The Gin Hotel, Ascend Hotel Collection

Bonnie Beverley

2023-08

The building is absolutely beautiful. There isn't a sign anywhere that reads "The Gin Hotel". You will need to strictly go by the address. Good luck on reading the address when there is a lot of traffic riding close behind. The front desk service was friendly and quick to check you in.The restaurant was exceptional. (The Lounge)The food was top-notch! The waiters not so much, not in anyway knowledgeable about anything. There is NO room service, by the way. Oh, and the cocktail drinks. Don't bother ordering or paying for a "cocktail" drink. The actual size of the drink is close to a shot glass. You will get the same amount of drink at half the price, order a shot instead. Beds are way too hard and the pillows are horrible. I've never experienced a pillow that actually felt like it deflated when you laid your head down on it. The bathroom was well tiled and updated. The walk-in shower was beautiful, except for when the water did not drain properly. The "deluxe" continental breakfast is far from being DELUXE. The only substance is a bagel. Coffee was good. I witnessed 3 guest walk in the area and turn around. We were disappointed as well.The area and shops around the hotel were great, but you'll need to hit them early on Saturdays. They close at dinner time or before and aren't open on Sundays.The hotel is beautiful, but I would have liked to have gotten some comfortable sleep.

Leonard Wagner

2024-04

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Jill Bond

2023-05

Thoroughly enjoyed our night at this hotel and the city of Lexington! We can't wait to go back and plan to stay at The Gin next time we are in town. Beautiful hotel and good rates! And exceptional downtown location. I've seen negative reviews about no refrigerator or outlets near bed. I cannot imagine that being worth leaving a negative review! Because the rooms are top-notch! Spacious, very comfortable beds, gorgeous bathroom and keurig machine with good supply of coffee and teas. We were in a corner room with three windows and the views were great. Looking forward to next visit!

Tammy Cook

2023-10

Paper thin walls are the number one reason we won’t return to this hotel. We could hear everything happening in the rooms sharing a wall with us (every word on the tv, sex, all of it) and the hallway (at one point we wondered if we’d left the door to the room open since we could hear very loudly and clearly the couple talking outside our room waiting for the elevator). Don’t stay here if you like a quiet stay.Also, the tv size was laughable. Our laptop screen was bigger.The room smelled bad upon entering, there were crumbs on the carpet, and all in all the hotel is old and needs a deep clean.The gals at the front desk were wearing hoodies (come on! It’s a boutique hotel - have a decent professional dress code!) and were put out to have to look up from their phones.To be honest I’d love my money back. Not worth what we paid at all.

claudia awar

2023-08

Good location downtown, but most shops close by 5, even on weekends and closed Sun and Mon. This is owned by a division of Comfort Inn. Looks quaint however, patio is only for Restaurant that rents out the space on the second floor. No real breakfast. There are no choices for dairy free or GF except instant oatmeal or dry cheerios. No mini fridge. Carpet OLD, dirty. Needs to be replaced.Bathroom layout pretty but impractical (no shower door). Strange smell in lobby and sewer smell in hallway leading to parking lot. Decor weird. Bed is a modern platform and banged up. The room has a lot of wear and tear. Overall, it needs touch-up on paint and finishes for the price they charge.Walkability: In the heart of Lexington.

Cam Grover

2023-05

Pros:- Very clean- Great location- Comfortable beds and pillows- QuietCons:- Can't control the AC- No ironing board or iron- No safe- No outlets near bed- Single switch controls all lights- No fan in bathroom.A disappointing experience. The staff was friendly and the building was clean, but there were so many minor issues. You're better off staying at a comfort inn. The Gin Hotel is absolutely not worth the money.

Robert Bailey

2023-05

The beds are fine, the location is good. Parking is extremely limited- expect to park in the garage and walk. And they're strict about the "10 minute parking" in front of the building! I felt like Michael Scott with the tiny TV on the wall (I don't watch much, but come on! It's like 24"). There's no shower door (water all over the floor) and there's no fan in the bathroom (slippery and damp everywhere). The breakfast is pitiful (handful of packaged junk food). There's literally no entrance from the parking lot. Every rear door is "out of service" so if you're lucky enough to get a parking spot, you still have to walk around the entire building. We've got key cards for the rooms- just install card scanners. But they've got a super old elevator and "cute" vintage telephone booths in the lobby. Yay. One desk attendant was nice, the others were all grumpy. The attempt at luxury just fell flat.

Doug Hill

2023-05

For a three star hotel, you would expect that the rooms come with what's advertised when booking. Our room was missing sheets, the ironing board and a couple other items. We had to request those items so that WE could pick them at the front desk. The rooms were clean but the pictures make the rooms look larger than they really are. There was also a musky smell throughout the room that hindered how comfortable you could really get. I wouldn't recommend this hotel.

Anita Irmen

2023-08

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Michael

2023-10

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Dan Hickman

2023-05

My family of four stayed the night recently and were pleased with our visit. The location is perfect, right in the heart of Lexington, and the staff was friendly.This is an older building, but the room itself felt modern. It lacked a few amenities (no fridge or microwave) but it was clean and cozy.There is parking on street and behind the hotel, but don’t bring your Yukon and expect to fit (this is a historic city and wasn’t built to support large vehicles).We’ve read some reviews that have us concerns, but we’re pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed this hotel.

Kelly Ward

2023-05

Elisha, front desk clerk, was incredible! She embodied everything that is customer service. The room was nice, the bathroom was on par with what was expected. What set my stay apart were her efforts to connect me with my new hires, without compromising any security and safety issues the hotel has put in place to protect the guests. She is personable, polite, informative, helpful, knowledgable and an excellent Ambassador for Lexington. To be completely honest, if I was asked if I would return to the Gin Hotel without Elisha, I'd say "No". I worked 10 years in the Travel/Tourism trade and I have high standards. She made my stay at this hotel and she is what I have remembered from my week long stay there.

J P

2023-05

Excellent location in downtown Lexington! It is a easy walk to the Washington and Lee campus, coffee shops, and art galleries. This location was perfect for 24 hours to enjoy Lexington while driving through the mountains in the Fall. The rooms were okay with basic accommodations and a renovated bathroom. The walls were quite thin and I could hear our neighbors talking and TVs.

P L

2023-05

Super quiet overnight, even on the street side. Clean, but carpeting could use a shampoo. Great downtown location. Pleasant staff. The in room Safe didn’t work. Battery was dead.

Doris Dias

2023-05

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Kate Newton

2022-05

Pros: fabulous location, beautiful building and decor, comfortable bed and updated bathrooms.Cons: no fridge/microwave in room, shower doesn’t have a door so water gets everywhere, walls are VERY thin, doors slam all day and all night causing your entire room to shake, small TVs, lack of outlets in room (i think we only found 2), and hotel staff. Particularly the front desk girl whose name is Alisha (Alicia?). I really don’t expect much when checking in to a hotel. A simple hello and a quick rundown of parking/amenities will suffice. However, Alisha didn’t even greet us when we got there. She said “last name” and handed us our room key after a few minutes of silence; she didn’t even tell us the room number. I asked if parking was free or if the hotel validated, and she gave me directions to the lot… which wasn’t even my question. We also heard her talking about another guests’ weight to another person (didn’t appear to be staff or guest, perhaps a friend but I’m speculating). It was very inappropriate, to the point where we looked up previous reviews and saw similar complaints about this particular employee. Not sure what it will take for management to find a replacement for her, but i will absolutely not be staying at this hotel again mainly for this reason. Thin walls and no fridge i can deal with, but a consistently rude staff member who is bothered by the mere existence of the hotel guests is not something i will tolerate.

Lindsi Weaver

2022-05

All you’re paying too much for here is a friendly desk man and a nice shower. Parking wasn’t awfully far, but super cramped. The hotel itself smelled dank - but not the good kind of dank. The bed was very firm, the pillows uncomfortably springy. The outdated carpet had noticeable stains all around, the coffee maker did not work and the typed instructions taped above the 1990s air conditioner proved to be no help - it never came on, so we had to open the windows. Oh! And the 24” tv was so far across the room from the bed that we had to strain to see. We had heard great things about Ascend hotels and we were so excited to splurge on this trip, but this will definitely be our first and final stay with them.

Rick Froh

2023-05

Rough experience. The hot water pipes bang very loudly as soon as other guests start taking showers. Making it impossible to sleep past 630. Very tired and dated. The bar looked promising but unfortunately an inattentive bartender and poorly mixed drink had us scurry up the street to Taps.

Anastasiia Panchoshna

2022-05

Great location and friendly employees. The hotel is almost 100 year old and I was so exited to see its original elevator and phones. I enjoyed taking a shower and my bed was comfortable.Unfortunately the TV was too small. There was a lot of dust on the baseboards and on extractor hood in the bathroom. And I found some hair in the bathroom 🤢

M O'Neill

2023-05

We stayed at the Gin Hotel in Lexington on 8/2/2022. It's in the old Robert E Lee building on Main street. I've previously lived in town, and thought this would be a nice treat for us since they totally renovated the building a few years ago. It was seen as the anchor for the downtown area.The work done on the building is impressive, and everything looks really nice, but looks can be deceiving. I suppose the hotel tries to sell itself as a very upscale place, and it looks that way from the lobby to the rooms. Lots of glass, brass, and mirrors all around, but the rooms, while decorated nicely, have lots of wasted space, and plenty of missing amenities.I had asked about a refrigerator in the room, and was told there were none, but that one could be placed in the room at no extra cost. We had planned to get some sandwiches and leave for an early trip home. The "refrigerator" that we got was one for holding a few doses of some meds. It barely held a bottle of water. There was plenty of space for a fridge in the room, and even a microwave. I can get that without asking at any number of hotels, anywhere, regardless of room price.The lights in the room, while very striking from a decorator point of view are next to useless. They are all or nothing. All ON or all OFF. No way to use one of the wall sconces to read in bed without the spotlights on in the whole room.We were in a very spacious room with a king bed, but there was only a single nightstand, which caused us to have to drag a chair over to places articles on when going to bed. There were two chairs arranged like a sitting area, but no small table or piece of furniture to put a glass, on. There are also no places to plug in any electronic devices like a laptop or charger. The Wi-fi was not working. Neither my wife nor I could connect our phones to it.The oddest thing was that while they have an on-sight restaurant and bar, those were closed completely for two days a week. I've travelled to many locations over the years for business and pleasure, and have never seen or heard of a hotel with on premises food and liquor sales to have that facility closed, much less for two days a week.So bottom line, it's all show and no go.

Ed White

2023-05

Great potential. You are paying for the location mostly. Not nearly enough sockets, no fridge and the minimal breakfast would make me think twice about staying there again. I will definitely visit their Juniper restaurant again, it was awesome.

Lyndsay Marie

2022-05

Only stayed one night but can echo most everyone else - the place is old so it's not very well insulated. You'll hear everything around you. The room was clean enough. The shower did get water all over the bathroom floor, which can potentially kill you if you slip on the slick tile floor. My biggest disappointment was that I left my pillow and when I came back 8 hours later, it could not be located by anyone, even housekeeping, which tells me they threw it away. Yes, it's just a pillow, but as a mom who's traveling for work 4 hours from home, away from her kid, it was nice having something of his with me. Oh well.

s.b. Hungate

2022-05

The Gin Hotel, formerly The Hotel Robert E. Lee, was built in the 1920's and has undergone major restoration under current management. The downtown location is very convenient to the Universities and historical sites. The second floor room we occupied was very stately with 20 foot ceilings and elaborate trim moldings of that period. However, in spite of the ambiance of the restorations, it appears as if this property is struggling. Our room did not have a functioning HVAC system but I was not informed before check-in of this situation. Upon check-out, after voicing my dissatisfaction with the stuffiness and warmth of the room, I was informed that the entire second floor had No Air Conditioning and that this was an ongoing problem that they had been unable to fix. No compensation was offered. To me this was a deceptive business practice that sullied the reputation of this hotel group. And although there was advertising signage promoting "Happy Hour" in the hotel restaurant bar between 3 & 5PM, the doors of the restaurant remained locked until 5PM. Again - no explanation given. There were other operational issues such as sour milk in the breakfast bar that made it apparent they need some better management.

Cameron Ball

2023-05

Stopped here for the night in the middle of a long road trip. Booking, check-in, and service were all awesome.Our king room was very nice, and the shower was incredible. That said, I really missed having a mini fridge, and was unable to connect to the WiFi.

Bf nnc

2022-05

Definitely pros and cons.ProsLocation is really great.Boutique, updated, historic hotel.Restaurant and bar on-site.ConsParking is incredibly tight.No refrigerator.Walls are really thin, we could hear conversations and snoring in the room next to us.Overall a nice stay, Lexington is a neat little town to visit.

Stacey Hudnall

2022-05

I was recently an employee at the gin when the new owners took over they got rid of us. That had been working with up to par management. New others are not as nice as people think I would be put back on schedule . I understand .The place it self has nice , no refrigerator and microwave Especially in the suite. Up to par corporate office are good to work for .Good luck with future stays

Don Borcherding

2023-05

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Mick

2023-05

The hotel was neat and the room was very clean and comfortable. Breakfast was included which consisted of some packaged pastries, cereal, fruit, yogurt and bagels. The location is great and the staff was very friendly and accommodating.

Kyle McDowell

2023-05

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Jennifer T

2022-05

My husband and I just returned home from our stay here, and it was pretty much awful from the start. The grumpy rude woman at the front desk got argumentative with us at checkin, as if it was an inconvenience to have guests at their hotel! Come to find out, this was the Manager! Unbelievable. The room didn't seem clean at all due to the stained linens in the bathroom and comforter on the bed, and we had to go down to the front desk to get towels and toiletries for our room due to "no in-room servicing" for some reason. The walls were very thin so you could easily hear people in other rooms, and their "complimentary free wifi" barely worked at all and had many issues even staying connected during our stay. The breakfast was a bit of a joke for the price we paid for our room, with nowhere to really sit down and enjoy our food and it seemed to be out of most things, and completely unattended.I understand that times are tough for the hotel industry after covid and everything so I was willing to overlook a lot, (my husband told me not to even bother with a review) but this hotel needs a LOT of work to be worth staying at. Best to pass on staying here for now.