Friday, November 11, 2011

Lansing, Michigan/Hampton Inn West

November 2011, Weekday, King guestroom #344 & 348

Status perks
I typically do not receive any extra perks from Hampton for having Gold HHonors status, so when the agent did not acknowledge my status or guestroom type at check-in, I did not ask about an upgrade.

Guestroom
Guestroom 348
We had been assigned a guestroom at the end of the hall on the top floor, which is my preference. Room 348 contained a small fridge and microwave; however, the room was very small and the furnishings were old. It did not look like there were many guests at the hotel--there were only a couple cars in the parking lot--so, I decided to call the front desk to ask about an upgrade. The agent said he could give us an upgrade, so I went back down to the front desk, and he gave me a key for room 344. The agent again did not say anything about the room type I was receiving. I took the key, and hoped for the best.
Guestroom 344

Guestroom 344 was a larger room, although the furnishings were just as old. The room contained a microwave and small fridge like the first guestroom. There was also an outside door and balcony behind the sofa. Before our stay, I had read online reviews, which said that even though this is an older hotel, the rooms were clean and comfortable. I needed an extra HHonors stay this year, and this hotel was in the area I wanted to stay, so I had chosen it, even though it didn't look that great online. I must have different expectations than most of the people writing reviews on TripAdvisor, because I would not stay at this hotel again. Even though the second room we received was an upgraded room, I felt that we had stayed in a $50 hotel room (something I would not normally do), and that it had cost us $87.

The carpet in the guestroom was old, dingy looking, and frayed in spots. The furniture was old and did not smell fresh. The HVAC unit was an older style unit on the outside wall. The front cover of the HVAC unit fell off that evening! It was still connected on one corner; however, it was hanging by the hinges, and gave us quite a start when it fell down. The guestroom door, and the bathroom door, were both old, dinged up wood doors. The bathroom sink drain was slow; fortunately the tub/shower drain drained well. The bed and sheets looked clean, and, if that had not been the case, we would not have stayed the night.

The TV in both guestrooms were updated flat screen models, and that was the only thing in the hotel that looked current. The guestroom had a wired Internet connection; however, we had only brought our iPad and no laptop, so it did not do us any good. The hotel wireless service did not show up in the guestroom. When I went to the lobby with my iPad to use the Internet that evening, I observed another guest with an iPad doing the same thing. 

Food & Beverage
We had an early flight, and checked out before breakfast in the morning. We requested to-go breakfast bags, which contained the same items I have always received in a Hampton breakfast bag: bottled water, apple, muffin, Special-K bar, and Hampton mints. Cookies were available at the front desk when we arrived; however, there were no napkins with the cookies.

Pool
The wireless Internet signal was decent in the pool area, and my husband said that the hot tub was hot and clean. The seating in the pool area was comfortable.

Public areas and misc.
I thought all areas of this property needed to be refurbished and cleaned better. All of the doors were dinged up old doors, the elevator was scratched and dirty, as was the foyer area outside the elevator, and the hallway carpet was old and frayed. There was dust buildup and debris in all the corners, and on the carpet at the base of the walls. 

There was not a gift/snack shop in the hotel, and there was only one food vending machine. The vending machine did not have microwave popcorn--something I was looking for since both guestrooms we had seen contained a microwave, and I have seen popcorn in vending machines before.

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