Category: cincinnati

Room: Since we were in Cincinnati two days, and there were two historic hotels we really wanted to stay with, we stayed at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza (which ranks #1 among all Cincinnati hotels on Tripadvisor.com) one evening, and The Cincinnatian (which ranks 3rd on the same list) on the other. I had requested a room on a higher floor (we were given a room on the highest floor, the 8th floor) and non-smoking accommodations. When we got to the room, there were matches and ashtrays in the room, but there was absolutely no smell, so we didn’t mention it to the front desk. Our room was small, but the bathroom was nice and large, the complete opposite from our stay at the Hilton Netherland (large room, small bathroom). The bedroom’s carpet had a nice inlay, a comfortable bed, and featured a skylight. The only window was so high that you couldn’t really see out very much, and it was situated over the desk area, so it really was of no use other than to let in just a little extra light in the otherwise dark room. The desk was built into a portion of the room that jutted out a bit, and was actually something of a shelf. The major problem with the ‘desk’ was that it was built into the walls much too high for actually doing any work (unless you were 8′ or 9′ tall, perhaps). Overall, we were a little disappointed with the room, but the more spacious bathroom was a nice surprise. The rooms also have a DVD player, and the hotel has a library of DVDs to rent at $2/ea.

Lobby: The lobby is nice, and inside is ‘The Palace’ restaurant, which I think is supposed to be one of the better restaurants in the city.

Service: Service was nice. Turn-down service included cookies.

Food: We didn’t have supper at the hotel, but ‘The Palace’ restaurant (mentioned above) is inside – and where I would have really liked to dine, Maisonette, is within walking distance. Maisonette has 41 consecutive Mobil 5* awards to its credit.

Extra: The hotel is right downtown, and within walking distance to the Great American Ball Park, where the Cincinnati Reds play.

Our experience is this: We might stay here again, but probably only if the room rate was significantly lower than at the Hilton Netherland.

Room: The Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza ranks #1 among all Cincinnati hotels on Tripadvisor.com, and for good reason. It’s an old, beautiful hotel – and our room, on the 28th floor, was nice – it had a sitting area, a very comfortable bed (“the bed by Hilton”), a desk/chair, a large dressing area, and robes. Compared in size to an average hotel room, it was very large. We had views of the city on two sides of the room, and that evening there was a thunderstorm, so we sat like a couple of kittycats in front of one of the windows watching the lightning.

Lobby: The building is absolutely beautiful.

Service: Service was nice.

Food: We didn’t have supper at the hotel – there was a thunderstorm and Av had to work anyway – so we called in pizza delivery from LaRosa’s, which was really good.

Extra: Spend time soaking up the building – just amazing…the elevators are beautiful! After we made our reservation – a few days before we arrived – the concierge called to ask if there was anything he could arrange for us ahead of time. Nice!

Our experience is this: We would stay here again. The room seemed a little more worn than The Cincinnatian, but was worlds larger. Next time we would compare rates and let that be the deciding factor.

Fabulous view: