Hampton Inn & Suites Hershey

I waited a month to post this because I work in customer service and wanted to give them a chance to make things right, as they said they would. Zach never followed up and stopped answering my emails. I emailed three times and heard nothing, even though management had told me I'd get a refund and someone would be in touch. I've never posted a bad review before. Check-in was a nightmare. I think the staff member's name was Ebar. Our first key didn't work, but when I went back, he told me to try again and showed me how to use it, even though I was using it correctly. The replacement key failed too. He came up to check, and it still didn't work. Then he offered me the hotel master key, which I declined because that seemed like a safety and security problem. My boyfriend went down for another key, but that one failed as well. After we called, maintenance came up and said the lock battery was dead, although the master key had worked. By then, 45 minutes to an hour had passed. We used the bathroom quickly and found it wasn't clean. Ebar then had them move us. The bathroom in the new room wasn't clean either. The toilet still had pee on it, so I cleaned it myself. I was exhausted after a four-hour drive with a three-year-old and three teenagers. Later, when I was getting into bed, I found something hard on the flat sheet. It was a dog's nail. Gross. I pulled off the sheets and blankets and threw them on the floor. It was around 11 at night, and thank goodness I'd brought my own blankets. The sliding barn-style doors were off their tracks. We called so we wouldn't be charged, and he asked if we could bring them out to the hallway. We don't work there, so no. My teenagers lifted them back onto the tracks, but they wouldn't stay. The freezer was so iced up we couldn't put anything in it, even though we use one, and there were snacks in the cabinet left by someone else. The manager, Zach, says he'll do things and then doesn't. There was one very nice woman working the whole time after we checked in. She talked with us and felt bad, and she's the only reason I gave this two stars. You were awesome, and deserve a raise for dealing with management. We didn't leave because it was New Year's Eve weekend. We'd booked a month ahead on booking for a great price, and everything else was over $800 by then, which wasn't in our budget.

The staff were friendly, but the hotel needs updating. For what we paid, the room was disappointing. The bed was much too firm for me, and the air unit kept the temperature where we wanted it, but squeaked whenever it ran. By the time we noticed, it was too late to ask for another room. We'll probably try somewhere else next time.

The lobby looked great, and the breakfast area was clean and modern. Staff were friendly and efficient, and our room was spacious, with a nice Smart TV and comfortable beds. Some things could use attention: the elevator was old and shaky, the room's carpet and paint looked dated, and the bathtub shower had peeling caulk with dirty seams. Caulk is cheap and easy to apply. If I'd had some in my truck, I could've fixed it in five minutes.

Convenient enough and a decent place to stay. The complimentary breakfast was fine, with the basic hot food you'd want. The front desk service was hard to praise, though, since they didn't respond much.