Spark by Hilton Fishkill

Breakfast was just a bagel, cereal, or a hard-boiled egg, and the coffee was lukewarm. We ended up finding a Starbucks down the street. The room was okay, except I kept finding long black hairs that weren’t mine, and there wasn’t any conditioner in the shower at all. The young man at the front desk never acknowledged us when we walked by, apparently whatever was on his phone mattered more than customer service. This was the most disappointing hotel stay I’ve had, and we won’t return. Choose carefully among the other hotels nearby.

The lobby is simple but clean, and the rooms have been refurbished and are quite nice for this price and hotel grade. Staff were friendly, breakfast comes with the stay, and there’s complimentary coffee all day. The hallways are a little dark, but the room itself is a pleasant surprise. The elevator could use renovation, though it works fine, and in a four-story hotel you won't spend much time in it. I don’t understand all the poor reviews.

The beds were comfortable, but the rest of the stay was a mess. One bed had blood stains on its sheets, the toilet seat was barely attached, and the appliances looked like they were from the 1980s. Each day we had to go back to the lobby to reset our key card. A woman said it was some issue with the computer dates. The heaters at both ends of the hallway kept the room around 90 degrees, while the AC reset itself to 75 every day. The elevator jolted and I never knew which floor it would open on. Then at 4 a.m. we woke to prolonged screaming and banging upstairs. When I told the desk, the man just said, “Call the police.” As long-time Hilton Honors members, we were very dissatisfied, especially for what we paid. The photos and Hilton name made me feel misled.

The hotel has been recently remodeled and was clean, though I found old food in the fridge and the water quality was poor. Breakfast is continental, but there are basically no grain-free choices. My bigger problem was how the staff treated guests. I’ve worked in customer service for over a decade, and this was appalling. They were rude and didn’t communicate properly during shift changes, making the stay harder. I won’t be back.