Norfolk Plaza Hotel

I plan events, and stay in some really nice hotels, so I do admit I have high standards. However, when I’m actually paying for my own hotels for personal travel, my budget is what usually rules. So, when I was going to a show at the Chrysler Center in Norfolk, and saw the decent rate at a newly-renovated hotel right across the street, I decided to take a chance, even though it wasn’t a part of a chain. The hotel is clearly not finished with their renovations yet – the sign was just a vinyl sign over the previous property’s lighted sign. But the hotel is getting there. The décor is reminiscent of a funky boutique hotel, and there are interesting touches throughout the public space. Staff members at the front desk were very friendly, but didn’t seem like they quite knew what they were doing. It took a while to check in when we were the only ones there, and then check out seemed to confuse the desk clerk. I just assumed everyone was new. The sleeping rooms are an interesting contrast of upscale boutique and cheap highway motel. The furnishings and bedding were fun and interesting and modern, as was the marble vanity/sink in the bathroom. There was also a microwave and small refrigerator in the room, which I didn’t expect. However, then there were stark contrasts – the large, bulky tube tv; the cheap toiletries with some generic name like ‘beach mist’; and the desk lamp with an outlet that was placed so you couldn’t fit a plug into it. And then there was the weird electrical outlet situation. The beds were sleep number beds, which required that each one was plugged in to be able to work. There was also a clock radio on the bedside table, and a lamp above it. Well, there was only a 2-plug outlet between the beds, so one bed was plugged in and the clock was plugged in, leaving one bed unplugged, and the lamp unplugged. So, we had to choose whether we wanted beds, light, or clock plugged in. We decided to plug in both beds, adjust them, and then plug in the clock and light. It was weird. The few other electrical outlets in the room were already taken by lamps and the tv, so something had to be unplugged if we wanted to charge our phones. If I would have been staying there for business, this would have been a problem, because I’d have my phone, laptop, printer, and other items that would need to be plugged in, and there wouldn’t be any space. Parking was odd – you went up a ramp to go to the main entrance, and then had to go down a narrow, circular ramp to get to the parking lot. Upon parking, you had to walk up a steep staircase to get back up to the front entrance. There should be an entrance on the parking level. For me, the neighborhood was convenient, as it was just across the street from the theatre, but about a block in the other direction, the area started getting sketchy. Neighborhoods like that don’t bother me, but if you’re someone who tightens your grip on your purse when you see a homeless person on the street, you won’t be comfortable there. If you are looking to be in an area with activity, shopping, and restaurants, I’d suggest looking somewhere else. So, would I stay there again? For personal travel, possibly, if it was a good rate and convenient to the area I needed to be. I liked the décor, the rooms and public space were clean, and the staff was friendly. For business travel, probably not – the lack of power outlets really bothered me.

Overall experience was good except when housekeeping came into the room when a do not disturb sign was on the door.

It's strange when you feel like you're the only person at the hotel, and you're still sort of forgotten about. This was a solid two and half stars in my book. Pros: Clean, Centrally located, Generally helpful staff Cons: Pillows, bed, fire alarm going off at 4:30 am, surrounding neighborhood was...eclectic? The pillows are those annoying floofy kind that go flat in five seconds. No real support at all, even with four of them stacked on top of each other. The bed was a sleep number, which would have been great, but for some reason was at water-bed consistency upon waking. The fire alarm started going off at 4:30 in the morning, and stopped around 6:00. At 7:30ish it started going off again. This would have been a little tolerable if some explanation/apology had been given. Or a phone call to let me know that I wasn't in danger. I called down to the front desk myself to see if I needed to evacuate. I was told "Umm we're looking into it." I was never called back. After going downstairs that morning, almost falling down in a puddle of water in the lobby, and asking for directions, I was still not given an explanation for the alarm. I let them know that someone could hurt themselves on the water on the floor, and was told "Oh that was probably the sprinklers." No apology, no plan to clean it up, nothing that resolved any concerns I had. Generally, everything seemed to be clean, just old, and in need of repair. The ice machine didn't work. The restaurant downstairs never had a person in it while I stayed there. Valet parking was $12/day. A little much, perhaps? Several of the outlets in my room didn't work. There was some podunk snack display in the lobby. Printer in the business center didn't work. Out of the staff I interacted with, probably 3 of 7 were helpful. Milton was very nice. As was the bellhop. The others really couldn't care less about making sure the guests had a nice visit. I generally like to stay in 3 star places - clean, comfortable, and just a hint of a retreat, This just fell a bit short. I would skip it.

We plannned a trip to Norfolk to see a hockey game at Scope Arena. I had a little trouble finding the hotel online due to the recent name change. I was plesently suprised with the price. The hotel is located right across the street from the arena. It was a perfect location for us. We stopped by the hotel lounge after the game and met some very nice people. We enjoyed everything about the hotel and will stay there again the next time we are in town for a game.

I've stayed at this hotel several times with no problem. This time was completely different! When I arrived the person at the front desk was on a personal cell phone call and left me standing there listening to his call. he then without getting off his call, reached out for my ID & Credit Card. That's not the worse thing. I stayed there for one night. When I went out to my car the next morning, I found my passenger window (& 5 other cars)broken and the inside of my car ransacked. The hotel offered no apology. They did however, offer the use of a vacuum cleaner, so we could clean the debris ourselves! I asked the police if this was a common occurence at this hotel, he said "Well it is in a bad neighborhood" This hotel will not have to worry about me staying there EVER again!

The hotel was perfectly located to downtown life and the Spirit of Norfolk dinner cruise boat. I would stay again especially because staff was pleasant and courteous.

The Hotel was listed as having a restaurant, room service, a business center, and optional smoking rooms available. I know smoking isn't popular, but as a smoker in winter it's important and WILL affect my hotel decision. I get to the hotel and they can't find my reservation...this takes 30 minutes to fix. DUring this process I learn that the entire hotel is smoke free(which means I'm having to go outside in 20 degree weather which takes time because I'm on the 7th floor). The "restaurant" is only open with a LIMITED menu, and only from 5pm till 10pm(so obviously no room service at all). Oh, and there was construction during the day, adding to the noise. All in all one of the worst hotel experiences I have had, which is saying a lot because I travel often.

Very good, we added they extra days on top of what we had already booked.

My husband and I got married while in Norfolk, and it was also right after his deployment. WE LOVED OUR STAY HERE. We kept adding nights to the stay and rather than being here 6 nights, I was here for 10!!! Wouldn't have wanted to stay anywhere else. The staff helped us with anything we may have needed or asked about. They were super friendly! The location you CANNOT beat. We were soooooo close to downtown, and anywhere we would want to be. Being from out of town this was a great focal point for us to get to downtown Ghent, Granby Street, the Naval Base, and ODU! We are moving to Norfolk soon, and we will be having our guests and family stay at the Norfolk/Crown Plaza for sure every time!

It was a nice hotel. My husband came home from deployment, and I was traveling with our 9 month old son. The staff was friendly and they were willing to help with anything I needed for the baby because we were staying for a week. The housekeeper was excellent and was extremely helpful with anthing we needed. The restaurant was very cold in the morning for breakfast, that was my only complaint. all and all a very nice hotel! We would definately stay there again!