Hampton Inn Loveland

The mattress was lumpy as hell and slanted, like something was wedged between it and the foundation. I won’t be back. On the plus side, the rooms get dark when the lights are off, breakfast was very good, and the hotel was close to my client and a shopping center with lots of dining options. The facility itself looks pretty shop-worn.

I’ve been a Hilton Honors member for many years and have trusted the brand, but this was truly disappointing. The staff were wonderful, while the property was in very bad shape and badly needed renovations. I travel a lot for work, and this may have been my last stay at a Hilton. They seem to have stopped caring about maintenance, or could be headed toward bankruptcy. I’ll try Marriot properties and see how they compare. The elevator was disgusting. Its poorly fitted flooring had wide gaps by the door, full of debris, including what might have been Cheerios or Fruit Loops. A small carpet there was heavily soiled and looked long uncleaned, perhaps hiding a worse problem underneath. A wet-floor caution sign sat in the elevator throughout my stay, even though the floor clearly hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. The room felt tired. The refrigerator slid out of its cubby whenever I opened it. In the bathroom, more than half the toilet paper roll had unwound down to the bottom of the cabinet, and the grout needed serious attention. I couldn’t figure out how to turn on the shower until someone told me the instructions were on the back of the key holder. Once I got it working, the showerhead ring came completely unscrewed when I tried adjusting the spray. The curtain rod was far too low for the curtain, which trailed five inches across the tub. It also sloped down and felt ready to fall, though that didn’t explain the curtain length. As with nearly every Hilton I’ve stayed at over the past five years with a pool, jacuzzi, or hot tub, those facilities were closed for maintenance. My room key didn’t work at the side entrance either. Breakfast was terrible, especially the suspicious meat labeled “sausage.”

The loud road traffic was the biggest problem. Motorcycles and cars were unbearable while we were trying to get to bed early for our morning triathlon. It quieted down after about 11 PM, but that was still difficult. If I needed an early night, I’d personally look for somewhere farther from the main roads. Inside, the hotel seemed to have had some recent updates and looked pretty nice. Check-in was easy with the app. The digital key opened my room but apparently not anything else, which was odd and could have been a problem for a longer stay, though it worked for our one night. The room was spacious, pretty standard for a Hampton, and had both a fridge and microwave. The bed was crazy comfortable, I wish all hotels had these. We also had a nice mountain view, and no complaints about the bathroom.

It’s a decent, clean place in a good location, and the staff were friendly. What soured the stay was finding out that parking in the large private lot now costs extra, with no other option. That wasn’t disclosed when I paid for the room. For a room over $200 a night, I’d expect parking to be included. I suppose we could have parked somewhere else and walked, then spent the savings on a good coffee in town.