to fix phones now!» Which is fine – just let me know it will be taking care of. Next morning, I talk to the morning shift staffers at the front desk and ask if they knew about the phone in my room not working. They hadn’t seen/​heard anything about it, but promptly made a note of it. That night the phones worked, but hadn’t had any message from the staff that they were working.
On another occasion I asked the front desk staff in-​person when check-​out time was – and was told to check-​out was noon. Woke up the day of the departure to find out that check-​out is actually 11 AM and, no, they won’t extend the check-​out. Nothing like a good trip to end with a flurry of unplanned packing.
Also, we stayed two nights at the hotel and never had service clean the room. Even though we were out most of late morning, noon, and afternoon – the cleaning staff didn’t get to our room. By then, we were getting prepared for a formal evening out. With a policy of cleaning staff not being able to clean rooms while guests are in them, rooms went uncleaned.
Overall, the staff is slow to help, but the hotel and its rooms are fine.

Among the worst hotels of this class that I’ve stayed in. Better than the Extended Stay America-​type class of hotels, but worse than any Courtyard, Residence, Garden Inn, Hyatt Place, etc.
Biggest problem is a 32 Kbps WiFi internet connection speed. Also the beds feel soft and cheap and the couch is concave (slumping towards the center). As a sports fan the TV channels were disappointing, with five ESPN channels but no Fox Sports, NBCSN or NBA TV. Positives were that the staff was friendly (except when WiFi problems were brought up; they are not IT people and didn’t seem to understand that it can be good in some rooms and bad in others), the rooms are large and the showers are adequate.
Honestly the internet problem is so bad that the hotel owner should force the IT guys who installed the WiFi to redo it. I work in wireless and I’ve seen companies get sued for WiFi that is this incompetently installed.

Pretty new hotel, The rooms were modern as were the bathrooms. Good location with many shops around and great access to the downtown Durham area just a short 10 minute drive away. Staff very friendly and breakfast is more than enough for your common traveler.

As a Marriot Premier Elite member I stay at over 50 Marriott’s every year. This is by far the worst Marriott I have stayed in. What were the issues?
— Room smelled. Bad stench throughout the room
— No hot water! That’s right, no hot water in the AM for a shower. Un-​believeable.
— Awful color scheme. Did they really hire a color-​blind decorator for the room? Easily the ugliest Marriott room I have ever stayed in.
— No shuttle to downtown. When I asked for a cab it showed up 30 minutes later (!) and then the cab was a un-​metered one that ripped me off for a 5 mile drive (over 30 dollars!). Probably gets kickbacks from the hotel staff.
— Staff was rude/​indifferent and the breakfast buffett was awful (really no bananas? how hard is that to have available?)
— Called a left a voicemail for the manager after my stay to discuss my issues. Never heard a word back from him (and they wouldn’t give me his email address).
Bottom line: Horrible hotel at any price. Avoid at all costs.

Great location of this Marriott property. Surrounded by plenty of food and entertainment options. Hotel itself is very clean and modern with very friendly staff. Great managers reception in bar area. My new place to stay in the area.

Since my original review for this site from 1÷17÷11 does not show up on the search in the Unilocal app anymore, I thought I would repost it here…
I stay at lot of Marriott properties and this one is really nice, especially for the room rate.
Atmosphere — New (maybe a yr old), clean, beach-​y (?), modern, light oak, mint
Amenities:
* Pool — decent not huge
* Fitness room — four machines and free weights (a little small for a 6 flr hotel)
* Mini Fridge
* Microwave
* Flat-​screen TV — some HD channels (see channels 77 – 1, 84 – 2, 84 – 9, 85 – 2, 85 – 3, 85 – 5)
* iPhone compatible digital clock radio
* Breakfast — free
* Close proximity to several new shopping centers (Kanki Japanese steak house, Carrabba’s, Panera Bread, Outback, Lone Star, Red Robin, and other local-​ish places)
Service — Helpful, friendly, and attentive
Price — A sweet rate…$ 109
Overall — Comfy beds and nice setup (separate shower area and water closet) makes for a great stay.
So ‘SPRING’ on over!

Rooms were designed similarly to the SpringHill Suites in Louisville, KY. Very contemporary and clean. The toilet and the shower were in separate rooms. I do wish they had an air vent in the toilet room. Sink in the toilet room was also very very small. Spacious with two beds, a pull out sofa, and a desk.
Impressed with their breakfast selection: biscuits, sausages, eggs, waffles, hash browns, assorted fruits and pastries. Of course, breakfast is complementary for all guests.
There’s an indoor pool and a jacuzzi. At times the heat in the room can be overpowering that the door needs to be left open to let some of the heat out. Loved their exercise room. They had a good selection of cardio machines and weights.
A few miles away from Chapel Hill. Overall, pleased with my stay.

After finding this hotel on TripAdvisor, I decided to take a chance. I’m so glad I did! A nice, clean hotel close to NC Chapel Hill & Duke.
The décor is contemporary and well thought out. There is functionality in every detail. Clean as a pin and the staff is super friendly.
I would have rewarded this hotel a 4.5, but the only thing the rooms need is exhaust fans in both the toilet & shower area.
I will stay here again!