Wanted to love it :(
So this was a 'stay-cation' for a girls' weekend. We were excited about selecting the Magnolia downtown because of all the great reviews on this site. The hotel itself was nice and convenient.
We had a room with two queens, and there was definitely plenty of space. Unlike lots of rooms 
where there is just about two feet of walk-space between the bed and the furniture, you could move 
about freely in this room. The decor and furnishings were nice. The mirrors and accents in the 
bathrooms give the room a classy yet sophisticated feel. The shower/tub combo works for me, 
but it could certainly be problematic for those who can't "climb" into such a high bathtub. The 
hotel could have improved in a few areas though -- the smell that many mention in the reviews is 
one of these. There is a definite hint of sewage as you enter/exit the hotel lobby, not attractive, 
especially since you don't smell it outside of the hotel on the streets. Our check in process was 
also a bit on the slow side. Two people were at the front desk doing check-ins, and while the young 
man next to us checked in 3 guests, we continued to wait for our check-in process to be completed.
Additionally, the young lady that checked us in failed to mention anything to us about the evening 
reception or the complimentary bedtime milk & cookies or breakfast. We heard it only because 
the other associate was telling guests as he checked them in. The milk & cookies were great, but 
the breakfast just so-so. The spread at first looks impressive, but lacks quite a bit in quality. If you 
stick to the waffle-maker and/or pastry selection, you're probably okay. Lastly, after a day of taking 
in the City, we wanted nothing more than to get back to our room and just relax and sleep the night 
away...unfortunately, this was not easy to do; the a/c was making an unusually loud buzzing noise
each time it came on through the night, which kept waking us up. As it was already so late in the 
night and we were all tired, we didn't bother to call downstairs about it. We did mention this upon 
check out though, and Stephanie at the front desk gave us a very non-convincing "I'm sorry" and said 
nothing more. Overall, I would have loved for this hotel to stand out among the many that I've stayed at, but it didn't.