Aloft CLT review: stylish digs kinda sorta (but not really) near the airport

Calling The Aloft Hotel at the Charlotte International Airport (CLT) an “airport hotel” is a bit of a stretch. It takes a 15-minute ride on a shuttle bus to reach. You’re definitely not going to be able to walk to it (unless you’re a total badass).

That said, it is one of the closest hotels to CLT that you’re going to find. And it’s a pretty nice one too. I didn’t mind the 15-minute drive all that much once I realized just how good of a value it really is.

My full review of the Aloft Charlotte Airport

This was my fourth stay at an Aloft hotel. The Aloft PHX was pretty nice. The Aloft PDX was even nicer. The Aloft at SFO? It was okay. Long story short: The one at CLT is the best of them all so far.

Location

So yeah. It’s not exactly close to the airport (3928 Memorial Parkway). The only way to reach it from the airport is via a shuttle bus, a taxi, or an Uber.

Fair warning about the shuttle bus: you have to call the hotel if you want them to pick you up. The shuttle buses don’t run on a regular pickup schedule.

Aloft CLT exterior — Welcome to the Aloft at the Charlotte International Airport! At least that’s what they’d like you to believe. It’s basically nowhere near CLT.

Aloft CLT main entrance — At least they made the effort to make it a good looking (and inviting) hotel. This is a bit more fancy pants than I was expecting.

The lobby (and checking in)

Checking in at any Aloft is an experience. Let me rephrase that: checking in might suck, but the lobby will likely blow you away with its hip and social vibe.

Aloft CLT lobby — Good lawd! I’ve seen some pretty sweet hotel lobbies in my time, but I certainly didn’t expect to find one of the best in Charlotte North Carolina.

Aloft CLT lobby bar — *“I know! I was expecting this place to be a total dump!”* I couldn’t overhear everything that was being said at the bar, but it’s safe to say that it was something along those lines.

There was only one person working the front desk when I arrived. That person was also responsible for answering the phone when it rang. Long story short, people on the phone have priority over guests waiting to check in (in person). I felt ignored. But what else is new?

Aloft CLT reception desk — A reception desk so tiny that looks like a total afterthought. It’s kinda like designing the coolest car ever, then at the last minute realizing that you forgot the wheels.

Aloft CLT lobby kitchen — Speaking of forgetting things, how foolish of me would it have been to not show you the kitchen here in the lobby? This self service kitchen area (with food available for purchase) is one of the best features of the Aloft brand IMHO.

Getting to my room

I somehow managed to score a top floor room for this one night stay. Getting to it was fairly uneventful, as the hotel didn’t seem all that busy that evening. That phone at the front desk sure was ringing off the hook though.

Aloft CLT elevators — Somehow they even managed to make the elevators cool. They weren’t quite as scandalous as the elevators in the Moxy Vienna Airport Hotel, but I was still nodding my head in agreement nonetheless.

Aloft CLT 4th floor hallway — Still nodding my head in agreement! Who even gives a crap that this hotel isn’t anywhere near the airport? Not this guy.

Aloft CLT room 434 — Room 434 is mine for the night (just as I am room 434’s patron for the night). It goes without saying that I’m getting the better deal here.

Room overview

If you’ve stayed at any Aloft hotel anywhere in the world, you’ve essentially stayed at them all. The decor is nearly the same from property to property. The layout of the rooms is fairly similar as well. This was one of the largest rooms that I’ve ever had at an Aloft.

Aloft CLT walking into room for the first time — Yup, this is an Aloft all right. College dorm vibes up the MF’n a**!

Aloft CLT bathroom in the room entrance — The first thing you’ll see upon walking into your room is the toilet. Considering that you’ve probably been living on airport and airplane food all day, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Aloft CLT king bed — Venture a little further, and you’ll find where the budget for all that high style and design ran out. Oh well. All I needed was a place to sleep, and that bed looks good enough.

Aloft CLT room overview — The good news is that if you turn around and look towards the entrance, it starts looking like an Aloft again. Whew! That was close.

Aloft CLT furniture and carpet — I think it’s kind of safe to say the carpet is the one thing keeping this room from looking no better than what I experienced at a roadside Holiday Inn Express in Amarillo, TX.

Aloft CLT in room sofa — Actually, I take that back. This room may be simple, but I’m diggin’ the furniture!

Aloft CLT full-size mirror — It’s worth noting that most the furniture isn’t all that substantial though. How I didn’t accidentally kick over this mirror on my way to the bathroom at 3 AM is beyond me.

Aloft CLT room door — More than any other hotel room that I’ve stayed in recently, this is the one that give me the urge to stay up all night and cram for a test (even though I’ve been out of college for nearly 30 years).

Scott sitting in a room at the Aloft CLT hotel — My god. It’s been 30 freaking years. And I’m writing a hotel reviews for a living!

Aloft CLT in room refrigerator — They didn’t have refrigerators like this when I was in college though. I wonder how many Zima’s you could fit in that bad boy?

Aloft CLT in room coffee maker — Those of you who were hoping to see a Keurig coffee machine really need to keep your expectations in check. It’s Hamilton Beach or nothing all up in here.

As basic as the room was, I liked it quite a bit. It was simple. Extremely well designed. And very clean. There were neat little trinkets and design details all over the place:

The view

You’re not going to see the airport, that’s for sure. You might see an airplane taking off in the distance, but the view is pretty benign other than that.

View from my room at the Aloft CLT hotel — The “lake view.” Hamilton Beach, I presume?

Depending on which direction your room is facing, you’re either going to be looking directly into someone’s backyard, or at the back of a shopping center.

The bathroom

Even though the room was fairly similar to what I’ve experienced at other Aloft properties, the bathroom was a lot different. It was broken into two individual rooms. My favorite was the huge ‘poop ‘n wash’ room.

Aloft CLT bathroom vanity — I wonder if it was possible to make the sink any smaller? Asking for a friend.

Aloft CLT bathroom sink and mirror — That moment you realize how stupid you sound for complaining about a bathroom that’s pretty darn nice actually.

Aloft CLT toilet and shower — The ‘poop ‘n wash’ room. Be still my beating heart!

Aloft CLT what you'll see while sitting on the toilet — This is what you’ll see while sitting on the toilet. You’re welcome.

Aloft CLT shower — There is no tub in this bathroom, but the shower is party size. Fair enough.

Aloft CLT shower detail — *“1, 2, 3…”* Based on my calculations, you could probably squeeze eight average size adults in here at once.

All the pros and cons of the Aloft CLT experience

The TLDR of this entire review is that I’ve yet to find an Aloft property that is better than this one. And if it’ll help, imagine me standing directly in front of you holding two thumbs up (with an ear to ear grin on my face). That’s how much I liked it.

Pros

It’s an extremely clean property. Spotless!
I liked how quiet it is. It’s located away from the main road (and adjacent to residential property), so you’re not going to hear all that much.
I liked the ginormous bathroom (at least the part where the toilet and shower were).

Cons

It’s so far away from the airport that it’s right on the borderline of being able to call it a legitimate airport hotel.
They seemed a bit understaffed while I was there. It took a while to check in, and the on-site Cafe closed very early.
Catching a ride on the shuttle bus from the airport is a bit of a chore (because you have to call).

Aloft CLT review: stylish digs kinda sorta (but not really) near the airport