Residence Inn

Horribly noisy room (on the street side facing the Doubletree), toilet keeps running. The check in girl Nina was amazing, the wine was free, and that’s where it stopped. Beautiful facility but the noise was just to much for a light sleeper like myself. Between the street and the toilet I didn’t sleep at all.

I stayed here for 6 nights while taking a week-​long workshop/​course at UAB ($ 160/​night + tax and fees, worked out to about $ 188/​night). The hotel was in the perfect location for my course, as the UAB building was just a few blocks from the hotel. Overall, my stay was nice enough, but there were several things that I think could have been improved to make the experience better.
First, my room (king bed studio suite) was spacious and comfortable. I loved that the TV swiveled so it could be watched from the couch, the table, or the bed. However, the TV only got very basic channels, and had no option (that I could find) to purchase movies or any additional entertainment. Because of this, I ended up trying to stream some shows via WiFi, but the internet was slow and my show would have to stop every now and then to buffer for awhile. So come prepared with your own entertainment if you will have downtime while you’re here.
There was no hotel information book in my room, which made me feel confused (I’m one of those special people who likes to read the books). I walked around downstairs and found the pool and small workout room. I had to ask what time breakfast began (6:30am during the week), but then breakfast apparently began at 7am on weekends, which I didn’t realize until I headed downstairs at 6:40am on a Saturday. The breakfast was not particularly appetizing– their ham and bacon was undercooked (I heated the bacon up in the microwave for awhile to make it edible), and the one day I ate some of their hot food and I felt a little nauseous. I opted for the bagels instead; however, the toaster downstairs would take ~10 minutes to get even a medium-​level toast (I promise I’m not exaggerating), and there was no toaster in our room. I ended up trying to toast the bagels on my stove-​top a few times, due to the long lines at the buffet in the morning. That being said, it was nice to have complimentary breakfast provided. I also ended up grabbing a few extra waters and tea bags at breakfast, as they did not include any water bottles in the hotel room itself, and housekeeping did not always replenish the provided tea bags in my room.
They offer a complimentary grocery store run if you provide your list to the front desk by 9am that day (groceries are added to your bill). I was planning to use this service; however, after scoping out the kitchen, it didn’t make sense. There was a small stovetop but no oven, one pan, and no tupperware, Cling Wrap, or aluminum foil. Instead, I opted to order dinner a few times and order enough to last me a few days. The hotel didn’t provide a list of restaurants nearby or places that delivered– I asked at the desk and they managed to name 2 or 3 places off the top of their head, but seemed surprised by my question. Eventually, I figured out that Rocky’s pizza delivered, as well as «Doorstep Delivery» (a third party delivery service) and Papa John’s. They also have a small marketplace at the hotel, with a small selection of beer, Barefoot wine, junk food, and some solo dinners (for example, personal pizzas for the microwave). It worked for my purposes, but more options would have been nice.
Housekeeping was great, and the staff was nice. I did cause mass confusion by booking one reservation with a credit card and then an additional night using my points. They told me I wouldn’t have to do anything additional at check-​in, but then it turned out I did have to check out and back in again. They told me that I was set after that, but then my keys stopped working. Housekeeping also got confused and didn’t clean my room that day (she knocked on my door and apologized later). I know I made it confusing with the two reservations, but better communication would have made this process go smoother. Also, a warning: it will take awhile for a taxi to arrive at the hotel (15+ minutes), so call them ahead of time!
Overall, a good option if you need to stay near UAB. Some things could have been better, but I had no major complaints. If I was back in the area, I would stay here again.

DHubs and I stayed here for our daughter’s wedding. I can’t add too much to what other’s have already contributed, but here goes:
PROS
*Friendly staff, efficient check in, happy to refund parking fees when sent to an adjacent lot due to current lot being full.
*Clean.
*Plenty of room for us to spread out and prepare for the wedding ceremony.
*Full size old school coffee pot — YAY no pods to deal with.
*Hotel is right across the street from the Doubletree which is a quick walk if you’d like to grab a drink or app at the bar. The service there was friendly and quick, too! The food was good as well.
CONS
*Breakfast isn’t all that great. Their OJ is good though! bacon was woefully undercooked :-/​
*Elevator is PAINFULLY slow. I would have taken the stairs but could not locate them.
*I thought it was a little pricey for what you get. I think we spent ~400.00 for a Friday stay and checking out Sunday. Probably standard for a downtown property and taking into account there were several Garth Brook’s shows, some kind of boxing type match, and a Birmingham Baron’s baseball game going on simultaneously.

A nice hotel with plenty of $ 10/​day self-​parking (the lot fills up and you might have to walk a little bit) in a decent location that’s a reasonable walk to the Five Points area where there are a bucket load of varied restaurants. It’s also right next to the UAB area.
As a Residence, it’s designed for the more long term guest with a room that includes a full size fridge and microwave with a small two-​ring stovetop (no oven or toaster) plus all the flatware and some cookware. My room was right near to the elevator but I didn’t hear any of the mechanical noise — just a few loud guests once or twice in the hallway.
Other than the kitchen stuff, my room had a comfortable bed, a large flat screen TV, a small dining table, a work desk and a large closet area. Plus a fold out sofa and a flip-​out reclining chair. The room was serviced well, with replacement towels (they were nice) as needed.
Decent breakfast in the morning with scrambled eggs, breads, yogurts, fruits and juices. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, dinner is available too.
Internet service in the evenings was flaky, dropping several times for a minute or two at a time.