The short is that, for the most point, this is an adequate 2-Star level hotel. However, if you suffer from any type of respiratory allergy or ailment, you may wish to avoid this hotel, or at least inspect the pubic areas and your room before committing to staying.
I must point out that this was a Priceline deal: for us, only the 2nd "Fail" of a deal in the past 15 years and dozens of transactions. I am fully aware of how Priceline works and how one is leaving many elements to chance in exchange for the possibility of a good deal. For that part, I fully accepted the risks, and financial loss for this deal like a big boy. That said, I will review those elements I can intelligently address.
Front desk staff was extremely friendly, hospitable, and cordial both on the phone in advance of our visit, and in person upon arrival. I usually call ahead to see about getting a type of bed set up, and preferences for non-smoking / no pet rooms due to allergies in the family. I was unable to call until early afternoon of the day of our arrival -which was going to be very late. Due to this being a Saturday and the entire area being booked up, we were unable to deal either condition. However, I was told my assigned room was non-smoking. I have no doubt that had I called earlier the staff would have been more than accommodating with the bed issue within their abilities.
The hotel and grounds are what I expected for this level of a hotel. No surprises here. Parking was adequate even for a 10 PM arrival, and was well lit.
The inside décor was also what I expected from this level of hotel. Adequate, older, but in reasonable condition. Immediately upon entering the hotel hallway from the rear door nearest our room, I smelled a noticeable aroma of moisture/mildew and possible old cigarette smoke in the stairwell. The aroma, minus the smoke, continued into the upstairs hallway.
My room was designated non-smoking. I was asked to sign a form that indicated that I would be charged $250 for cleaning of the room if signs of smoking were found upon my departure. I expected no problems.
As I inspected the room, it was clean with a slightly worn carpet - again acceptable. Bathroom was clean. However, the windows were covered heavily with internal moisture. The room AC was set for 60 F (outdoors was humid and 95F). The air smelled stale, mildew-like, and I thought I detected an aroma of stale cigarette smoke. I checked the AC filters and they were clean (a bit plus for housekeeping on this point).
Under the circumstances had I been traveling alone, I would have probably run the AC, opened the window, and hoped for a venting effect to make it through the night. I was getting a slight respiratory allergic response from the room, but a pill and I might have been okay. However, I was traveling with my wife and daughter.
My wife reported a mild allergic response to the stairwell and hallway air, but decided to see if the room would be better. Within a minute of being in the room, she had an asthma attack that required her inhaler. This was her first need of an inhaler in weeks (and had been heavily traveling the past 3 weeks). She said the room definitely smelled to her of stale, and long-term usage of, cigarettes. She attributed that to the most probable reason she had her attack.
I returned our keys to the front desk and advised the attendant that we could not use the room and would be traveling on to look for further lodging in Champlain area. The attendant was very apologetic and genuinely seemed concerned for our wellbeing. She offered twice to attempt contact with other hotels on our behalf, which I declined. No refund or offer of one was discussed by either of us, due to this being a pre-committed Priceline deal.
From a maintenance standpoint, I have on occasions been in rooms that had been smoked in but were adequately cleaned and vented out. This did not appear to be the case with this room. The aroma was too strong to have been just a violation that had been cleaned up. Both my wife and I questioned whether the $250 fine ( if ever given anyone ) was just pocketed by the hotel as opposed to using it to adequately clean a room. read more