We recently spent a Friday & Saturday night at the Glendale Gaslight Inn. This is a place trying to be several things at once, some more successfully than others.
The downstairs area on the street side is a mixed offering of gourmet coffee, lunchtime sandwiches, and Dreyer’s ice cream (apparently recently added). This section opens into a long “living room” with comfortable seating; the inn check-in desk is at the far end (where there is a back entrance). So the “look” is very confused when you enter the building from the street side. It is a renovated historic building, with high pressed-tin ceilings and a staircase to the second floor sleeping rooms. (If stairs are a problem for you, stick with a ground floor room. There is no elevator.)
We stayed in the second floor Kilimanjaro Room. The room is very large, with high ceilings, and nicely furnished, including a desk, table, two chairs and a day bed. The “sleigh” style main bed is dramatic and comfortable, but also very high. I’m 5’9 and my feet didn’t touch the floor from the side. Someone much shorter might have a real time with it. The window covering doesn’t keep out the morning light, if that’s important to you. Everything is very clean.
On the weekends the inn features “living room jazz” from 8 to 11 p.m. The wine bar opens at 5. Friday night was one woman at the grand piano; she sang mostly standards, show tunes, etc. She had a wide repertoire and a lovely voice. Saturday night was a three piece combo – piano, drum, and woman singer. She also had a lovely voice but was more into the “scat” type of jazz – not my favorite, but in this case, not overdone. Both nights we went up to the room about 10 and the music didn’t keep us from falling asleep. There’s a light menu in the evening – fruit and cheese plates, desserts, panini sandwiches.
The owners were there for a while on Friday night; otherwise we didn’t see them. However, the staff are very personable, helpful and hardworking. Communication wasn’t all it could be. We had no trouble with check-in, but another couple had to wait quite awhile before someone could unlock their room for them. We had to ask about when and where breakfast would be available. The doors are locked except when the restaurant/wine bar is open; anyone who wants to be coming and going at odd hours should be sure they’ll be able to get back in!
The breakfast was an assortment of fruits and pastries, sausage, and eggs cooked to order. It was fine for us, but not the “gourmet” breakfast some people might expect from a B&B.
The fact that we were there in summer – obviously the very slow season for downtown Glendale – may have been a factor on some things. The Inn fronts directly on Glendale Avenue, which is currently undergoing roadwork, which looked likely to be done soon. On the other hand, the summer room rate is very low, and with the inclusion of breakfast, a real bargain, especially if, like us, your goal is just a quiet weekend away. There are many antique shops and specialty shops within a block or two, if shopping is more your thing. We enjoyed our weekend, although we’re not likely to visit here again. We would recommend the place to anyone attending any event in or near downtown Glendale because the Inn is so handy to everything in the heart of the city.
