We stayed in this hotel on a vacation trip, stopping at Dayton to see the Museum of the US Air Force, the Wright Brothers/Paul Dunbar site in downtown Dayton, and the Neil Armstrong Museum "just up the road" (an hour's drive to Wapokoneta). All three of these attractions are recommended! We have been in love with the Drury Inn since we stayed in the one in Charlotte about ten years ago. However, my recent experiences at Staybridge Suites may just be nudging Drury out a bit.
The location of this Drury Inn is ideal. It is directly off the freeway (you cannot hear the cars; the building is well insulated!), off a road which has several other hotels, many restaurants, and even a Walmart if you've forgotten something. For dinner the first night we were able to walk across the road (watch out; it is very busy) to a Golden Corral. The hotel shares the parking lot with a Panera Bread, which will deliver to the hotel if you're really tired, and there's a Red Lobster as well.
The hotel looks brand new. There's a big entrance, with a large lounge with TV and meeting rooms to the right, the registration desk, an indoor/outdoor pool and an exercise room to the left, and the eating area is to the back. It is very clean and beautiful, and the elevators are quick. There's also a little "canteen" where you can buy frozen dinners, popcorn, chips, juice, etc.
We stayed in something called an "extended size" room since we were traveling with our pets. We thought a larger room would be expedient since we had the dog's crate (it's a small dog) and a budgie in a cage to also fit into the room. To our surprise, this was something like a baby suite: you entered and there was a small room with a television on a console that held microwave and baby fridge and two armchairs and a reading lamp. This is where our pets stayed and we kept our netbooks and snack bag. There was then the bath and closet, with a hall that passed into a spacious bedroom.
The place was scrupulously clean, the bed firm and comfortable, the pillows excellent, the shower good. There was also another television in the bedroom, which we didn't use, but it was there for us.
We had a few minor problems. The first was that we had no hot water in the sink (the shower was FINE) the three nights we were there. I would have said something, but I was worried the repairman would make our dog bark and we like to be good pet travelers. My husband didn't shave while we were there, and I only washed my face in the morning, so the absence of the hot water was negligible. When I mentioned this upon checking out, the person at the desk was upset. She offered us one day's credit, which was cool.
The more pressing problem was the noisy air conditioner. I'm going through "the change" and am used to sleeping with three fans, so we had the A/C on. It was very loud. Also, there is an air circulator between the rooms so the little sitting room has air. This was also very noisy and thumped when it turned on. I am a light sleeper and this woke me up every time. This would not bother most winter travelers, but I'm sure it can be annoying in the summer.
The breakfasts are okay. This is where the Staybridge Suites where we stayed on our vacation the past two years really shone. The only meat for breakfast was sausage patties. The Staybridge people alternate this with bacon. We wish the Drury Inn would do the same. The Drury Inn makes a big pot of real oatmeal, which is good; it has more fiber and vitamins than the packet type, which Staybridge had. HOWEVER, the oatmeal was made in a metal container, your typical institutional cooking pot. Even with brown sugar sprinkled on it, you could not kill the taste of the metal in the oatmeal. There were four kinds of cereal, only one kind not sugared. More variety might be nice, especially for diabetics (husband is one). For fruit, the Drury had only bananas and Red Delicious apples. The Staybridge had a fruit bar with cantaloupe, oranges, honeydew, grapes, etc. plus apples--some were Granny Smiths, which I prefer--and bananas. Wish Drury could do the same.
Drury has a little meal type snack at the end of the day. Unfortunately it relied heavily on chili and other spiced foods I could not eat. The soup every night was brocolli cheddar. Ugh. How about alternating it with chicken noodle or vegetable? They did have baked potatoes every other night, which was okay.
In short, I would highly recommend this place for the cleanliness, bed, shower, comfort. Hope you get a quieter A/C.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
