Lillington Vacations from $575

A very basic location. Right across the street from Duke Medical Center. People who stay there are focused on health issues, not amenities.

It’s a gorgeous hotel, but the management and amenities do not match the 4-star rating or the price tag. Most notably, the hotel failed to disclose that the indoor gym was closed for renovations until after I had already booked and paid. A working gym is a major factor in where I choose to stay, and dragging two treadmills, a bench, and some weights outside is an unacceptable substitute. ​The pool schedule was also completely inconsistent. After being told by staff that the pool stays open until sundown (around 8:00 PM), my girlfriend and I went down at 6:00 PM the next day to find it already locked up. Between that, rooms without microwaves or accessible HDMI ports for streaming devices, and an understaffed restaurant (Flask and Beaker had just one overworked server on duty both times we visited), the stay simply wasn't worth the cost. True rating is a 2.5 out of 5, rounded up to 3.

Julius was excellent as usual and the bellman was great too.