The Eldridge

This hotel is very classy and elegant. It is conveniently located on Mass St. near all the shops and restaurants. The front desk is friendly and offered useful advice. They valet park for $ 10, but I just use the city garage for $ 1.
Be prepared for a busy bar during half-​priced martini night on Thursdays. I recommend the chocolate martini! The rooms are spacious. Book one month in advance for Saturday basketball game night.

I had the opportunity to stay at the Extended Eldridge hotel and it was an upgraded version of the Eldridge itself. It is right downtown and within walking distance to all of the great venues Lawrence has to offer. All of their properties have outstanding service from valet, front desk, restaurants, housekeeping, everyone! They have great amenities, plus their beds are amazing too! I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone visiting this area.

I went here two days ago (Friday night) for a couple of drinks because I like the history before the hotel and I do this all the time back home in the big city, but then they said they were closing the lobby at around 1:20am. the What hotel closes their lobby? The front desk actually said that we would have to go back to our rooms??? I was not staying there but I would have been pretty upset if I did not have the lobby 24 hours instead of being on a curfew? For a hotel that is branded as historic and upscale I have to say the lobby curfew is more like the Youth Hostels I used to stay at. Seriously? You cannot have a 24 hour front desk person? I am an adult, you know…

Stayed at the Eldridge Extended, room EE1, for the second time, last time was 5 years ago on our wedding night. We had the coolest experience last time — father of the bride forgot to book the honeymoon suite in the main part of the hotel, and offered to pay for any other room in the hotel if we were willing to move. Uh, yeah! We took the more expensive Extended room and were very happy, 5 years ago and last night. Room has expensive touches and is all hardwood floors, very tall ceilings, full kitchen, marble in bathroom, two person Jacuzzi tub and huge two person shower. Very romantic room. Room was exactly the same as 5 years ago, showed no wear and tear, except for dented fridge. Has full kitchen, with everything you might need to make a gourmet meal. Room was extremely clean and quiet. Old clock radio is kind of ghetto, need to upgrade to iPod docks. Coupled with the very basic cable (no HGTV or Music Choice), you’re on your own for music or entertainment. Hubby asked for a flower arrangement, and they provided an impressive one free of charge with a nice note. Very touching gesture. Has full room service, not that we needed it. Wish they had body wash/​bath gel, but the soap/​shampoo/​conditioner provided is high quality. Having the convenience of popping over to Wheatfields for breakfast in bed items was wonderful. Location is ideal. Having the new parking garage makes it easier to find a spot. Highly recommend the Eldridge.

From a room and location standpoint, the Eldridge really is the class of Lawrence hotels. Nestled into Downtown Lawrence, you can valet your car, watch it disappear (literally. Where does it go?) and spend your weekend walking everywhere in this amazing town.
We stayed here for my wedding and loved many parts of it — the comfortable beds, the spacious suites, the cool interior and historic vibe. There’s only one smaller than average elevator, much like you would find in Europe and I find that this just adds to the classic feeling that emanates throughout.
We did have considerably more hiccups this visit than others in the past, and they’re pretty noteworthy when you’re paying about $ 200 a night for a hotel room in a smaller town, unfortunately.
One thing of note is that the back lot that is basically attached to the Eldridge is not Eldridge parking. It certainly seems like it would be, but the small $ 3 tickets will add up if you park there. Now it was a BUSY weekend in Lawrence, but it’s worth noting that the valets were MIA. I’d literally just leave my car in the valet area and hope it worked out. One of them was super helpful, one of them looked like he’d rather be anywhere else in the world.
We had our hotel keys frequently get de-​magnetized, and I’m not sure how. Apparently this is a common occurrence, but I’d never had it happen before and it happened at some pretty inopportune times during a mildly stress-​filled, active wedding weekend.
We also had the misfortune of having some ridiculously rank smell take over the hotel on my wedding day, right about the time my groomsmen and photographer were meeting up for photos. Bad, bad timing and the whole hotel slowly had a sewage stink creep through the old hallways.
I think it’s pretty par for the course at an older hotel, especially on the highest floor which we were on, but the water pressure left a bit to be desired. I spoke with them about this and they said they’re purchasing more tanks this winter and that it’s going to help add some pressure.
What is great though is ducking out to the nearby restaurants and bars that take only a few minutes to reach by foot, or waking up to jog down Mass St. and through campus. This location cannot be beat.
When it comes down to it, stay in the Eldridge hotel. I’m serious, it’s got an amazing sense of class, quality suites, and some nice staff members. I think we just happened to catch them on a bit of an insane weekend, and not everything went right. It happens. At the end of the day, it’s one of the best hotels in town, and with a few tweaks here and there, this would’ve been a four or five star experience.

Went to brunch for my birthday with my adult kids.
Not much selection but what they did have was very high quality and very fresh. Nothing sitting around dried out in a serving dish. Trout with pesto quinoa and the pasta salad were especially good.
My only issue is the booths are a little too small to move in and out of comfortably. Sit at a table if you are there for lunch.

Only went for half price Martinis and appetizers. The martini selection is fun to choose from and have a wide selection. All are amazing and the appetizers are well cooked and taste great. Get there early it fills up fast

Grand old hotel downtown Lawrence. Right on Mass St. Fabulous location. Starbucks across the street. Nicest hotel in Lawrence as far as style and level of service. Very large suite with massive seating area. The attached TEN restaurant is convenient for a drink and apps. The rooms are not really quiet but no worse than any old city hotel. Would definitely stay here again but looking forward to trying the sister hotel, Oread on campus. Go Jayhawks!

Don’t plan on getting a reservation made if you call in the evening. Reservation desk is closed. OK. I guess I will try elsewhere.

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 Tri​pAd​vi​sor​.com]

We went to the Thanksgiving buffet today and it was the best we’ve ever had. This is the third buffet we’ve gone to and it gets better each time. They had to serve 830 people and there was not an empty dish, the staff refilled each one as soon as they started to get low. There was a lot of food with a varied menu. The wait staff was very friendly and attentive. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who asked.

Our experience here was pretty poor. We stayed here one night for a night out away from the kids. We showed up around 5, it was a hot day, so we were wanting to go get cleaned up to go to dinner. The lobby was pretty chaotic because of a wedding taking place there. We checked in and went to our room and when we opened the door — the room was occupied. Luckily there was no one in the room — just their bags /​clothes spread out around the room. We went to the front desk to let them know the issue. The desk clerk was bewildered, but didn’t really offer us any recourse. She was obviously befuddled with our issue, the wedding, and because I assume she was the only front desk staffer working. She had to call a manager — whom I assume was at the Oread — and who she did not immediately get in touch with. Sensing her frustration and not wanting to spend our night out hanging out in the Eldridge lobby, my wife and I asked the desk clerk if we could leave our bags at the desk and go shopping for a while so she could sort things out and get us in a room. They were 100% full that night.
Fast-​forward and hour. We did some shopping and came back — and nothing had been done about our situation. When we came back they began working to resolve it. After another half hour of waiting they finally sorted things out and got us in a room. My gripe is not so much that they made a mistake — those happen — it is the lack urgency they showed to resolve it, and the lack of hospitality they exhibited in doing so. I mean if you are going to make me sit around while you figure out your mistakes and resolve them — at least offer me a drink — at least have someone come apologize for the inconvenience. Don’t act annoyed when I come ask you the status after sitting in the lobby for 15 minutes.
When we finally got to our room it was the quality of a typical room of a 3 star hotel. It was very noisy from sharing a wall with the elevator shaft but other than that okay.

Great location in downtown Lawrence. The relatively newly renovated rooms are a huge improvement over their previous condition.
The HVAC (air conditioning) is located in a closet in the room we had (205) and is very noisy.
The 2^nd floor is not the place to be for a quiet evening… noise from the very active (and fun) bar downstairs carries from an open stairwell right up to the 2^nd floor. Only there for one short night, we did not address the noise issue with the staff.
We found the staff with which we interacted to be friendly, professional and helpful. The gentleman at the front desk during our afternoon check in was outstanding as was the young man on valet duty the next morning.
A quieter room would have easily earned 4 to 4.5 stars for this hotel.

The room was clean and very large albeit a small bathroom. The refrigerator did not work. The front staff was not the most friendly and not very welcoming. On the other hand the staff at the bar were really nice. For the price I would expect even a pastry for breakfast an a gym but neither were available unless you bought breakfast or trecked across town to use a gym at a different hotel.

The Eldridge is a classic spot in Lawrence. Between the hotel, banquet space and restaurant, this place has it all.
My sorority used The Eldridge for our formal dances and semi-​formals. The sales representatives were super helpful and definitely worked with our limited budget.
I also love the martinis in the restaurant inside of the hotel. They used to do a Thursday night half price martini special. Not sure if they still do it or not, but they sure have some tasty martinis!
I have never stayed in the hotel overnight, but I heard it was a little pricey.

Great ambience but the rooms aren’t worth the price they charge. When I stayed there over Valentine’s Day, my room had a piece of paper taped to the wall covering a hole, I assume. 10 Restaurant and the Jayhawker bar are both top notch.

Swanky but seems like a total party hotel. Tough to get any sleep if there’s a party going on. The rooms were nice and pretty good sized. The price was a little on the high side but you’re downtown and could drink and party then walk to your hotel so that’s a plus. I’d still pick the chain hotel that’s right down the block over this one though.

Let me agree with those who have said the front desk personnel could generally use some customer service training. Case in point, I just went down to the lobby for a cup of coffee. There are no coffee makers in the rooms. Instead, the hotel provides coffee service in the lobby. The hotel does not make an effort to provide this service at an early/​earlyish time. You see, restaurant personnel have the job of brewing the coffee. Thus, it arrives in the lobby contingent on when they arrive and get to the job.
This morning, I gave them plenty of time to get this accomplished. When I went down to the lobby, it was 6.45 – no coffee. I asked they guy at the front desk about when I might expect it.
He was sitting down, staring at a computer screen. Not moving his eyes from the screen, he said to me, «The best person to ask is the restaurant.» When I told him he would be the better person to ask the restaurant, he remained seated, looking at the computer screen.
This is just one example. Even the more helpful front desk people tend to be cold.
Finally: the hotel should provide the coffee service happily. Most front desk folk seem annoyed by it. From my perspective, it doesn’t help my day that the very first person I talk to is a rude or irritated hotel employee.

I stayed here with my family (we reserved two suites for 4 adults and a child) for a cousin’s wedding (we did not go to the restaurant during our stay). I loved the size and layout of my suite and the quaintness of the hotel.
Pros:
This hotel has genuine suites. In addition to my comment above about room size, there were large, wall-​mounted flatscreens in both the living room and bedroom. The kitchenette area was spacious. French doors lead to the bedroom. The room was well-​designed given the age of the building. And the price for what you get is fantastic! It may seem expensive in Kansas, but for those who travel to large cities often, it’s a treat.
Location — you’re right downtown and can walk anywhere (and after seeing the many drunk drivers Lawrence has to offer, I highly recommend the two-​legged type of transportation if you’re going out).
Lobby and room are both cute. The building is quite old with a tiny elevator, but this is advertised as an historic hotel, so these kinds of things are to be expected and appreciated.
Cons:
I left my car to be «valeted» after I checked in. When I went downstairs 2 hours later to meet the rest of my family that had arrived, my car was still on, flashers blinking in front of the hotel. I had to remind the front desk attendant to please take care of it.
We went in June which is a hot time to be in Kansas. The building — again due to age — only has air conditioners which are pretty loud and do not make temperature control as easy to regulate as central air would. I also had a window in the front room that wouldn’t open or shut all of the way and was covered by cheap, plastic blinds.
My room had a musty smell to it throughout the stay. I think a carpet shampooing could go a long way in helping that out.
The bathroom was split into two rooms — a hallway essentially for the his/​her sinks and long mirror and a small room that housed the shower & toilet. Normally this is nice (or at least when the toilet is in it’s own area), but the shower and toilet were in such a tiny room squeezed in together which made opening/​shutting the door while trying to either use the bathroom or get into the shower or have a towel on the floor all a little too difficult.
Overall though, it was a pleasant stay. The history and charm of the hotel far outweigh any of the small inconveniences that come with a structure of that age. I would stay again.

I went to Lawrence for a little weekend getaway. The Eldridge is fantastic! First, I love history and character in any building. In addition to that, here is what I really liked:
*friendly, helpful staff
*quaint layout of suites — living room with huge flatscreen tv and pullout sofa, bathroom, and separate bedroom
*a noise machine for those of us who are light sleepers!
*heater/​ac with «constant fan» option
*ceiling fan
*another huge flat screen tv in bedroom
*wide/​rain shower head
*bottled water, hairdryer, ear plugs, fridge
*no windows in the bedroom
*convenient location overlooking Mass Street
Stuff I would change:
*add a dark curtain in the «bedroom» doorframe, or maybe a sliding door; when daylight hits in the living room area, I can see it in the bedroom and it wakes up this light sleeper
*change toiletry options; these smell like my grandma when she’s dressed for church
*checkout time at 12 instead of 11 (and the latest they would go is 12:30)
I look forward to staying here again. It is a little pricey when checking rates at other places, but the experience is worth it.