Magnuson Hotel and Convention Center

Made this reservation knowing that it falls into the 2 – 3 star budget category, but was nevertheless disappointed. Upon check-​in, front desk staff was efficient, although not particularly warm or friendly. Despite booking a smoke-​free room and signing a no-​smoking warning on the sign-​in forms, the room reeked of old cigarette smoke. The wall paper was peeling off the walls in multiple places and in one spot was stapled to keep it on the wall. There was a large rip in the bed skirt, which was badly wrinkled as well. The bathtub was clean but in need of grout and caulk, and the ceiling above the shower had mildewed. The beds were clean and comfortable, and there were no bedbugs, so that was good. Multiple hotels in the near vicinity offer rooms that are well maintained and come with complimentary breakfast at the same (or lower!) price that the $ 68 I paid for this room. I would not recommend this hotel, which is a shame because the large property has a lot of potential but is in a sorry state of repair.

THE GOOD: a former 4-​star hotel. Roomy. Big indoor heated pool, nice hot tub (but jets didn’t work properly). comfortable room, bedding. Nice Flat-​screen TV with a very functional remote (adjust zoom — good for analog channels). HDMI inputs. Wifi free & good but could be faster. (Netflix/​Hulu/​SlingTV on a laptop plugged into the TV all worked pretty well and was much clearer than the built-​in channels)
THE BAD: older & in disrepair on the outside, inside, and in the room. TV provider is going digital so many TV channels weren’t available. Tub had many rust/​mold/​mildew stains. wallpaper was worn and peeling. not enough plugs near bed/​TV for devices. musty hallways. Room was a bit musty but sprayed some febreze and it helped a lot. No Breakfast, no room service (Sports Bar on premises for lunch/​dinner), no laundry service (but self-​service laundry room is available) Fridge in room. Microwave by Public Ice machine. Desk staff not very friendly. Hall music a bit too loud.
Price is cheap (especially with online deals) but realize it is a former 4−5-star hotel that is now older and in disrepair. Prices reflect this. Not as bad as some of the older reviews suggest

Hot wire buy…3.5 stars it was given… maybe when it was the Omni. The hotel is in need of renovation badly. My sheets were stained… asked for new ones and ended up putting them on myself which is fine because that way I knew it was done… this was all right after check in. The only thing upgraded is the TV. Everything is old from the lights to the wallpaper to the headboards. And the smell is an old smell, nothing refreshing. Not even the chlorine from the pool hides it. I wouldn’t stay here again.

Do not let the online price and ratings fool you, this is no where near a 3-​star hotel and I regret even stepping foot in this hotel.
— Room wallpaper is peeling off to exposed the stain and molded walls.
— Not fully staff to manage keep rooms maintained daily and signs was plastered everywhere that they were only changing towels and trash for the holiday weekends. What 3-​star does that?
— Dirty towels were left at the end of the hallway all day and never picked up.
— Front desk chuckled at the pictures I showed him of the room no form of being apologetic.
— Like other post they were knocking on the door at 1030 to get us out by checkout at 11am. Wish the dedication to get us out was given to all other aspects of taking care of your patrons.
You deserve better and your money would be well spent at a better facility!

The good– it was close to where I had to go in the morning. The bad– it stinks. I walked in and was immediately overwhelmed by the odor. The staff was friendly but everything took 5x longer than needed. The «sports/​night club», it needs to go. My bathroom wall paper was help up with staples, and the bath tub faucet was falling off. The bed was so old that I just sank into the middle of the bed, not in a good way. The last problem was that I was chased twice for my 1 night stay plus a $ 50 incidental fee. I would not stay there again.

RUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!
The lobby didn’t look too bad, so I was hopeful. As soon as I got into the room, I was hit — like a kick to the head — with the smell of a dead body, covered in mold, cigarettes and cat piss. I wish I were exaggerating. I went on this trip with someone who lost most of their sense of smell and they gagged after taking two steps inside the room. Both rooms we booked smelled like death’s toilet. On top of that, the room looks ABSOLUTELY NOTHING like the pictures they have posted up. I’ve got pictures to show you what the actual room looks like but can’t figure out how to post them on to Unilocal.I was not at all surprised that when I asked to cancel, the manager didn’t ask why or put up a fight of any kind. I did ask whether or not we were accidentally put up in a smoking room. They mentioned that the hotel itself was no smoking. I asked since when. For as long as they’ve been open — 3 years. Nothing about the furniture and stench says 3 years. NOTHING.

NASTY.
This hotel is now an hourly for prostitutes and drunks. This explains the cheep rate.
Mold all over walls in room.
Broken and leaking shower/​toilet
Managment is RUDE and unhelpful
BED BUGS and roaches.
This place should be condemed.
I am calling the health department.
SAVE YOUR MONEY.

I understand you get what you pay for but I at least want good housekeeping & maintenance. I left a few drops of shampoo in tub & a penny between the sheets and they were still there when I returned but the towels were changed & the bed was made. How is that cleaning? Very gross! I did my own alcohol wiping after that.
The tub needs refurbishing, gross. The bed skirt needs washing, gross. Its pretty moldy in here, gross. Carpet needs freshening, gross.
I understand cheaper hotel woes but please clean well. Its more than enough products to at least make people feel safe from all things GROSS!

Let me guess. You are here because you booked one of those «secret deals» on Hotwire or Priceline, and you wanted to see if you got totally screwed or not. Let me assure you…
Yeah, you’re screwed.
We were in the same boat — looking for cheap accommodations between VA Beach and Williamsburg for one night, and Hotwire offered up this «3 star» hotel for $ 61. Why not? I saw we were given the Magnuson and ran off to research it, and was taken aback when I saw all the negative reviews. Surely a 3 star hotel can’t be that bad, right?
Wrong. We rolled up around 11:15 PM and nearly ran over people streaming into the skanky nightclub attached to the hotel (btw, the other reviewer who referred to this place as a «hoe-​tel» was spot on). As we pulled our bags out of the car, I was listening to cat calls in my direction from a group of smokers sitting outside. When we got into the lobby, there are signs EVERYWHERE saying alcohol consumption in the common areas is forbidden. Ick. If I had been traveling by myself I would have turned around and walked out right then and there, but luckily my husband was traveling with me.
I could go on and on and on. The key maker wasn’t working when we arrived so we never actually got room keys, the room was old and dirty, etc etc etc. Just do yourself a favor, spend a few extra dollars, and pick a different hotel.

I have stayed here in the past, when it was the Omni.
Nothing has changed. That is half the problem. Almost everything is the same as before it changed names. Now there are printed signs everywhere telling their customers not to smoke, light candles or incense, threatening a $ 300 fine and expulsion. I appreciate that, but what kind of clientele are you attracting at a three star hotel where this sign is needed everywhere? Seriously, there were two in each elevator. In the lobby signs not drink alcohol anywhere or not to touch the piano.
There is also a «club» attached that at 11pm on a Sunday was still roaring. Well, that explained the signs.
As I got off the elevator, the hotel itself was very musty. The hallways did smell like old cigarettes, but not too bad. Thankfully my room did not have any odors. The room was the same as I remembered it, except in serious need of maintenance. The paint was chipped and off the tub and the doorknob was falling off the bathroom door. Several places in the room the wallpaper was peeling off. I checked all the drawers and beds for any signs of critters and thankfully that was clear. One big plus was the air conditioner. I like it frigid and it definitely provided that functionality.
For under $ 50 it is a steal. I’d stay there for that price if I was desperate. Anything more than that, no thanks.

The absolute worst experience I’ve had at a hotel. Positives: no bedbugs in my room. Negatives: literally everything else. Stay far, far away.

I stayed the past two nights at this hotel in Newport News. It needs a lot of updating done and better maintenance teams. It’s summer time and people are wanting to go swimming, yet their indoor pool was kind of green with a sign that says don’t use it, super bummed. I feel like if they remodeled the hotel a little bit, it will bring them a lot of business, but other than that I had a good stay, and I got the room for a really cheap price on Priceline for only $ 48 (including tax) per night during this time of the year. Also, the house keeping crew does a very good job at cleaning the rooms and keeping you stocked up on towels and stuff

If someone says there was a bug in the room believe them. I thought they must have fixed the problem by now, but a roach problem can’t be fixed! Dirty bathrooms can. If you can’t hire a pleasant staff at least hire a staff that can CLEAN a bathroom properly. Even an old hotel can be clean. Look for a better, cleaner hotel in the area. Not worth it for any price.

DO NOT BOOK A ROOM HERE. EVER.
One of the worst customer experiences in all my years!
First night, there was a dead cock roach on the floor right when we walked in. It was the size of a June bug. There were stains on the carpet. The bathtub is so old, we had to lay a towel down in it to not slip. The entire bathroom is dingy and they left open shampoos out, that were used by the previous occupant, instead of putting out new, unopened ones (the 2^nd clear health code violation). No offer of an apology or resolution from the front desk either.
Someone tried getting into our room the 2^nd night, whether it was staff, or a drunken patron, they almost got completely in, so we decided to sleep with a chair propped up against the door for some sense of security.
Our key card didn’t work the 3^rd night (probably because of the person trying to break in the night before), so we had to have a security guard follow us up and let us into our room, only to discover that the cleaning staff had eaten almost an entire box of chocolate chip cookies we had sitting on the nightstand, that we bought the day before, for a late night snack! I guess I should be thankful, the gluttonous gutter-​trash were gracious enough to leave us a few. /​sarcasm
We decided to leave the next morning, 2 days early, and book somewhere else, and all the hotel did was not charge us for those last 2 days. How GENEROUS of them to decide not to charge my credit card for days we didn’t actually sleep there. Once again, no offer of even a partial refund for crap we put up with for those 3 days spent there.
The EPA should be brought in to permanently shut down this hotel for having unsanitary facilities, multiple health code violations, and thieves they try to pass off as a cleaning crew.
Oh, and to any hotel cleaning staff out there reading this, that thinks it’s ok to steal other people’s food, I will be bringing a box of sweets with me at every hotel I stay at from now on. Only these might or might not be prepared with the strongest OTC laxative I can find. Enjoy.

Due to a death in the family, I booked this hotel for nine nights through Priceline. The first night was awful! I had to change rooms twice. The first time because of mold in the bathroom and the second time because of a party that was being held on the floor. The room had mold in the bathroom as well and it was clear that the hotel was sorely in need of renovations. After looking at the peeling paint and wallpaper, I knew this would be my first and only night here. I sprayed everything down with Lysol and hoped for the best. Also, what they fail to tell you is that the hotel is connected to a nightclub. Therefore, the noise level on Fridays and Saturdays is outrageous! And the smell of cigarette smoke and incense permeates the hallways.
The next morning, I grabbed my bags and ran to the nearest Hilton! It’s not about the money… My health and safety definitely comes first!

I will stay here every time I come in the area! I paid an amazingly low price and was pleasantly surprised upon entering. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. My room was cute! The tub seemed a lite older but it wasn’t a big deal. Great value!

This hotel was quite terrible, I was duped by the «amenities» they offered and the pictures they showed on
! It was a cheap 50 bucks a night, and I figured a «convention center hotel» would be pretty decent. Since it was cheap, it gets an extra star.
When you walk in, you notice that everything is outdated like nothing was changed for 20 years. It was probably really nice back then. You could instantly tell everything was inherited from a previous hotel.
Carpets are old and make the halls smelly. Wallpaper peeling, bath tubs chipping away from over use. The shower tiles are a generic tan colored square tiles, the cheapest it could be. When you turn the water to the shower head, the water is flowing from both the shower head and the faucet.
The bed didn’t have a comforter, just sheets and quilty blanket thing. But there was cable and wifi.
No door man. The pool is viewed from a huge window near the lobby and seemed really cool at first! But then I could see the ceiling dripping into the pool? And the water seemed murky. And the very large windows in the pool room were humid and wet. Then I read some Unilocal reviews that confirmed my first thoughts with some gross details, so I didn’t go swimming.
This hotel has plenty of potential! Good candidate for hotel hell with Gordon Ramsey!

When you pull up to this hotel, do you think you’re staying at the Ritz Carlton! Then you get inside and cool jazz music to the left, a big window with the pool to the right & where’s the front desk? Once you walk around to it while avoiding all the out dated décor, the gentleman there was fairly pleasant.
Then we get in the room. Dirty. Dirty. Dirty. If it wasn’t for driving all day doing wedding things, I would have complained. The wall next to the windows wallpaper was coming off, the CEILING had hair, the coffee maker had MOLD, but I knew it was going to be bad when I noticed the lamp that was heavily leaning to the left. If you’re too lazy to fix that, you must be too lazy to fix major things.
And I was told free breakfast, no breakfast.
And the pizza place they sponsor? No. They jipped me a lot. I don’t recommend it.

Okay, where to start? The lobby décor is outdated, the carpet needs to be replaced and the color combinations are not inviting. The young lady behind the counter was friendly and got us checked in quickly. Upon arriving on our floor we noted that again the carpet needed to be replaced. W entered our room and found it to be clean but in need of updating. The sleeper sofa looked like it was left over from the previous ownership. The tub was in need of a major refurbishment or replacement. We ate at the restaurant and found that to be disappointing as well, see my review of it for further details.
We decided to try the whirlpool and found it to be out of order, so we tried the heated salt water pool. The pool was neither heated or salt water.
We were told there would b a complimentary continental breakfast in the restaurant. It was very disappointing as well. Bad coffee, sub par pastries, poor selections and dirty tables.
This place uses to be the Omni Hotel, a place that once had a reputation of being top quality. That is not the case anymore.

This review is for when the hotel was The Omni Hotel still.
The Omni in Virginia Beach is really not on par with the other Omni hotels in their other locations, but I believe it has to do with the location.
The décor is a bit dated and not as spacious as other Omnis, but there is free wifi and parking. The rooms are a bit smaller, but the bed itself is comfortable and have never had an issue with turn down service.
Despite not being as luxurious as my other experiences in New York or Boston, their commitment to service is still top-​notch. The boyfriend was placed here for about 4 months during his Army Training and every time I came to visit, the front desk knew who I was and was always very accommodating. Once, I wanted to order breakfast in bed for the boyfriend on a random weekday when I was not able to come down and visit. The front desk very kindly took down my credit card number and what to be ordered and the card I had left with them to be delivered with the breakfast.
Everything was done on time and as I had asked. Can’t really ask for better service than that.