Hampton Inn Hickory Hollow

We were thankful to have heat during an emergency, but the stay was frustrating and unacceptable for the price. We’d been without power for four days during a snow and ice storm, and chose this place because of its high reviews, availability, and acceptance of cats for an extra $50. My sister did so much to find us a place we could never have afforded. She found beautiful hotels, but none had rooms open, so I asked her to book this one. It was a desperate situation. Seeing that she paid $107 per night made me cry. She shouldn’t have had to spend that much here. The room was loud, the bed extremely uncomfortable, and the pillows were flat and hard. It wasn’t clean: the sink was cracked, the floor filthy, and a towel my daughter used to clean spilled carpet water came up visibly dirty. The shower dripped constantly, took several minutes to warm, barely drained, and left you standing in cold water. Even with an advance booking, we waited 30 minutes past check-in while the room was supposedly being cleaned. The fridge barely worked, the ice machine was broken, and basic amenities were missing. “Free WiFi” worked only now and then, and the advertised 42 inch TV kept losing signal. Lobby furniture was stained and worn, and the property felt neglected. Breakfast quality varied, but it was consistently ice cold. Day 1 had rubbery western omelettes, boiled diced potatoes, and greasy, undercooked bacon. Day 2 brought very good scrambled eggs, tasty sausage links, and country gravy. On Day 3, there was a hard, rubbery cheese omelette, sliced smoked sausage, and boiled diced potatoes. All three days there were cereals, oat and blueberry muffins, plain bagels, plain white bread, tiny yogurts, oatmeal, and juices. The self-made waffles stood out. I finally tried them on Day 3, making four mini Belgian waffles from the vanilla batter in under three minutes. They were delicious, and I wish I’d made them each day. I’m glad we had heat, but I can’t recommend the hotel or understand the high reviews. The photos and video speak for themselves.