Hotel: DoubleTree Overland Park
From Fozzee.net
We stayed at this DoubleTree on a quick weekend to KC in June 2010. The hotel was booked through Priceline, and we paid $55 per night (2 nights), plus tax. "Sticker" on a hotel like this varies widely, though the price on the back of the door said "$285". I think a more realistic book rate is around $100.
The amenities at the hotel were basically as expected; The bed was nice, the room was clean. I was somewhat interested that the brand of the shampoos and that was something I'd heard of (Neutrogena). The shower had one of those Anystream showerheads, which was nice. The hotel also offered DoubleTree's signature "warm cookie on check-in", which was tasty, though somewhat over-hyped.
We'd initially started bidding on 3-star hotels because they usually have breakfast, but Priceline bumped us to a 3-1/2 star, which typically do not. We ended up eating breakfast in our room one day, and heading out the other, so I can't comment on the hotel's breakfast.
The guy at the front desk (concierge isn't the right word) was very helpful, and the hotel had a deal where they offered cards with directions to popular destinations. We used this twice, and the directions were good. GPS is great and all, but the directions provided by the hotel were written by a person.
We used the pool on Friday night, even though we'd spent the day at the water park. The hot tub was almost unbearably hot (which felt amazing), if a bit small (maybe 5' in diameter). The pool was pretty large, though not a lap pool. There were maybe 15-20 people down there when we were, and it didn't seem crowded at all. They also had a dry sauna, which we didn't use.
Priceline had booked us in a "two double beds" configuration, which isn't very conducive to a romantic getaway. The hotel staff was able to "fix" the problem, which the clerk pointed out was "not really a problem, but happens sometimes when you book with consolidators". Either way, they got it taken care of painlessly.
The biggest disappointment for us came on the second evening. About 10pm, Becky wanted a second blanket and a packet of chamomile tea (they had both caff and decaf tea when we checked in, but they replaced the decaf with a second caff the second day). We called down to the front desk, and they assured us that someone would be right up. No one ever came. I inquired about it when we checked out the following morning, and the clerk assured me that they would "address it with the night girl", though I suspect we'll never know where that tea and blanket ended up.
Overall, a nice experience at a good hotel and a fantastic price. We don't usually stay that far south, but if we did, I'd definitely consider the DoubleTree again.
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