"I have always respected the dignity and beauty of historic hotels, and finally got the chance to experience the Brown. The architecture of the public areas is magnificent. It is clean and well maintained. The food was extraordinary.
Unfortunately, check-in is a sad introduction to the historic experience. The staff was polite and responsive, but the logistics were deplorable. Traffic jams were common at the front door, and anyone not using the valet was relegated to an alley side-entrance to the parking garage. Once parked, hotel guests are expected to cross the ally in an 2nd floor causeway to check-in at the desk.
Then the guests are expected to take the elevator back down to the 1st floor to get a transfer cart, then go back up the elevator to the second floor, and back across the causeway to the parking garage, then back to the 2nd floor main lobby, to take the elevator to your room, then back down to the 1st floor to return the luggage cart, then back up the elevator to one's room.
A historic venue of this caliber is damaged by the sad process of simply getting checked in. I've never seen such a distorted process."