Hampton Inn Ithaca

The kids had a good time in the pool, and breakfast was a standard spread that was well stocked. The location is right in the middle of Ithaca, which is what makes this a great place to stay. Our room was ordinary, and the door was hard to close. The 24-hour coffee wasn’t very good, so don’t bother. We were there during a busy race weekend, so the hotel was full and pretty expensive.

For what I was paying, over $375 a night before taxes as a Hilton Honors member, I expected better. There’s a hidden $4 daily parking charge, and the indoor pool was closed for maintenance. They also moved me from the room type I booked because of maintenance. Nobody was in the lobby at check-in, so I waited almost 10 minutes, and there was no one there when I wanted help about my room later either. After a long conference day, my room hadn’t been made up. The desk staff the next morning said rooms are serviced only every other day. Seriously, they couldn’t even make the bed? The rooms themselves were clean and nice, but road noise was loud, and the service issues made this disappointing.

Some room keys don’t work, so staff have to let guests in by hand. The hot water was cloudy. When I told a staff member, she didn’t seem concerned and said that water in the area is normally like that.

The hotel was clean, the staff friendly, and breakfast was good, but the cost was way too high for me. The room’s average nightly rate was more than I paid for an oceanfront condo at Myrtle Beach last year, and taxes and service fees for four nights came to $356, more than one night’s stay. Since it was summer and the colleges weren’t in session yet, I thought the rate was especially steep. Parking also wasn’t free, despite what the amenities listing showed when I searched. The website listed $3.87 a day. Searching Google and clicking “Check Availability” took me to a third-party booking service, I was told at checkout, and I didn’t get an AAA or AARP discount. The hot breakfast included waffles on the weekend, but they disappeared during the week. A sign said they were out of mix, and none came for the Monday-through-Wednesday portion of our stay. It seemed like waffles were only offered on weekends, which they should say outright. Other hot options were available, including potatoes, sausage, and eggs, and these varied each day. The fridge froze the food at the back, and there was no towel bar in the bathroom, so we hung towels on the shower curtain bar and told the front desk. The pool was warm when my wife went around 4 p.m. Sunday, but cool when we both went at 7:30. We reported it. By Tuesday evening it was better, though still cool.