The Townsend Hotel

Beautiful setting for afternoon tea and coffee. This hotel has the old wood walls and huge chandeliers. The staff is friendly and willing to help. The place from the outside is not that unique, but it what is in the inside that counts. Great place to grab an old fashion with your honey!

This is really 3.5 stars not 4.
–0.5 for nickle and diming patrons for in-​room WiFi. $ 10 – 15 per day for something that even a Howard Johnson motel gives out free?!
–0.5 for the smell of second hand smoke in my room in the morning; somewhere in the hotel there must be smoking rooms, either that or the vent fan is directly above an outside smoking area.
–0.5 for not enough plug outlets and the furniture is a bit dated. I get that it’s a classic hotel, but if I want to sit at the desk and work I don’t want to smash both my knees on decorative knobs on the desk that are placed at knee level. Nor do I want to be groveling on the floor and pulling out furniture looking for a plug.
I’ve just read some of the feedback from the GM to other reviewers. Clearly he has no concept of 5 star customer service. The arrogance displayed in his responses is nauseating. Anyway, this is not a 5 start hotel, maybe 4.
Now for the good — the bathroom was lovely. How do I transport that bathroom into my home! I loved the white marble, the robes, slippers and high end toiletries. The bed was pretty comfortable too. I don’t know if I would go back as a business traveler, but even if I did the smell of smoke would really bother me, and id probably ask to be moved rooms.

The location is great and the rooms are fine but I would not stay here again. We were kept up almost all night from a party in the room below us. Called the front desk several times to no avail. Apparently others had called as well until the police intervened. I totally get that this is a unique event not caused by hotel staff, but the manager seemed annoyed and was petty about offering any compensation. The night should have been comped for every adjoining room to the all night party or it should have been cleared out before 3am.

We were very disappointed in our recent hotel stay. We checked in late Tuesday night and were given our room keys and went up to a room with 2 double beds. Our confirmation from AMEX Platinum was for a King bed. We came downstairs and after much delay we were given room keys to a room with a king bed. It smelled awful! A very strong scent of lingering perfume. Down again and after being told there were no more rooms, they found another king room. We explained we were exhausted and in MI under sad circumstances but no one seemed in a rush. The room we were finally given was at the end of the hall with lots of electrical equipment and near some air condition equipment. The room was super noisy from this and freezing all night. The next morning we altered the desk and they said they would look into it. Nothing happened and again the next night we were miserable. The room is literally so cold and feels like wind blowing at you. The following morning as we were checking out we saw housekeeping and the friendly housekeeper said she knew it was not an ideal room. However the woman at check out said she had never heard complaints. My guess is housekeeping knows more about the room and has spent more time there. Further at check out nothing was offered for our unpleasant stay under sad family circumstances which we had said over and over again except «I am sorry and next time when you come back IF Available, we will upgrade you.» Wondering why we would want to come back? The unfortunate thing is we have stayed here before and its been wonderful. I don’t know what happened this stay with their front desk. I would give the hotel zero stars except that the housekeeper was so kind, the women at the coffee every morning was welcoming and warm, the waitor at breakfast outstanding and the valet and bellman when we left very helpful. The front desk needs empathy training, interpersonal skills and over all help. We had 2 miserable nights and didn’t even get our requested Journal to read to make up for it the 2 mornings we were there. Thankful for the little kindess I was shown by wonderful support staff.

This hotel is a great stay. Located in a great location. The hotel was extremely clean and comfortable. No issues with the room. We ate at the Rugby Grill and the food was wonderful. The staff was very attentive.
Birmingham is a quaint little town with plenty of shopping and restaurants. Very safe to walk around day or night

Very nice hotel. Right smack in the middle of Birmingham. I got lucky and was able to park myself, as the front of the hotel was a cluster fuck. Just down right crazy.
Check in was swift and painless. The room was very nice and the bed was awesome. No extra perks to speak of.
Next time I’ll try to get a package deal with breakfast included as I was set back close to $ 400 for room not including anything.

A beautiful room to stay and play in Birmingham. We had a sitting room, wonderful bathroom and comfortable bed.
It’s pricey, but luxury doesn’t come cheap. It’s a great location, with all the amenities you could wish for.
The restaurant is nice, but you are not stuck in the middle of nowhere, without choices. You can walk outside take your pick of local restaurants.

Came here for Mothers’ Day tea and it was wonderful.
First off, the service was impeccable. We had about 4 people helping us, my tea was never empty, and everyone was so helpful and nice.
The tea service included bottomless mimosas/​champagne/​wine and tea. For eats we had a scone with whipped mascarpone and lemon curd, 6 different finger sandwiches like chicken salad with walnut butter, asparagus with boursin cheese topped with a quail egg, salmon with egg salad topped with crème fraiche and caviar and more. Plus a variety of miniature tea pastries and several cakes to choose from. Desserts were self serve and basically all you can eat. So it was pretty amazing for a sweet tooth like myself. The sandwiches are small and admittedly when I sat down and saw the first two courses I thought, «well, this doesn’t really seem like a lot of food» but when I left I was stuffed.
Tea service is offered seven days a week from 12:00 P.M. until 5:00 P.M. but its by reservation only so give them a ring. Also regular tea service may be a bit different than the Mothers’ Day tea so check their website first just in case. The price is a bit steep but for a nice «splurge» scenario where you get dressed up and treated fantastically it’s totally worth it.

My mom and I went for afternoon tea on a Wednesday and were treated like royalty! We were greeted the moment we got there and were called by name all afternoon. Originally the tea director had us set up in the lobby in front of the fireplace but mom with her aches and pains couldn’t handle sitting on the soft sofas. The tea director immediately took us into The Rugby Grille for mom to be more comfortable. The scones and finger sandwiches were great! Our tea cups stayed full and we were even checked in on by a manager. They were more than accommodating. Dessert was perfect, just enough to fill you up without being too sweet. It truly was a lovely afternoon, I’m sure we will put this on our list yearly traditions!
On a side note I have been to The Rugby Grille since I went to tea for happy hour and it was over the top!!!

What a top notch hotel in an unseeming suburb. It’s surprising how much business is going on in here. Service is excellent and you get a sense that there is a mandate to everyone here to make sure everyone is happy.
Some of the tastes of the hotel, though, aren’t exactly my thing — e.g., the bed is WAY too soft for me, and turndown service includes turning on jazz music. I need a relatively harder bed and no music at night — just chocos thanks. I also found it odd that the liquor/​snacks cabinet was given a closet of its own!
Also had breakfast here, and again, everyone strives to provide top service.

Stayed here a few times. Rooms, service, food — just perfect. People are helpful and friendly. Always great!

It’s a great hotel. This is my second time here and I’ll be looking forward to stay here again. Rooms are perfect, great service, and an amazing location.

The place to stay in Birmingham!
Great little boutique hotel to stay in Birmingham. The Holiday Inn is cheaper but the Townsend is in the best location and most unique place to stay.
The rooms are a bit small, but the staff are very friendly. You may even see a celebrity sighting at this hotel!

We stayed in a luxury suite and had a wonderful night. The room size was perfect and bed was really comfy. This hotel is perfected located in Birmingham.
The only downsides are they do not offer free wifi or free coffee in the room.

If you are an HR Management Professional, like I am, Ogletree Deakins Law Firm holds their Employment Law Briefing Breakfast each April & October. Beautiful hotel, great location, gorgeous surroundings, nice breakfast set-​up layout and extremely courteous hotel staff.

What an amazing neighborhood and hotel! Doesn’t even feel like you are in Detroit. We went there for a beautiful 4^th of July wedding and stayed the night and I loved every minute of it. I’m not sure if I would ever return to Detroit for pleasure but if I do I will make sure to stay at this wonderful hotel again!

I was torn as to how to rate this hotel, the wedding we attended and room was awesome, as well as the accommodations. The only thing I really couldn’t get past was the food, hence the rating. The filet was decent but beefy and portions were small. The sliders were dry, however they were on a hot plate so maybe they dried out then? My morning pancakes were over done as well. I know the hotel is older, but at five am we were abruptly woken up by a noisy AC unit that sounded like metal scraping metal, and needless to say it took me a while to fall back asleep. Hotel 4 stars, food 3 stars.

People, People, People.
It’s the staff at the Townsend that makes it a great place to stay. They are polite, helpful, friendly to the last. Everyone I’ve ran into today, front desk, bar, resturant, front door, maid service, room service and maintenance guy in the hallway were all very polite, friendly and helpful.
First time visiting and only on day 1 of 4 and Im already a fan.
The suites are very nice, beautiful room. Very happy!
It’s pricey (as you can see by the rating) but I like and appreciate good service.
Hotel experience will vary from person to person but for me. I’m very happy!
All in. If you’re in Birmingham MI, Stay at the Townsend Hotel!

The rooms in this hotel are as nice as it gets. The bathrooms are perfect. I even took bubble baths every night during my stay. The beds have top of the line linens and the building is solid so you don’t hear your neighbors through the walls or people plodding down the hall with their suitcases.
I was laying prostate on my sofa crying and watching all of the How to get your Ex-​boyfriend Back Youtube videos I could find, when the call came into to come to Birmingham ASAP for work. Birmingham also happens to be the hometown of the guy, FV, who had broken up with me like the day before. What a horrible coincidence. Wallowing around FV’s birth place wasn’t anything I thought I could handle. I was in a raw state.
I knew the Townsend would provide the distraction and the comfort I so needed at that trying time. The comfort was the wonderful rooms, the distraction came from the fact that the Townsend has a reputation of being snooty and catering to celebrities instead of the regular people like me. It is true, but if you don’t take it personally then its kind of entertainment. It’s entertainment because they don’t have that act down to perfection as they do in Los Angeles. Michiganders are really nice people as are most mid-​westerners. You can see guilt in their eyes when they tell you that the lobby has been taken over by the entourage of a Bollywood film crew so you need to take the $ 15 you were going to spend on a single glass of chardonnay someplace else.

Having tea at the Townsend is a delight. I have been here a few times for bridal shower teas and they are lovely. Yummy scones with mascarpone and lemon curd. Tea sandwiches — cucumber with herbed cheese, curried chicken salad, Blue cheese walnut pear, tuna, smoked salmon. Mini quiches and spinach pies. Fabulous mini desserts — chocolate mousse, cheesecake, chocolate covered strawberries. Mmmm.
It was a nice, intimate event in a beautiful setting. I recommend it for a bridal or baby shower or just a nice afternoon out.