The Commonwealth

Location was great! Upon arrival, we were greeted by Eric, Valet-Supervisor. He was warm and showed us where to check-in. Thank you for everything and when we’re back in the area, we know where to stay!

Historic may be appropriate in describing the ambience of the Hotel Commonwealth. I stayed for two nights in the most dark and dreary room facing pipes and another window facing a wall. The construction surrounding the Hotel makes it near impossible to find the front entrance and if you walk out the door and go down 9th to Main you will see a sign affixed to the door to the now empty building that says "Please....... Poop Here." The words "do not" are blacked out and that should be a warning sign right there as the area surrounding the hotel is not great. As I walked the desolate streets upon arriving at 7 PM that Wednesday and as I walked around early the next morning and again late that night returning from a show at their fantastic new Amphitheater I saw why. The Hotel was chose largely for its location due to proximity to that and the Amtrak Station. There are few hotels you pass as you get into the "main street area"; however, there is nothing really but a couple of small bodegas and one dive bar. The other hotels, the Omni, Marriott and Delta are large and corporate and closer to the water, but I chose Commonwealth believing it to be a boutique style quaint hotel. The pictures of the rooms and the room I was in were clearly not the same. From the loud bathroom fan, to loud wall air conditioners, the plugs and charging stations that did not work and the overall cleanliness lacked. In fact when I returned from a day gone and had left a tip the room was barely touched, no water nor coffee items refilled. Overall I cannot stress this enough that it was just lacking. The Staff were fine in my limited encounters with them. But the incident that stood out was that same afternoon I was showering and dressing to see the Concert that evening and I heard the door open. I froze and saw the light from the hall in the dark (yet still early in the day that is how dark it is) room and I threw on some clothes and found a Man standing there. He said he was Security investigating a leak complaint from the room below. I had just finished showering, had no standing water issues nor overflow but as he stood there I said I will check again and said, no the water is off and there is nothing in here to indicate my room has a problem and this is an issue that will have to be looked at after I check out. He then said he will come back later, which is bizarre and I went downstairs barefoot barely clothed to ask what the hell was going on. The Front Desk knew NOTHING about said complaint but said policy is they are to knock three times before entering. Okay but again in. the shower, fans blasting, a TV on I can see not hearing it; HOWEVER had you called first I would have heard one of the two phones. Coming into a room without notice was odd and if there was a leak why did the Front Desk not know of it? In fact the next morning I asked another clerk and she knew nothing of it. All of it bizarre. No apologies no explanation no nothing. I left for the show with all the lights blazing, all the TV's on, my radio an and when I returned I pushed a chair against the door and double locked it. I slept for 3 hours and when it was light I packed and checked out and decided spending the next three hours at the airport was more desirable. Richmond is charming there are small hotels and a neighborhood Carytown that is active and busy so when I do return I will likely stay there. Buses are free during the day and you can easily get around without a car but again it is a city in transition and it is charming with many things positive to say but this experience was not one.

This review is specifically for Eric, the Valet Supervisor. My brother and I arrived to the Commonwealth after an 8 hour drive to Virginia from New York. Eric was there to greet us right away, help us with the valet, and gave us some recommendations of nice strolls in the area. His friendly demeanor, personable affect, and charm gave us a warm welcome into Virginia after a long day in the car. Highly recommend using Eric for your valet service.

Our stay was wonderful. Great quiet location downtown! Room was very spacious.
Eric always went above and beyond to help with anything we needed and always greeted us with a smile.
Shane from the restaurant Rueger’s was friendly and attentive.

Hotel is not the cleanest nor most up to date however the service staff is excellent and made up for our stay particularly Eric. He helped us a lot and went above and beyond in making us feel welcomed

We love this hotel. Eric the Valet is top notch!

Eric was super sweet & helpful ! We felt comfortable and accommodated.

Antwan the bartender makes amazing drinks and is really chill and cool. I like having drinks when he serves us!

Our stay was great and Eric the valet supervisor was absolutely fantastic!!! Highly recommend!!!!!

We loved the location, we were able to walk everywhere we went. The rooms were very spacious and the bed was extremely comfortable. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

We chose the hotel for its excellent location next to the Richmond arena. Our teens were going to a concert so this worked well. The room configuration was also great for our group. But everything else at the hotel was almost comically bad. It was raining hard when we arrived 30 mins early but we couldn't have the room, which was ready, unless we paid an early check-in fee. In the evening, the advertised happy hour at the hotel bar became laughable when we were told by the very nice bar-tender they'd run out of liquor at the bar. Sleep was practically impossible because a broken air-conditioner rattled like a crazy old airplane every 15 minutes throughout the hot night. Same craziness continued at breakfast: the lovely server apologized but said 2/3 kitchen burners were broken so we'd have to wait an hour for our breakfast -- which we did. Luckily the kids had already gone elsewhere because breakfast was only included for two people with our four person room. We tried the gym, which was very basic but fine, and found broken water fountains and no towels or wipes. By that time we were actually feeling pretty entertained by it all. Nothing at all wrong with the staff -- just a nice old building being run as if the world were ending and supplies ebbing away....

Staff is wonderful. Other than that, believe the bad reviews. Dark rooms with no windows and terrible hotel policies and management.

This stay was my second in less than a year. What stood out the most? Eric, the Valet Supervisor, was phenomenal both times! Not only did he take great care to ensure that a woman traveling alone was safe getting in/out of my vehicle, he even offered his charging block to me so I wouldn’t have to drive in search one of at 10pm. Never in all my years of travel has someone been so kind and considerate.
As far as my suite, the experience was improved from my last stay… everything was in working order! It was a quiet and comfortable.

Truly enjoyed our stay , front the location to the pleasant & most accommodating staff. The Valet went above & beyond to help us enter /exit hotel , as we were traveling with kids . If we are ever in VA again , will definitely return .

The suite was amazing and beautiful, the bed was amazing comfy and there was so much space, the restaurant was great and had a good variety of drinks and amazing food!