The Front Street Inn

Looked better than it is. My partner & I visited Wilmington for the first time. Just a quick overnight birthday celebration. I should have read the reviews more closely, so thats on me, but I thought it would be more like a boutique hotel based on the photos, location & price point ..but instead, its very budget-like. We are in our early 50’s & prefer a higher end experience & this was not. We stayed in the Segovia room. I’ll start with the good: The staff has been very friendly & accomodating. The location is great. The coffee bar/bar as part of the property is lovely wl)th great coyrtyard/outside seating & tasty drinks (coffee & cocktails). The not-so-great: while the location is covenient, its quite loud with street traffic noise. The room, while it has some charm (like exposed brick walls & large arch windows), need lots of TLC. New paint is needed badly (marks, chips, scuffs everywhere), & the wood floor needs to be replaced. Its way beyond “charming original”. Its very uneven, worn & likely has mold under it. The carpet is due to be replaced & the bathroom needs major updating (& is quite small) as well. When we first came in, I was overwhelmed with a very strong musty smell. (Likely mold) so if you are sensitive, beware. I wanted ti like it so much more.

The Inn's location is central; credentials for parking in the adjacent lot are in the room upon arrival, as is the WiFi password. We did not use the TV, which is stated to include Netflix and Hulu access. The codes for unlocking exterior doors and the room door are provided after electronic pre-checkin. The code initially failed to open one of the exterior doors; we reported it, and it was fixed promptly. Access to our second-floor room (Soho London) is by two exterior staircases with 23 steps total. The room is large and airy, with a high ceiling and windows overlooking the courtyard of the Concorde coffee bar in the same building. The king bed features a memory foam mattress, but the pillows are of an awkward non-standard shape, and extremely hard. Storage space is typical for a B&B, which is to say not very extensive. Other furniture includes a large sofa, a small desk, a chair, and a hassock that served as a stool when two of us ate breakfast in the room. The refrigerator, although not large, incorporates a substantial freezer compartment. Illumination and thermostat control are fine. The age of the building is reflected in the floor, which slopes gently down toward the desk area and the bathroom. The bathroom and its furnishings are fine, except for the shower compartment. Hot water pressure was barely adequate, with poor temperature control. Although guests are told there is no service, a housekeeper did bring fresh towels on the second day. Both the housekeeping staff and the personnel of the Concorde bar were extremely pleasant and helpful. I would have given a 4-star evaluation, but for one critical fault. The floor of the shower is of such smooth tile that it constitutes a death trap when wet. Had I not brought two portable grab bars, I would not have dared set foot in it. Even with them, taking a shower was dangerous. I would not risk another stay.

Five stars for the wonderful location, the ultra clean, spacious, comfortable room (we stayed in the Soho), and for the enjoyable, quirky interior design. Very well done! This is where it ended for us. There are a few things travelers need to know. First and foremost, bring earplugs! The bar operations downstairs are very loud and it would have been impossible to sleep without wearing them. The Front Street Inn is neither a hotel, bed and breakfast, or an inn. It has the feel of a vacation rental and if that's what we wanted, we would have booked that option. It lacks a front desk or lobby and for that matter, any staff attending to the guests. Visitors are emailed or messaged a code one hour prior to arrival to enter the building and their room. Don't expect anyone to answer the phone when calling ahead. We tried several times, left messages, tried the chat option, to no avail. The only visible staff upon arrival is a parking attendant who made it clear that they knew nothing about the inn's operation. Bring your own tissues (there were none to be found), coffee, and cups. The room does come with a Keurig machine and exactly two pods and two cups. When they're gone, they're gone. Remember, there is no staff. We stayed for three days, spent a $1K on our room and never once had anyone check in on us. Need toilet paper? We ended up finding some in a closet in the hallway. Apparently, there is an online method to order housekeeping services but we were on vacation and honestly, didn't feel like reading through all of the instructions left in the room and on the online guest portal. The facility calls itself an "award winning Bed and Breakfast" which is deceiving. Despite the above mentioned instructions left in the room, none included any mention of breakfast. The hotel manager (who interestingly also works all night as a bartender at the Concorde downstairs) was invisible to us the entire time, and when we finally located him in the parking lot, he was very apologetic about the lack of information and offered us a complimentary breakfast the next morning. As others have mentioned, the breakfast location is a couple of blocks away at a sister facility. To top it off, seatings were limited to 9 and 10am which didn't work for us. We ended up declining and going elsewhere. As long as potential visitors are aware of what to expect and come prepared, the location truly can't be beat. We enjoyed Wilmington and the food scene in particular, but felt we overpaid for what we received at the Front Street Inn. To top it off, a sign found on the desk read "It's our pleasure to serve you. A quick and easy way to say thanks to our staff members - scan code & leave a tip." The impersonal online operation is a strange business model and not in line with the warm Southern hospitality we were expecting.