Unscripted Durham - JDV by Hyatt

The photos of the motel are deceptive. It is an old fashioned motel with rooms on 2 floors opening to the central pool area. Families with kids and young adults had a great, and noisy time at the pool/bar area until close at 10pm. The lobby and check-in area were dark, dingy and unwelcoming. The neighborhood is mostly business. There is a good gourmet food Mart across the street. We did find a good restaurant/bar a few blocks away (Bar Virgile). It is a quick and easy drive to the Duke campus.

HVAC wouldn’t get below 75° after 5 hours of being there. Walls are paper thin so you’re going to hear the loud traffic at night and maybe also the people partying at the outdoor tables 20 Ft from the room (at midnight). Great hotel if you’re trying to party… not, if not.

The staff at this hotel were great! Thomas was wonderful at check in and beyond! At check in I was told I would be moved to a different room type due to renovations. No problem. We get to our room, fully unpack and as we are still waiting for the air to cool off the room, I step in a large gross wet spot on the carpet covering the span of the bathroom door. We called down and asked for additional towels to lay down and asked for maintenance to come look at the AC that was obviously dripping water. We were told the AC would have to be removed from the wall bc the drain was blocked. Things happen... so at this point I wasn't upset, just frustrated that we had to repack to move rooms. Again, the staff members were amazing!!! Thomas brought us our keys personally and moved us to a room very close on the same floor. Wonderful news- the air worked perfectly!! However.... the toilet would not flush half the time. We had to take the lid off of the tank countless times to add water to get it to flush. By this point we are over it, we were staying two nights and I was so tired of complaining, honestly I hate complaining so we just made it work. My final and biggest complaint comes to the pool "bar/restaurant" that was advertised prior to booking... that's a joke. What pool bar/restaurant?!!! This hotel showed images of beautiful drinks and plates of food out by a sunny pool! THIS was the entire reason I booked this hotel in the first place. We wanted to spend our free time relaxing poolside with beautiful cocktails in hand. This was such false advertisement that I'm still mad I wasted my money. We found out that the pool bar doesn't even open until the sun goes down... This was blatant false advertisement!! By this point we were officially OVER THIS HOTEL!!!! Only reason I'm even giving the place one star is bc of the AMAZING staff you have that had to work way too hard trying to make things right. They deserve a raise. Btw, I never ever leave bad reviews. Only time I even leave reviews is to give praise. So that should tell you how horrible this hotel stay was!!

This is an interesting hotel, and I enjoyed my stay. The bed is comfortable and the room was clean. Parking is convenient. Convenient location to DPAC. The pool deck was nice, although I did not have time to use it.

The hotel is in a good location for places to eat. We did enjoy the outdoor pool during the day and the evening time. I did wish the restaurant/bar areas were open. Apparently they are only open Wednesday through Sunday, which is not helpful if my need to travel is not on those days. I assume it's because it's slower on the other days, but we still had to leave the hotel if we wanted anything more than a diet coke or a pre made sandwich...which didn't help me since I am vegetarian and it wasn't an option. Overall the hotel is good, beds are comfortable, and in a convenient location.

The overall hotel is not worth the prices that they’re charging. There are many hidden fees that you don’t find out until you check out. And there is a $25 per day parking fee per car. Also a $50 deposit. When you check out, your bill will have all sorts of taxes that were not explained as well. The rooms were clean. The pool is small and the drinks are overpriced. They used to offer a bunch of perks that are no longer available as well.