I'm not gonna lie, I really like Hampton Inn. If I'm going somewhere and it involves an overnight stay, I'm gonna be looking for one of these bad boys. And if there isn't one there, I'm going to be a little out of my comfort zone. The reason is pretty simple - it's a known entity, and it's within my budget. I have stayed at countless Hampton Inns, and they're all pretty much the same. Clean place, decent beds, decent décor, decent breakfast, decent service. And when you're away from home with a three year old, that predictability is a Very Good Thing. Some of the beds are better than others (I'm looking at you, Pearl, MS... those beds were absolute heaven) and some have better pools (indoor = better for me and my pasty-white prone-to-cold self), and some will even grace you with a hot tub. But even the bottom of the barrel version has never disappointed, and has been head-and-shoulders above what you get elsewhere at a similar price. Especially the beds. Oh MAN do I have issues with those plywood-hard beds at every single mid-range hotel, with my poor bony hip bone begging for mercy by morning.
This particular Hampton actually has some of the least comfortable beds of the bunch (and slow wireless internet, meh), but they're definitely not awful and the staff here is fabulous so they WIN. The breakfast lady is seriously awesome. Here's a quick story for you to seal the awesome: they have granola instead of fruit loops for one of the cereals (which I totally appreciated), but apparently they have some fruit loops squirreled away somewhere. Breakfast Lady (need to get her name, story of my life) saw the kiddo with me and -- this is the important part -- VERY DISCREETLY asked me if I would like some fruit loops for him. We don't do the sugar-bomb cereal and try to avoid the artificial colors flavors etc like the plague, so I really REALLY appreciated that she didn't bust out the colorful sugar stuff in front of him. If you don't believe that all those crazy colors they put in foods really works to make it more appealing, just watch a kid go absolutely APE over a brightly-colored something-or-other that he's Never Ever put in his mouth before. It's like VOODOO, that crap, UGH! *laughing*
So yeah. Breakfast Lady and the rest of the staff stole my heart. I LOVE that she was conscientious. Love that she offered the kiddo some crayons and coloring sheets, and then offered to hang it up on their bulletin board (I've never even seen this before at a Hampton, even though this one was kind of tucked away next to the juice machine). Love that when I called downstairs to ask if there were towels by the pool, they said there should be some but to call up front if there weren't any when I got out there and they would bring some out to us. Love that they worked to put us in a room that's a little larger since we're here for so doggone long. Love that they said we could use their microwave and the fridge even, when we moved to a room without one (long story, but it was completely booked for a few days before we booked, and we were going to have to go elsewhere... and then some rooms ended up coming available at the last minute). Love that all the staff seems super friendly and happy to see us every morning. Love that they are all friendly and respectful to each other even when there is a Possible Situation in which someone may have Messed Up at hand (there wasn't, for the record... but the maybe-manager-lady was super nice to the Other Breakfast Lady in finding out about it even when she didn't know that yet). And really love that the housekeeping folks actually pay attention to the "do not disturb" tag on the door and let us sleep, since the guy is working nights / sleeping days and we're all on kindof a whacked out schedule.
Bottom line? A solid mid-price hotel with no surprises and a GREAT staff, which goes even further when you're in a town where there's nothing to do and you end up spending lots of time on the property. WIN.
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*edit:
LOIS! Lois is the Breakfast Lady! And this morning she recommended a cool place to take the kiddo to play, which I hadn't managed to find in my exhaustive search of the interwebs. Again - big deal. Nothing in Okeechobee. :D read more