Mineral Wells, West Virginia / Hampton Inn Parkersburg-Mineral Wells

July 2013, Weekday, 1-night, king guestroom 315 and 219

Status perks

I did not receive any extra perks at check-in, and the front desk agent did not smile or offer a warm greeting. This hotel had a display at the front desk of items that I should have gotten to choose from since I have Gold status. When I went back to the front desk to change rooms, I requested a bottle of water, and the agent gave it to me for no charge. At that time, the agent also made it sound like the room I had received, with a small fridge and microwave, was an upgrade. The guestrooms were all the same size on the room diagram, so it did not look like this is a larger guestroom.

Guestroom 315 and 219

Both of these guestrooms are located near the center of the hallway, overlooking the front entrance. I was initially assigned guestroom 315, on the top floor. My top floor request had been honored; just not my "end of the hallway, away from the elevator" request.

This entire hotel is non-smoking, and guestroom 315 smelled like stale smoke. I had thought that this Hampton Inn looked pretty dinghy and old when I arrived, and there is a nicer looking Holiday Inn Express at the same exit, so I decided to call that hotel to see if I could get a room there instead. Unfortunately, that hotel did not have any rooms available. 

There were not any other king guestrooms available on the top floor at this Hampton Inn, so I ended up switching to guestroom 219. This was after I had also contacted a few other hotels on the other side of the airport, and after I had walked in and out of room 315, and decided that the stale smoke smell was too strong. I think that if a guest smokes in a non-smoking room, then the guest should be charged the cleaning fee, and the hotel should have the room cleaned properly.

Guestroom 219 smelled much better than room 315, although I then had the noise disruption from the guest overhead. That is exactly why I always try to get a top floor guestroom--so that I do not have any guests overhead. Both guestrooms were set up exactly the same as I am describing here. The photos are of guestroom 219.

The bathroom near the entrance contained a long vanity with bath amenities, and a single-serve coffee maker with supplies. There was a wall mounted hairdryer, and the tub/shower combination included a shower curtain on a curved rod.

A closet with a mirrored door was located in the hall area outside of the bathroom. An iron and ironing board were in the closet.

The guestroom area contained a suitcase bench, flatscreen TV on an armoire, small fridge, microwave, desk and chair, sofa, king size bed, and nightstands with an alarm clock and lamps. There was a floor lamp by the sofa, as well as one on the desk and over the suitcase bench.

This guestroom also had a piece of debris in plain site on the floor--a piece of gum. 

Guestroom 219 is located just off center of being directly over the hotel entrance. Guests congregated under the hotel entrance to smoke, and the noise was disruptive. I could not smell smoke; however, guests' voices were loud enough that I could hear some of the conversation and foul language.

Food & Beverage

Breakfast the next morning included the basic Hampton Inn foods--oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, sausage gravy and biscuits, juices, milk, coffee, and tea.

Fitness center

I thought I was fortunate to find the fitness center equipment available, since it only contained one cardio machine. It also contained a flatscreen TV with remote, exercise balls, scale, towels, and water cooler. 

Business center

One computer and a printer were located in the breakfast room.

Misc. and overall

There are not many dining choices nearby. Restaurants right at this exit included Wendy's, McDonalds, Cracker Barrel, and a pizza place. I was flying out of the Parkersburg airport the next morning, and the other airport area hotels are located in Ohio, on the other side of the airport. I had chosen this area since I was arriving from the South. When I had called a couple of the hotels in Ohio--the Holiday Inn and Fairfield Inn--they did not have many room choices either. The Holiday Inn only had smoking rooms, and the Fairfield Inn did not have any rooms. I have Platinum status at both of those hotel chains; however, I did not think it would be productive to misplace someone else by using my "guaranteed room availability" perk.

I do not recommend this Hampton Inn, and I would never choose it again. I thought staff members were unfriendly, and the facility was old and rundown. I often choose Holiday Inn Express over Hampton Inn, especially when the Holiday Inn Express looks newer. I do not recall why I chose this Hampton Inn over the Holiday Inn Express; I think it was because I wanted Hilton points. Not a good decision this time!