The Battle House is a wonderful hotel. I'm going to start out by saying yes, this hotel is kinda spendy.... but it's worth it. I loved every minute of our stay here, the staff is so friendly and the place is beautiful! I stayed in a King Room which was a corner room in the RSA Tower (the new part). There are two main sections of the hotel, the original "historic" side and the new RSA Tower. Both are completely gorgeous, the entire hotel was just renovated. The lobby is breathtaking and the grand ballroom would be perfect for a wedding or reception. The whole time I was there, the staff took care of my every need. I felt pampered!

I loved the business center. They have computers with internet access and a fax machine. You can also connect your laptop in your room. You can also have documents printed or copied by the front desk. I wish these business services were free, but fees apply to use the computers in the business center (I think it was $12/hour) A one-time $10 fee for wireless internet in your room applies.

The king room was lovely and very big! The pillows and linens on the bed were very soft and fluffy and the mattress was plush and comfortable. There was a nice writing desk and men's valet, a flat-screen TV, a mini fridge, safe and coffee maker. The bathroom was the biggest one I've ever seen in a hotel room! There was a small shower with glass doors and a soaker tub big enough for 2! Kinda wish it had jets, but it was still very nice! Lots of amenities in the bathroom-just about anything you could possibly need was already there! A door by the bed led out onto a balcony overlooking the bay. My only complaint is that the door would not open! I called the front desk about it and they told me they would send someone up, but I had to call twice. When someone did come up, he couldn't figure out why it wouldn't open. It really wasn't a big deal, since I didn't have much time to hang out in the room anyways, and it was late so the staff was limited. I never got to see the balcony, but I bet it would have been nice! Nevertheless, I will still stay at The Battle House again! I'll just make sure I get a room with a working balcony door!!

One note: the tower is right next to the train that runs along that part of the bay, so you will hear it pass by several times at night. If you are a light sleeper, ask for a room in the "historic section" of the hotel, it is further away. That said, the train did not bother me at all.

If the weather is nice during your visit, you have to check out the veranda on the eighth floor of the historic section of the hotel. There are chairs and tables for you if you want to go get some dinner and bring it back to the hotel or even just sit back and enjoy a few drinks with friends. There's also a gas firepit that is always lit and beautiful landscaping. We spent a couple hours up there at sunset with some friends and a bottle of wine. If you prefer more action, there's also a bar downstairs with live music on the weekends. I didn't visit the bar though, so I can't comment on it.

Oh, and go ahead and use the valet when you check-in. Much easier than parking on the street or in the garage (down a block).

We travel very often and this has been by far the most beautiful hotel and friendless staff. We were greeted immediately by the hotel manager which she escorted us to the front desk. We were all checked in and ready to head to our room in less than 1 minute. What completely surprised me was that the front desk clerk actually escorted us to the elevators in the tower. We are very accustom to 4 star & 5 star hotels and I would rate this hotel for it's beautiful, friendly staff a 6 star quality. Looking forward to my next stay.

I am at the Renaissance Riverview right now. First impression - beautiful, spotless, and service excellent. And that has proved true so far. A few negatives:

1. They charge for internet service. That's just chintzy. I've been in much less expensive hotels where internet access is free.

2. This is the big huge negative. The food is horrible and vastly overpriced. I had a Caesar salad and the chicken was gray and unappetizing. The lemon tart was supposed to be served with Mayhew Jelly. No jelly was on the plate. The tart itself was meh. The crust was cold and soggy. I also had a roast beef and cheese panini. It was lousy and was served with cheap, plain potato chips. There is no "bar food" at the bar. Just a subset of the sandwich selection from their regular menu. Everyone is complaining about the lousy food and the high prices.

3. If you need to purchase something, e.g., drug store items, and you don't have a car, forget it. There is nothing in this part of town and the hotel doesn't have a sundries store. There is a weird little
store across the street that sells junk food and a few office supplies and a few drug store items, but it has an extremely limited selection.

4. Hotel clocks are notorious for having weird, complex ways to set the alarms, but these win the prize. I actually think mine was broken.

5. The hallways and other public areas are kept freezing cold. Uncomfortable and a waste of energy.

My friend and I spent two nights at the Battle House for a continuing education course we were taking at the RSA tower. The hotel is just beautiful, the stained glass ceilling unbelievable. We had a room with 2 queen beds in the historic part of the hotel. It was a very nice room, but was a weird shape, so one bed was perpendicular but close to the tv, and then the other bed was way at the other end of the room so it was hard to see the tv. I'm not sure if they were all designed like this, but our room had a poor design. That is my only complaint about the hotel. We dined in the restaurant, The Trellis Room, and it was delicious, but also really expensive. I have traveled many places and I still find it shocking to find a $75 entree on a menu. We ordered salads and appetizers as our meal since we weren't extremely hungry (after having a nice meal provided by our course for lunch that day). It was plenty of food and only was around $100 a couple. Downtown Mobile is being renovated but still has a while to go. It was pretty dead that first night (Thursday) but we did have a pretty good meal at the Royal Scam which is a couple of blocks down the street.