Chateau Merrimack Resort & Spa

The staff were great to deal with, and my room was clean and spacious. The hotel was also very quiet, which might suit someone looking for uninterrupted sleep, though during my weekday visit it felt almost deserted. I counted about four cars in the parking lot. The dim hallways, lobby, and rooms, along with the 1970s-style dark trim, gave the place an eerie, almost haunted feel. My room had only table lamps and no ceiling lights, so it was especially dim, and it felt dated despite its size. The sink water looked unusually white, almost like it had too much chlorine. The balconies also seemed neglected, though it was the middle of winter. Breakfast was very limited: croissants, toast, muffins, butter, jelly, two cereals, and orange juice. There were no eggs, coffee, cream cheese, or hot items. The gym had one machine and a few weights. I didn’t see on-site security, and the bar opened only once during my three-day stay. There were no guests there that day, and it closed at 8 p.m. I probably wouldn’t return. For one night, though, the price could be okay if you know what to expect.

There’s no breakfast, and the Chateau is quite remote. Still, I had a good experience when I stayed here over a year ago. The room felt elegant and luxurious, and I’d like to try staying again sometime, perhaps in summer.

The one bright spot was the front desk worker who greeted us around 9 p.m. on Saturday. He was kind, helpful, and respectful even while we were frustrated. The rest of the stay was a mess. The building felt abandoned, with hardly anyone around and no energy at all. We hoped to relax, but the restaurant and bar were already closed, as were the pool, sauna, and hot tub. There was nothing to do that late. The listing mentions a spa and sauna, but there isn’t a sauna, and the spa seems to mean booking a $180, 50-minute massage or another overpriced treatment. The gym was a closet-sized room with a few dumbbells, which hardly seemed like a fitness center. No wonder there were no gym photos, just a listing for a fitness center. My girlfriend and I gave up and went to the room. The TV turned on, but the remote wouldn’t work, so after trying for an hour we still couldn’t get to a channel. It was tiny, maybe 30-40 inches, and about 20 feet from the bed. The walls were so thin we could hear everything from next door. Four people talked loudly for much of the night, and it sounded like they were in our room. There was no privacy. The best part of the stay was being asleep. Call me overboard if you want, but this is advertised as a luxury hotel and nothing about it felt luxurious. Between the misleading amenities, closed facilities, broken TV, and paper-thin walls, it was one of my most frustrating stays. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone hoping for a relaxing or enjoyable visit.

After a 10-hour drive, we arrived to find a room that looked nice at first glance but had someone’s socks by the table, a blood stain on the couch, and a dead bug on the windowsill. The jacuzzi tub had no hot water, and the AC wouldn’t work. It was 77 degrees, and the windows had no screens, so we couldn’t open them to cool the room. When an employee came to check the tub, she said, “ugh, not again, we thought this was fixed!” I asked when the hot water would return. The manager told me on the phone that the boiler would take nine hours to heat back up and suggested we “come down and have a glass of wine,” which they weren’t offering to pay for. No one offered compensation or tried to help until I asked for a refund and help finding another hotel. The manager said we were “not being put out” and claimed they had two rooms available, but only said this at the front desk as we were leaving. Nobody had mentioned it earlier, despite our multiple conversations with the front desk girl. The manager was dismissive and talked over us. She was terrible. We had to find another hotel, and this place made for a terrible experience. They said they’d sent emails and notices about the boiler, but we received none, so they lied. If they reply here with a different story, don’t believe them. I’m still waiting for my refund to go through after three days, so we’ll see. It is also illegal to operate without hot water!! Crazy.