Hotel Review: The Peery Hotel, Tapestry Collection by Hilton
Hilton’s Tapestry Collection launched in 2017 with the goal of providing upscale hotels with their own unique personalities and focusing on connecting guests with local destinations. They’re mainly scattered across the US but have 1-2 properties on other continents. As millennials stray away from conventional-style hotels, it’s a tactful move by Hilton to bring character and local hidden gems to their portfolio. My first encounter with a Tapestry Collection property was at The Bernic Hotel in NYC. The experience was underwhelming, but when I recently visited Salt Lake City, Utah, I decided to give the Tapestry Collection another shot and stayed at the Peery Hotel, Tapestry Collection by Hilton. While I appreciated the hotel’s classic charm, the hotel lacked common amenities and desperately needed internal modernization and renovation.
The Peery Hotel, Tapestry Collection by Hilton is located at 110 W Broadway, Salt Lake City, UT 84101.
What Card(s) Should You Use to Book?
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire
The American Express Hilton Honors Aspire card is currently offering a signup bonus of 150,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $4,000 in 3 months. Be aware that since this is an American Express (AMEX) card, you’re only allowed to receive the signup bonus once per lifetime. With a valuation of 0.6 cents per point, the signup bonus is worth about $900. In addition, until 12/31/2021, cardmembers will get a monthly statement credit of $20 when they spend more than $20 at restaurants each month. The annual fee is $450, but cardmembers get a weekend night certificate (redeemable on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at non-premium hotels), $250 incidental credit towards your airline of choice, $250 Hilton resort credit at select Hilton resorts, and Hilton Diamond status, the highest in Hilton’s member ecosystem.
The American Express Hilton Honors Aspire card is one of my favorite credit cards for its benefits and perks. Photo by AMEX.
The Aspire Card earns 14X per dollar spent on Hilton hotels and resorts when booked directly through Hilton and 7X on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly with select companies, and U.S. restaurants. All other purchases will earn 3X per dollar spent. As a Hilton Honors Diamond member, you’ll get a 100% points bonus and 10 extra points per dollar spent at Hilton properties. Therefore, the Aspire card earns a total of 24X per dollar spent on Hilton properties when booked directly with Hilton, yielding a grand return of 14.4%. With Hilton’s frequent points promotions, you can rake in a serious amount of Hilton Honors points in no time. Even if you don’t stay at Hilton properties too often, this card is definitely worth the annual fee due to its amazing perks and benefits, and I strongly believe it’s the best hotel credit card available on the market right now.
If you’d like to apply for the American Express Hilton Aspire Card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! http://refer.amex.us/EDWARSr3Jf?xl=cp01
American Express Hilton Honors Business
Alternatively, I could’ve used my American Express Hilton Honors Business card to book my stay. The AMEX Hilton Honors Business card is currently offering a signup bonus of 130,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $3,000 in 3 months, which is also worth about $780. Like other AMEX cards, the card is subject to the once-per-lifetime signup bonus rule. The annual fee is $95, and unlike the Aspire, it doesn’t come with airline or resort credits. However, it can be a great workhorse card as it offers generous everyday and business multipliers. It earns 12X Hilton Honors points per dollar spent on hotel and resort purchases booked directly with Hilton and 6X at U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations, U.S. wireless telephone services, U.S. purchases for shipping, and flights booked directly with airlines or with AMEX Travel. All other purchases earn 3X points per dollar spent. Because cardmembers receive automatic Honors Gold status, you’ll get an 80% points bonus and 8 extra points per dollar spent at Hilton properties. In addition, you’d receive 10 complimentary Priority Pass visits and have an opportunity to earn a free weekend night certificate after spending $15,000 in a calendar year. As a result, the Surpass earns a total of 20X per dollar spent on Hilton properties when booked directly with Hilton, yielding a return of 12%.
The American Express Hilton Honors Business card can cover a wide range of daily expenses and still comes with a great multiplier for Hilton stays. Photo by AMEX.
If you’d like to apply for the American Express Hilton Honors Business card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! https://americanexpress.com/en-us/referral/EDWARS067p?xl=cp15
Lobby & Check-In Review
The Peery Hotel is a small, historic property built in 1910, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Peery Hotel, a quaint and historical establishment constructed in 1910, holds a place on the National Register of Historic Places.
This three-story building may only have 73 rooms, but as soon as I walked into the property, the lobby was commodious for its size and was full of antique charms.
This three-story edifice, though it houses just 73 rooms, boasts a lobby brimming with antique allure.
The lobby was carpeted and had various seating options for solo travelers and groups.
The lobby was adorned with numerous pieces of antique furniture and decor.
All chairs were social-distanced, and antique decors reminded me that the hotel is a historic building.
Chairs were arranged with social distancing in mind, while the antique decorations served as a reminder of the hotel's historic nature.
I checked in via Hilton’s mobile app, but I stopped by the front desk to get physical keys. The check-in desk was somewhat messy with a bunch of packages piled up where guests needed to be standing.
The check-in area was somewhat chaotic due to the arrival of packages.
When I was checking in, I saw suite availabilities so I gently inquired if I could be upgraded to a suite, given my Hilton Honors Diamond status. In spite of the availability and low occupancy rate, the representative didn’t offer me an upgrade. I accepted, but it was a good reminder that the Diamond status does not mean much, at least in America. She informed me that the gym was closed and I could get a breakfast voucher in the morning to dine at the restaurant next door. I got my card keys and went up to the second floor to check out the room.
Despite my Hilton Honors Diamond status, I was unable to obtain an upgrade.
Bedroom Review
On the room door, there was a sticker indicating that the room had been cleaned and sanitized. The sticker was supposed to be torn in half to mark when someone enters a newly cleaned room. However, I’ve found that the adhesive is not strong enough to stick to the door frame and be torn. Instead, it would just come undone and fail to be used as intended.
A sticker on the room door signified that the space had undergone cleaning and sanitization.
The bedroom was carpeted, and the room was quite simple. The king bed had a tall headboard that stretched nearly to the top of the ceiling.
The king bed featured a towering headboard that nearly reached the ceiling.
It was odd at first, but the look grew on me as the room would’ve felt barren and bland without it. The bed was comfortable, and the two nightstands next to the bed only offered one outlet and one USB port each. One of the nightstands had a sturdy, retro suitcase look and also functioned as a small drawer.
The nightstand doubled as a drawer, and its aesthetic suited the rich history of the hotel.
I enjoyed the look of it, as it complemented the antique look of the hotel. On the other hand, the other nightstand was just a simple, circular stand, and I wish the hotel had the same retro drawer stand to make both sides of the bed uniform.
The headboard breathed life into a bland room.
Across from the bed, a small TV was wall-mounted, and there were various in-room amenities, such as complimentary water bottles and a coffee machine, on the work desk. The desk lamp had a modern brass appearance, and it upgraded the monotonous look of the work area. I was surprised that my room didn’t have a mini-fridge. The bedroom had enough space to have a mini-fridge, and I really think it should be included in every stay.
With plenty of outlets being available under the desk, a mini-fridge could’ve been placed to the left of the desk.
Because the building is u-shaped and my room was facing the inner portion of the building, the view from the room was quite dreadful. As a result, I didn’t get much sunlight either, making the room dreary.
Because of the layout of the building, I could only face other rooms and dreadful building walls.
The building’s vintage roots came with a few flaws. One of them was a noise issue. I was able to hear everything, from someone walking up and down the main staircase to conversations from neighboring guests, and I didn’t feel private. Luckily, the occupancy rate was still low, and it didn’t bother me too much. However, the biggest flaw was the thermostat. Because the building was old, heating and cooling systems functioned separately and were subject to seasonality. During my stay, the hotel was using its cooling system only. Thus, to raise the temperature, I had to turn off the AC to slowly raise the room's temperature. In April, the temperature gets pretty low at night, so I had to call the front desk to bring up a heater to my room. I am not sure what the rules and regulations are when it comes to renovating a historic building, but the hotel desperately needs some internal modernization to improve the level of accommodation.
It was very inconvenient to change the room temperature.
Bathroom Review
The bathroom had a tub and a standard showerhead combination. While the water pressure was decent, the water drained so slowly to the point where it accumulated past my ankle by the time I was done showering.
The shower drain in the bathroom was blocked, resulting in water not draining effectively.
Since I only stayed for one night, I didn’t bring it up to the hotel, but it could be a significant issue if you stay a few nights or share the room with someone else.
I wasn’t a big fan of where the toilet was placed, especially with an opaque window located directly beside it.
The toilet was tucked away, and I didn’t like that there was an opaque window right by it. I doubt people could see through, but I think the hotel kept it that way to let some light into the bathroom. Other than the window, the only light source was the mirror.
The toiletries from C.O. Bigelow had a pleasant scent, but the body wash significantly dried out my skin.
The toiletries were by C.O. Bigelow and were supplied in large communal dispensers to reduce plastic waste. The scent was decent, but the bodywash severely dried out my skin.
Breakfast Review—Sonoma Grill & Wine Bar
As a Hilton Honors Diamond member, I received complimentary breakfast at Sonoma Grill & Wine Bar adjacent to the hotel.
You could get breakfast at Sonoma Grill & Wine Bar for free if you are either Hilton Gold or Diamond member but should you?
The restaurant serves contemporary American fares, and I was hoping that I would actually be able to choose any breakfast entreé from the menu.
The breakfast coupon gets you only American Breakfast for free, even though there are many items that cost less than that.
Unfortunately, I was limited to their American Breakfast option, and if I were to order other entreés, I would need to pay $5 per item. It didn’t make sense to me since American Breakfast was priced at $12, and many other dishes cost less than that. For instance, the breakfast burrito was $11,
The quality of food was on a par with something I would get at Hampton Inn properties.
The American Breakfast dish was basically a breakfast platter at Hampton Inn. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy complimentary breakfast at Hampton Inn, but this version was worse since it didn’t even come with complimentary coffee. Hilton should differentiate benefits and perks that their highest-tiered members receive during stays. The food was nothing to write home about, but I was disappointed with the service. The waitress didn’t check on me at all, and I had to call her over when I needed more water and napkins. When I asked to close my bill, she indicated I wouldn’t get it since I chose the free entreé. At that moment, I realized she didn’t care for my table since she wouldn’t get tips. I wonder if the service would’ve been more acceptable had I ordered something different.
Summary
The Peery Hotel is a part of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection and is a historic building built more than a century ago. The lobby embraced its vintage roots and had a classic look. However, my room was antiquated and lacked common amenities such as a mini-fridge. The bed was comfortable, but noise isolation from neighboring rooms and hallways was nonexistent. Because the building was old, heating and cooling systems functioned separately and were subject to seasonality. Thus, to raise the temperature during my stay, I had to turn off the AC to increase the room's temperature slowly. The bathroom had a drainage issue, and the breakfast was mediocre at best, with the service being absent along with complimentary coffee. If you would like to stay in downtown Salt Lake City, unless you really adore antique rooms, I recommend looking for a different property to make your stay more enjoyable.
