Pros:
Room clean
Beds comfortable
Cons:
Staff was businesslike but not specifically friendly
Room very cold (it was winter)
Back door of room (open to the pool) was drafty/not sealed
Fan for the heat was loud and woke us up at night
Blackout shades not attached in center top and leaked light
Missing iron
We had a one night stay with 2 adjoining rooms on the first floor. My wife and I stayed in one room our kids in the adjoining room.
Baltimore was in the middle of a cold snap with temperatures in the low 20s. Our rooms were on the first floor and the hallway was cold. The rooms were quite cold as well. Turning the heat up did got us up around 67 degrees max. Our thermastat was eventually turned up to 75 and our kids turned their's up to the max. Temperatures never got above 67 degrees. The floor was not carpeted and ice cold to the touch--if you go in the winter and stay on the first floor, bring thick socks or slippers. To add to the issues, the back door to the room, that opened to the outdoor pool area, was not completely sealed and there was a cold draft.
The heat came through a single vent on one wall of the room. In spite of never getting up to the set temperature, the vent fan would shut of and come back on with a big 'clunk' that would awaken us at night. As there was only one vent in the main room and none in the bathroom, the bathroom remained cold. Leaving the door open got it somewhat warmer.
Other issues included: 1) the blackout shade hooks were not connected and the shades drooped in the center; this allowed light to stream through the middle crack--not much blackout there. 2) there was an ironing board, but the iron was missing in our room (our children's room had an iron); 3) there was construction at the entryway while we were there, so there was no way to pull up a car to unload luggage. There was only one luggage cart that was not available on our arrival. Luckily, we did not have much luggage as the stay was only one night.
We were only there for on night. Had our stay been longer than one night, I would have demanded a different room.
On checkout, I alerted the associate. She stated that 'all the rooms are cold because it is cold outside.' First, heating needs to be adequate whatever the time of year. Second, we were at the DoubleTree for a wedding within the same hotel. The rooms reserved for the wedding had adequate temperature control. Having visited rooms on the upper floors in the morning, where are relatives stayed, they were not cold.
I suggested to the associate at the desk that they preferentially house guests on the upper floors during the cold snap and pointed out the other issues with the room. She did not appear to make any notation of the problems, so I'm not sure that they will be fixed and did not offer an apology. Note that I did not ask for any compensation for the inadequacies of the room nor did I expect any. However, a little empathy might go a long way.
On the positive side, the room is well apportioned, the space was quite nice for a room of this cost/kind, the room was clean, and the beds are comfortable. There was ample parking in the parking lot and we were able to get a spot close by the entrance. The major issue was the temperature.
As an aside, a highlight of staying at a DoubleTree was a hot chocolate chip cookie. Sadly, these are now prepackaged and not prewarmed. On the bright side, the packaged DoubleTree cookies are made by Partake and are now allergen free, gluten free, and kosher.
If I stayed at this hotel again, I'd make sure, at least in winter, to get a room on a higher floor. However, unless we have another family event there, I would choose a different hotel.