Springhill Suites by Marriott

This hotel has real potential. Unfortunately I am not sure they are living up to it. When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted kindly and informed of potential construction noise. That was more thoughtful than most hotels with construction. When we arrived at our room, the guests next door were having a very loud conference call. We asked to be moved and the desk clerk said he would call us back. He forgot to do so. They offered us a queen but could not refund us the rate change. The desk clerk said «I don’t know how to do that». They upgraded us to a jacuzzi suite. The space was large, but not very clean. It had a strange smell and the shower was not very clean. The bed was comfortable and no construction noise. The breakfast was really good and had some healthier breakfast options. Overall, it’s a mix of good and bad.

Pass, needs a complete update not worth the rate they charge.

I’ve stayed at Springhill a few times. Staff is always great. Nice furnishings.
The last stay though, the TV had no sound, the ice machine was broke and there was not a safe box in the room. Staff was very helpful in trying to resolve the TV issue.

Great Hotel in Lawrence! The staff was incredibly friendly from the first minute I walked into the hotel. I checked in a few hours earlier then check in time so my room wasn’t ready but they were just cleaning up breakfast and offered me some, as I was going to work from the lobby. My room was ready a few hours later, way earlier than I had anticipated, so that was a pleasant surprise. The rooms aren’t the most up to date and pretty monochromatic but they all have a small kitchenette and they are very spacious so that made up for it. It was a very comfortable stay, the room had a nice river view and the TV had a lot of channels.
Breakfast was great! I really enjoyed the fresh fruit and berries and varied other options. All three mornings the fruit was something different but it was always fresh and more consistently being added.
My first thought when I heard there was a train that goes by was the movie My Cousin Vinny (anyone else love that movie?) and although I heard it in the parking lot, lobby and room, I never woke up from it. They do provide you with earplugs and a sound machine option but I never had a need for either.
Plenty of parking and the location is really ideal to downtown Lawrence. You can walk to lots of restaurants, bars and stores on Massachusetts Avenue and just a short drive to KU campus.

I recently stayed 5 nights at the Eldridge and one at the Springhill. Here is a comparison:
STAFF:
Superb at both places. Nothing bad to say about either.
CHECK-​IN/​OUT:
It seemed impossible to check into the Eldridge before 4:00. The Springhill let me in at 2:00. Checkout was 11:00 for both. Check in and out were flawless at both.
DESIGN:
The Eldridge is a faux historic hotel: It was built in 1925, but only the first floor has very much original, and that’s confined to the floors, some ceilings downstairs, the walls descending into the basement, etc. I like the generous use of wood, but none of it is original. It’s all designed to «look» old, which is what I mean by «faux historic.»
The Springhill was built as an outlet mall in the 1980s. The center of the failed mall was converted to the hotel in the late 1990s. It was remodeled in 2011 with a 50’s-modern retro look I enjoyed. It is due for remodeling in 2016.
AMENITIES:
Both have exercise rooms; the Springhill has a pool, which I did not try.
CLIENTELE:
The Springhill seems to attract more business people during the week, and more families on the weekend. The Eldridge seems to attract more couples, «girls on the town» types and people «looking for a good time,» at least after Wednesday.
FOOD:
The Ten restaurant in the Eldridge has a variety of good breakfast items for $ 3-​$ 5; with free coffee from the lobby, it is hard to spend $ 10 on breakfast. At the Springhill, there is a free «standard» eggs-​waffles-​oatmeal, hotel breakfast, with good coffee.
There is also a bar at the Eldridge: Low-​key sports atmosphere. Drinks aren’t too overpriced.
There is no restaurant or bar at the Springhill, but it is very easy to walk to about 150 of them within ½ mi. Suggestions: The Free State Brewery. 715. La Parilla. Check reviews.
ROOMS:
Room 506 at the Eldridge, a King room, is reported to be haunted by Col. Eldridge. I also had a King room ($ 139 weekdays, $ 169 weekends), but no haunting. Due to the age/​design of the hotel, it was somewhat smallish; it has two rooms, with two leather chairs, but there is no couch like at the Springhill. Springhill seemed slightly more spacious. MORE importantly, the Springhill had a dresser. I will unpack completely if I am staying more than one night. In the Eldridge, I had to keep my suitcase out and open on the stand. There was room in the room for a dresser.
BED/​PILLOWS:
The King bed at Eldridge was a little soft and bouncy; I’m glad my wife wasn’t on the other side, or I would have felt her every move. The bed at the Springhill was firmer. The pillows at the Eldridge were very thick and full and I therefore declined to use them. The Springhill offers a variety of pillows on the bed, from thin and firm to big and fluffy; take your pick. (Why don’t more hotels do this?)
EXTRA TOUCH:
The Springhill room had a clock radio in which an Iphone 3 or 4 would play and charge, and an audio in cord for playing music from any other device. It also featured a «sleep machine» white noise generator. (The Eldridge room also had a white noise generator.)
BATH/​SHOWER:
Due to the age of the hotel, it can easily take 15 min. of wasting water for the hot water to come on. Seriously; they warn you about it in their in-​room documents. My first day there, I didn’t know better and settled for a lukewarm shower that just got me angrier by the minute. Next day, I learned that you want to take a shower between 7 and 9 when everyone else is. Shower water pressure was average at the Eldridge, good at the Springhill.
TV:
Two 42″ HDTV’s per room at the Eldridge; just one at the Springhill. But they only play standard def! If you want HD, you’ll need to go to the bar, which has several HDTVs playing various games. The TV’s at the Eldridge (and the Springhill) have HDMI ports, so you can use an HDMI cable to project your laptop onto the screen and watch Netflix in HD. (Tip: I bought a «Miracast Dongle DLNA Airplay WiFi Display Receiver Dongle HDMI 1080P Media Share» on Ebay for $ 20 which allows you to project whatever’s on your phone, tablet, or modern laptop screen onto the TV. Netflix, anyone?)
WIFI:
Wifi at the Eldridge was super-​speedy. I got 15Mbps down during the middle of the day, 10 at night. At the Springhill, it averaged 2.5−3.0 Mbps.
NOISE:
I thought the walls at both places were pretty thin; I could hear conversations in the adjacent rooms. Many people complain about the train noise at the Springhill. I found the noise of the slamming doors, loud talking in the halls and people yelling outside after the bar closes at the Eldridge to be more distracting than the trains. (The Eldridge gets louder each night; Thursday-​Saturday is a little bit too much of a party atmosphere.) I sleep with earplugs in, and those types of sounds seem to make it through them more than train horns. In addition, the in-​room HVAC system at the Eldridge was noisy when it came on (it was winter, and it came on a lot). Rest of review on

My fiancé and I stayed here after my graduation party a few weeks ago. We came in pretty late and talked the girl at the front desk into upgrading our room to the hot tub suite. She was very nice and accommodating!
We got to the room and it was spacious, clean, hot tub was great. My only complaint about the room is that the bed was so uncomfortable. We both woke up feeling like we would have been better off sleeping on the floor.

I stayed here because I was in a wedding at the venue next door.
Pros:
The girl at the front desk let us check in early (about 1pm). We had just driven 9 hours and needed to clean up for the wedding rehearsal.
The free breakfast is pretty good.
Good parking.
The rooms are decent size.
There is an indoor pool where my husband and kids swam while I was busy with wedding prep.
Cons:
The beds were terrible, but I’m probably spoiled because I have a Tempurpedic at home.
The rooms are not as clean as I’d prefer. My kids found a sippy cup under the bed with spoiled milk in it. Who knows how long it had been there?
The sink is way too high. I’m 5 foot and had a hard time washing my face. My kids couldn’t brush their teeth easily.
The elevators are horrible. There are only 2, and one wasn’t working. The other was painfully slow.
The bridal party and I needed more glasses for drinks while we were getting ready in a hotel room, but they were out of glasses. I was told they’d bring me more when they washed some, but they never did.
Anyway, I’d stay again if I had to go to another wedding at Abe and Jake’s Landing since it’s within walking distance. But the hotel isn’t all that great.

This is a great hotel and probally one of the best in Lawrence. It is a little dated but is clean and comfortable with very helpful staff. The rooms have nice views of the river. This hotel will not wow you but the rooms are spacious and clean and breakfast, parking, and internet all come at no additional charge!

I’ve stayed at this place a few times over the years.
It’s a nice location downtown and close to where I need to be which is the primary reason I stayed there. Right across the street is the main Lawrence downtown area with a lot of shops and restaurants. It’s a great location.
It’s a nice place, no nicer than any other, but nice. It has a decent fitness center that’s open 24 hours which I really like.
There are some drawbacks. It’s right next to a railroad. That’s right. I mean right next to a railroad. In fact, after you park, you have to cross a foot bridge over the railroad to get to the hotel. The rooms are situated on the other side of the building, and I never leave home without ear plugs, but if you’re a light sleeper, then this might not be the place for you.
So the walk to the lobby is longer than most places. But after you check in, they give you a parking pass that you have to put on your dashboard so you have to walk back across the foot bridge to your car and then walk back again into the hotel. I can’t believe they haven’t figured out a better way to do this.
They have a complimentary breakfast which is the usual scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, stale grocery store bagels, some fruit, pastries, etc… the usual. I’m not a food snob so it’s okay for me, but if you like to eat at Panera and drink your coffee with your pinky finger extended, then you might not like it.
The last time I was there, the staff seemed to be slipping a little. When I went to the fitness room, the sweat towels were all used. There was not a clean towel in sight, and the water cooler was empty. This is not going to discourage me from staying at this place, but it just tells you that the staff is a little lackadaisical.
The next time I’m in Lawrence which I hope is soon I’ll be staying at this place.

I’ve been to several Springhill Suites. This was very outdated. The workout room was under reconstruction and was dirty and not very useful. The beds had old mattresses and the ice machine on our floor was out. As were all of the vending machines.
I’ll find somewhere else next time

I have stayed here twice now, both excellent experiences. I am withholding a star simply because it doesn’t «wow» me. It is exactly what you expect from Marriott. Comfort, amenities, and great linens.
The location is really nice. I always have a room overlooking the Kansas River rolling about 50 feet away from my window. It is cool! There is also a walkway by the river. I like the setup of the suites, and space is plentiful.

Nice place, rooms are comfortable, and their is a good breakfast that starts at 630A. For me this was an ideal hotel. A little pricey but withing walking distance of restaurants and other downtown locations. So worth the somewhat higher price for a room. I would stay here again.

Stayed here for 4 nights on business. The hotel itself was very lovely; the Springhill Suites hotels in general usually cater to business travelers, which often translates into more streamlined, nothing fancy. However, this hotel, while following along these lines, was very nice, the room décor was new and up-​to-​date (it actually inspired me to repaint my bedroom) and the hotel itself was very clean and well-​kept. I usually assume «continental breakfast”=fruit, toast, maybe a bagel or english muffin. However, this continental breakfast had scrambled and hard-​boiled eggs, sausage, hot oatmeal, even a waffle-​maker so you could make your own waffles. Very nice. The workout room was standard, nothing amazing, but there was a very nice indoor pool that I wish I would have known about beforehand. Also, the guest laundry, while not free, was very convenient. The staff was extremely helpful and friendly.

Great place to stay. Our entire wedding party stayed here and we were surprised at the size of the rooms (a living area with sink, microwave, and fridge, with a desk, loooong couch, rolling chair, coffee maker; a bedroom; a bathroom; a vanity area). There are two large TVs, some decent channels (not extensive), and the rooms were gorgeous, clean, and all rooms have a view of the river. Hotel guests have access to a river-​walk area, an indoor pool and hot tub, and a nice lobby. Breakfast includes cereal, muffins, bagels, eggs, sausage, juices, yogurt, and excellent coffee. We walked to the bars and restaurants on Massachusetts, but also felt out of the frenzy of that busy area. Plenty of parking, pretty helpful staff (we had an issue with being told we could change rooms and then not having the room cleaned before the housekeepers left, but they were apologetic and accommodating). Our rooms (suites, really) were about $ 115 over a holiday weekend, but I think we got a group rate discount, since we were part of a block of rooms for a wedding.

My spouse and I traveled a couple of blocks from our home to stay here.
We got a suite with a jet tub… maybe the only place in Lawrence that has two-​person jet tubs. That is the reason we went there!
Our room was just lovely! Incredibly spacious, decorated in pretty colors and pretty prints hanging on the wall.
The bed was not a pillow-​top mattress so our bed at home was more comfortable. :(Too bad.
I also wish they offered room service. However, we ordered dinner pizza/​wing delivery and that was good, of course.
The location is wonderful… it was SO nice to watch the river rushing by from the comfort of the king-​size bed.
The jet tub is HUGE, plenty of room for two people, and lots of jets. I just wish that you could see the TV from the tub… but you cannot. Not at all.
There are two big flat-​screen TV’s in the room with limited channels (maybe 20 or 30?), but they also have a large Pay-​per-​view movie selection with lots of movies not yet on DVD!
The bathroom was not very nice. I could not get the water in the shower very hot and it was a tiny, grimy, one-​person shower. The bathroom was very tiny and dank… but I think that is because the huge tub is near the windows in the bedroom so the bathroom is an after-​thought.
The rest of the room was so large and spacious, I just wish the bathroom was BIGGER!
When I woke up in the morning, there was a giant millipede of some kind crawling on the ceiling over the bath tub. It was so huge, when I saw it across the room, I seriously thought it was a lizard!
When I informed them of this upon checkout, telling them I killed it and its remains were on the towel, the front-​desk employee told me that they had seen those in the lobby the other day! Actually, I was looking for a discount on the room and an apology! I didn’t want to be told that there were more around. EEK!
Despite all these negatives, we did enjoy bathing in the jet tub with a view of the river going by!
However, for the same price (or LESS!), we could go to a luxury hotel in KC with room service and no bugs!
That’s what we’ll do next time, for sure!
With taxes, our room was nearly $ 200 for one night, and that’s just too much when it includes GIGANTIC bugs and grimy bathrooms!