21c Museum Hotel Cincinnati

The hotel lobby smelled like sewage. The room smelled intensely of pot and cigarettes every time the heat came on, which woke me up throughout the night. The room was fine otherwise. The location was good but I wouldn’t stay here again. Hopefully they can figure out the issues with the awful odors.

Despite its designation as a 4-star hotel, the hotel fell far short. Staff were nice but generally inattentive; no one offered to help unload or assist with luggage and front desk staff were slow to welcome and check us in. The room was the bigger disappointment. Upon entering we noticed that the outlet cover on the light switch was not entirely covering the wall, creating a visible space to the electrical outlet. Nearly all other outlets were like this. The bathroom had dated sink and shower fixtures and throughout the entire night the toilet would periodically emit a loud alarm-like sound waking us up. The hallway carpeting had stains and the door paint looked decades old. Service at the bar was good, as were the drinks. But the atmosphere was blah, matching that of the adjacent dining room.

Soooooooooo - I wouldn’t rush to stay here again and I was only there from 10:15 pm to 7:30 am. That said, in the right circumstances I’d give it another try. The good - the check in and check out was fast and friendly. The bathroom was really big and had great amenities. The price was good too - while i wasn’t crazy about my stay I am not angry about what I paid as it was a good rate commensurate with the experience. The bad - someone a few doors down from us was clearly sick as there was bedding with vomit on it in the hall outside their room. I passed it once… not a big deal. 15 mins later I passed it again. Also not the end of the world. I passed it again an hour later and the hall stunk like vomit. That’s really gross. Also, the carpets in both the halls and our rooms were very musty.

The hotel was decent and unique however the service we received while staying here was terrible, hence the 1 star review… We booked this hotel through American Express Travel, which supposedly comes with room upgrades (when available) and a late checkout of 4pm. Upon arrival we asked about the room upgrade and the girl at the front desk told us they were fully booked and could not accommodate this, which we understood and were fine with. When we got to the room we noticed that the top sheet was slightly dirty, and when we left for dinner we explained that the sheets seemed to be dirty and requested to have the bed remade to which the front desk said they would do. We even stripped the bed and left the dirty sheets in a pile on top to make it easier for room service, however when we got back a few hours later the dirty sheets were left on the unmade bed and just 2 sheets (no pillow covers or duvet) were thrown onto the table in the room. We went back down to the front desk asking to have someone sent up with a duvet and to make the bed to which they told us that they did not have anyone on staff so we would have to make the bed ourselves but they would send someone up to give us a duvet and take the dirty sheets. When the staff member arrived with the duvet we tried handing them the dirty sheets which the refused to take and told us to just leave on the floor. The final straw had to do with the late check out. As I previously stated we booked through American Express travel which guarantees a late check out. We had asked the front desk what time late check out was and they initially gave us the same answer of “we cannot accommodate late check out for you because we are fully booked”. We then asked again before going out and explained that we had a letter from AMEX that we received at check which welcomed us and stated that we had a late check out. This time the woman at the desk told us that since we booked through AMEX we had a late check out of 4pm. We then confirmed with her making sure we did in fact have the late check out of 4pm and would not have any problems with the hotel, to which she told us yes not to worry. Flash forward to the last morning of our stay, we wake up at 11am (we were still on West Coast time which is 3 hours behind) banging on our door asking us to get out, to which we said that we had late check out and they told us that they would be back at 4 then. An hour later after we fall back asleep we get a phone call from the front desk telling us that they needed the room and we needed to get out by 2pm rather than the supposed 4pm late check out. After this we were quite disappointed with the service we received and will not be returning to this hotel. Seriously bummed because we wanted to love it as it is a cool and unique concept to have a museum hotel.

We arrived at noon and were told no rooms were available. We returned at 3 PM to find no room was ready. The front desk staff were unhelpful, but eventually, a supervisor located a room for us. Unfortunately, it lacked air conditioning. Maintenance worked on the issue at 10 PM but couldn’t resolve it. By 11 PM, the front desk suggested moving us to another room, requiring us to pack up our belongings. Additionally, the lobby had a strong sewage smell, whWe arrived at noon and were told no rooms were available. We returned at 3 PM to find no room was ready. The front desk staff were unhelpful, but eventually, a supervisor located a room for us. Unfortunately, it lacked air conditioning. Maintenance worked on the issue at 10 PM but couldn’t resolve it. By 11 PM, the front desk suggested moving us to another room, requiring us to pack up our belongings. Additionally, the lobby had a strong sewage smell, which we were told was due to an exhibit setup. Overall, we were very disappointed with the customer service. At $300 per night, this experience was very disappointing. We will not be returning, though I understand this may not affect anyone at this hotel. ich we were told was due to an exhibit setup. Overall, we were very disappointed with the customer service. At $300 per night, this experience was very disappointing. We will not be returning, though I understand this may not affect anyone at this hotel.