Best Western Benchmark Hotel

Two blocks from Beale Street, how could you go wrong? The location is good and the service is good, I’ll give them that. And you’d expect to pay a little more for Downtown.
We thought it would be fun to walk down to Beale Street for dinner and maybe some live music. It was fun walking down to Beale Street… and walking back. It just so happened that we landed in Memphis right in the middle of a 3-​day pub crawl. Call me crazy, but I just didn’t feel right taking my 11-​month-​old son into a loud and smokey restaurant with inebriated people stumbling around. That and it was raining. Granted, this was just bad timing, and it has nothing to do with the hotel, except that the walk was short and easy. Yay, points for Benchmark!
They only reason I could only give 2 stars is because the facilities are less than ideal, especially for the money.
I’m 6-​foot-​2. I’m kind of tall by today’s standards, but I don’t shop at the big-​and-​tall store. When I stepped into the shower, the shower curtain only came up to my chin. That’s kind of laughable, actually. Then I turned on the shower, which only came up to my chest. Again, kind of funny, if you think about it. Then I noticed the hole in the ceiling above the shower, the painted-​over exposed plumbing, and the caving-​in tile work around the water temperature control. Nice.
My wife and I turned in for the night. The bed was somewhat comfortable, and the linens were somewhat nice. Around 4am, we could hear the garbage trucks, delivery trucks, and people shouting in the alley under our room window. Nice. Neither my wife nor I felt particularly safe, even in the room.
Oh, and when we first pulled up to the hotel, we were looking for parking. We eventually pulled into the alley next to the Benchmark and asked a polite gentleman where we could park. He said he’d take our car for us (red flags!!). After a while, we figured out that he was the hotel valet, and that they park the cars in the hotel basement. He was very courteous and seemed like a fun guy to know.
The moral of the story: It’s a pretty OK place. The staff are all great and friendly and courteous. If you don’t mind the hotel looking a little older, this place is great. Oh, and just know that the guy taking your car is the hotel valet. He wears a little name tag on his shirt.

We decided to stay here after our first failed attempt at finding a decent Memphis hotel for a reasonable price.
I felt a little out of place because the staff was so friendly and helpful– they make you feel like you are staying in a super fancy place. The room was nice as well. I think it was the biggest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in.
The best part about this hotel is the location. It is a very short walk to Beale Street. Every other hotel that we looked at in the same location was at least twice as expensive.