So one day I’m driving to Austin from Missouri (of all the gawd forsaken places) and a rather nasty storm kicks up around Dallas. I’m talking NO visibility kinda bad. So I get off some ramp or another and there it is: The Harvey, in all it’s warm, dry glory. Having driven all night, I’m pretty tired as it is, and absolutely not alert enough to be driving in this crap… so this was great timing. How thoughtful of them to put that hotel just where I happened to need it to be, which is 7815 LBJ Freeway. That is customer service!
So I stumble into this fine Harvey Hotel all drippin’ and grouchy and tired as hell about 6AM. What a sight I was. This lobby was very upscale and warm. Not just temperature warm, but inviting. Very comfy love seats and tables full of the most gorgeous fresh flowers you have ever seen awaited me. So, I stumble up to the desk and give the chickie my spiel… Look, I’m cold, I’m tired, I’m dripping all over your fine carpeting, so please just give me the lowest possible rate you have and I promise to not stand here looking like a ragamuffin any longer.
Now, I really half expected a snicker or up-turned nose at this point. I mean, I looked like something the damn cat dragged in. I guess there was enough earnest imploring in my eyes, because she responded with none of that. Nay. To the contrary. what she said was: Ma’am.. I haven’t a clean room available right this minute, but if you could give us about 20 minutes I’ll get housekeeping on it right away for you, and I’ll give you the room for $75 if you don’t mind it being a smoking room
Folks, my jaw hit the floor. I was expecting a bit above 100-ish… and I’m a smoker. This was awesome. This is the best hotel customer service I have ever come across. Gawd I wish I had the presence of mind at the time to get her name and send a glowing letter to her supervisors. The room was ready in the 20 minutes. In the meantime, she let me curl up on one of the oh so comfy love seats in the lobby. Wet and all!.
All that by itself should be enough to recommend the Harvey Hotel highly, but I’ll go on anyway and add to it.
The room was exceptional. Two queen sized beds and more than ample space. I had an Alarm Clock Radio, Coffee/Tea maker, Desk, Direct Dial Telephone, Hair Dryer, long dresser, big closet with luggage rack, Modem/Data Port Connection (which I didn’t try), Pay-Per-View Movies, Voice-mail … and everything was spotless and looked brand new. That is also the most comfortable bed ever (although that may be due to my state of arrival. It could well be that a hay loft would have felt like heaven…) The Decor was a soothing mauve and green.
The bathroom was big with a separate dressing area and full compliment of amenities… including shower caps and razors. The shampoo and conditioner was excellent quality. Water pressure was better than most hotels, and there was plenty of hot water.
Included in the room price is a continental breakfast and free parking. I did go down to the restaurant the following morning to eat. It was quite nice, but I didn’t have the continental breakfast. They had a wonderful buffet going so I went for that. I believe it was around $6-ish and had just about any breakfast food you could imagine: sausage, bacon, ham, waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, toast, home fries, hash browns, cereals, milk, OJ, coffee… man, I’m getting hungry thinking about it. It was very good.
The Harvey does have an outdoor pool, but I only stayed the one day/night and didn’t have a chance to check that out at all. They are Handicap Accessible, and they do accept pets.
Located just 5 Minutes from the Galleria and 20 min north of downtown Dallas, they are in a great location. Just off of I-35, you can get to any area attraction with ease. There is also another Harvey location closer to DFW if you need to be close to the Airport.
I recommend the Harvey to the extreme. I am a die-hard Harvey fan now. I really wanted to stay here again for my daughter’s wedding, but they were booked solid. *wail* Ahhh well.. next time!
