Hilton HHonors - Hampton Inn Worcester MA

Anyone stayed there? What's it like? Thanks.

Anyone stayed there? What's it like? Thanks.

Nothing special. Nothing terrible. Easy highway access, good eating nearby. Convenient to downtown. Not much of a neighborhood. What brings you to Worcester? May help with answers.

Nothing special. Nothing terrible. Easy highway access, good eating nearby. Convenient to downtown. Not much of a neighborhood. What brings you to Worcester? May help with answers.

Visiting New England schools with my son. He's considering Clark in Worcester.

Not much near Clark for hotels. Hampton Inn Central Street is ok as I said. Very commercial neighborhood with the main post office and a medical center right across the street. There are lots of very good restaurants on Shrewsbury Street just one minute ride from Hampton. You will need a car to get around Worcester. The Hampton is near Union station so you could take the commuter rail into/out of Boston. Other Worcester hotels nearby include Crowne Plaza and Courtyard. Both are a bit more upscale than Hampton, but of course not hhonors. The ride through Main South to Clark from the Hampton won't impress you as you go through Worcester's inner city.

There is a nice new Hampton in Auburn that is convenient to Worcester and maybe 5 miles from Clark. It is a bit isolated but it is near the intersection of the Mass Pike and I 290. That will give you easy access to Boston too. The Worcester Hampton is right in the middle of a massive repaving of the major highway. Quite congested at rush hour. feel free to pm me if you wan't any help. I live about two miles from Clark and went to Northeastern, both on your list.

and for anyone who cares, a new Hilton Garden Inn is being built on Main steet in Worcester. Should be the best HHonors choice once it is open, but construction has just begun.

OB

Visiting New England schools with my son. He's considering Clark in Worcester.

Don't let anyone kid you. Worcester is a dump. It used to be a decent city but it has gone downhill very fast over the last 10 years. I live 40 minutes from Worcester and an hour from Boston. I used to have lots of things that brought me to Worcester, now there is practically nothing.

Take a look at the Boston schools while you are in the state. Even the schools that are just near Boston. Stonehill, Bentley, BC, etc.

I just graduated from UVM and loved it. The state universities in New England are all good schools.

Don't let anyone kid you. Worcester is a dump. It used to be a decent city but it has gone downhill very fast over the last 10 years.

I totally disagree. Worcester has made strides in cleaning up the city. I am a Clark graduate and the area around the school has really improved in the 15 years since I graduated from college. Clark used to be in a rough section of Worcester, but last time I was there three months ago, it seemed to me that the area had gotten cleaner and better.

There are alot of great areas right in Worcester. The areas around Worcester State, Assumption and WPI are all really nice neighborhoods. To call Worcester a dump is a bit of an overstatement. It is just like most cities in the northeast, some really nice areas, some lousy. As I am sure you will agree, Boston has some "dump" areas as well.

Clark is a good school with a great reputation. I had no trouble landing a job after college and I think the education had a ton to do with that.

I totally disagree. Worcester has made strides in cleaning up the city. I am a Clark graduate and the area around the school has really improved in the 15 years since I graduated from college. Clark used to be in a rough section of Worcester, but last time I was there three months ago, it seemed to me that the area had gotten cleaner and better.

There are alot of great areas right in Worcester. The areas around Worcester State, Assumption and WPI are all really nice neighborhoods. To call Worcester a dump is a bit of an overstatement. It is just like most cities in the northeast, some really nice areas, some lousy. As I am sure you will agree, Boston has some "dump" areas as well.

Clark is a good school with a great reputation. I had no trouble landing a job after college and I think the education had a ton to do with that.

First, the quality of the schools in Worcester is very high. I didn't mean to say that it was poor. Second, calling it a dump was probably going a little too far. I guess it all depends on what you want. In my opinion, there are much nicer college towns in New England. For example, Boston, Amherst, Burlington, Durham, Storrs. Sorry if I offended anyone ;-).

I've never stayed at this property, but I am in Worcester several times a week. It has definitely been improving as a city, and with all the new development downtown, it is and will be experiencing somewhat of a rejuvenation.

If you want a good meal, you should consider eating at either the 111 Chophouse (a great steakhouse), or the Sole Proprietor (a seafood restaurant). You can get more info on each of them here: www.thesole.com

If you want something less upscale, you can get an awesomely huge sandwich for a great price at Boomers Sub and Deli at 93 Highland Street. They make some of the best sandwiches I've had anywhere. If you ask for a sandwich on a "half-loaf", it will come literally on half a loaf of bread, stuffed to the gills.

Another very good alternative lunch place would Spoodles Deli at 358 Main Street. They make very good sandwiches and have many different daily soups including clam chowder and lobster bisque, both of which are excellent.

Hope you have a great trip.

I've never stayed at this property, but I am in Worcester several times a week. It has definitely been improving as a city, and with all the new development downtown, it is and will be experiencing somewhat of a rejuvenation.

Downtown has been being redeveloped since I was a kid 35 years ago. It is never done. Now we have come full circle and we are knocking down the Worcester Center/Galleria/Outlet Mall and reconnecting Main Street to the eastern part of the city. As I said above, a new Hilton Garden Inn, courthouse, and downtown housing will lead the way.

If you want a good meal, you should consider eating at either the 111 Chophouse (a great steakhouse), or the Sole Proprietor (a seafood restaurant). You can get more info on each of them here: www.thesole.com

and while the food is good, it is pricey. I pm'ed Chapel Hill guy with the 111 Chophouse recommendation as you can get there easily from the Hampton.

If you want something less upscale, you can get an awesomely huge sandwich for a great price at Boomers Sub and Deli at 93 Highland Street. They make some of the best sandwiches I've had anywhere. If you ask for a sandwich on a "half-loaf", it will come literally on half a loaf of bread, stuffed to the gills. .

Agree, but Worcester is full of good grinder shops (yeah, that is what we call heros, hoagies, or submarines) like John and Sons, Regatta Deli, and Steve's.

Another very good alternative lunch place would Spoodles Deli at 358 Main Street. They make very good sandwiches and have many different daily soups including clam chowder and lobster bisque, both of which are excellent.

And earn idine miles while you are at it. My wife regulary sends 32 Worldperks miles to her account by eating at Spoodles. Easy lunch.

As for Worcester itself. Downtown is no great shakes, I agree. Bostonians think we are located somewhere near Albany, but health care and higher education have replaced machine shops and insurance as our biggest industries. Our Little League baseball rivals any in the country and the city is a decent place to raise kids with parks everywhere, but as one poster said above, you need to live in the right neighborhood. Finally, Clark has done an admirable job of buying and rehabilitating many of the properties in the area. Stepping off the property leads to different experiences, however, but for most of the students, the adjacent neighborhood is just the area thay have to traverse to get to Moynihans, Donahues, or the Blarney Stone Pub. :D

Thanks for all the insights.

I know what Worcester is like. I went to grad school at UMass Amherst and we would sometimes head into Worcester for R&R. ;)

Worcester is no great shakes, but then while in Amherst, a storied college town, we kept trying to find the source of gloom so we could cap it. To each his/her own.

Geographic region is not the draw; rather my son has strong verbal and foreign language skills and Clark could be a nice match for him.

Geographic region is not the draw; rather my son has strong verbal and foreign language skills and Clark could be a nice match for him.

Choosing a college based on the strength of its academic programs, and not on the strength of the food/drink establishments in the surrounding area? What is he thinking?! :D

Worcester is no great shakes, but then while in Amherst, a storied college town, we kept trying to find the source of gloom so we could cap it. To each his/her own.



In the 70's, it was The Drake. Might be gone.

In the 70's, it was The Drake. Might be gone.

LOL. I thought of The Drake as a place to help mitigate the gloom. :D

I wouldn't say that you should choose a school based on the drinking and eating establishments and ignore the academics. The academics are clearly priority number one.

I just see people like one of my friend's from high school. He wanted to go to WPI because it was 30 minutes from his house and he could commute to school. He wasn't accepted and went to Wentworth instead. He would always complain about how he hated living in Boston and couldn't wait for college to end so that he could make some money.

I just think that college is supposed to be a great once in a lifetime experience. I wouldn't have gone someplace regardless of how great the academics were, if I wasn't going to enjoy the city. I wanted to be in a cool city and be able to go skiing on the weekends, so I went to UVM in Burlington, VT. I was accepted at WPI, arguably a better engineering school but I turned it down. I had two reasons, I didn't like Worcester and after talking to some of the CS students I found out that they were a bunch of computer nerds. When they told me that the big event on the weekends was computer gaming night, I knew it wasn't for me.

So, now that I'm done my rant on colleges. I will sum it up by saying that I don't think people should choose a school purely on academics and ignore the campus life. Unless of course you are one of those people who work 60 hours a week and think about work the entire time you aren't there. :cool:

I wouldn't say that you should choose a school based on the drinking and eating establishments and ignore the academics. The academics are clearly priority number one.

The OP was asking a Hhonors property in Worcester (because of a visit to Clark) and in a very close thread, he asked about HHonors properties near Boston (for a Northeastern visit), and a visit to UVM is on the list. Food and drink suggestions were offered to tell him about good eating near the Hampton in Worcester. Clearly choosing a college because it provides good eating opportunities is not really the way to choose.

Any self respecting prospective college student will choose a college simply because it affords his/her parents a wide choice of appealing HHonors properties nearby so the parents can visit and earn points/miles. Hence my kids visited Arizona State University last month while we were in Phoenix and University of Hawaii in February while in Honolulu. The other big question is: do they accept credit cards for tuition?. Who really cares about academics? :o

Chapel Hill Guy-I did the Clark/Worcester Hampton Inn trip with my son over spring break. I found the Hampton Inn to be a bit of a dump-worn looking rooms and hallways. No recognition of Diamond status other than the fact that they left Oreos for us in the room that were so stale that son and I almost broke our teeth on them. The Diamond desk usually sends an e-mail after your stay to see how you liked the property-I had a couple of complaints. The Diamond desk referred the complaints to the hotel. The hotel response was so unsatisfactory that the Diamond desk actually gave me double the number of Honors points I requested in response to my complaints!
We had a 5 1/2 hour trip drive to Clark in the pouring rain-the only thing that made the trip bearable was that son and I sat in the room that night and talked for hours-something you don't normally get from a teenage boy. We combined our Clark trip with a trip to Fairfield University.
The students at Clark were friendly, nice kids-but I found the Admissions Office to be somewhat disorganized.
There is a restaurant around the corner from the Hampton Inn which is in an old converted factory (pulleys are still in the ceilings). The food was pretty good-and the Hampton Inn will give you a coupon for a free dessert.

The OP was asking a Hhonors property in Worcester (because of a visit to Clark) and in a very close thread, he asked about HHonors properties near Boston (for a Northeastern visit), and a visit to UVM is on the list. Food and drink suggestions were offered to tell him about good eating near the Hampton in Worcester. Clearly choosing a college because it provides good eating opportunities is not really the way to choose.

Any self respecting prospective college student will choose a college simply because it affords his/her parents a wide choice of appealing HHonors properties nearby so the parents can visit and earn points/miles. Hence my kids visited Arizona State University last month while we were in Phoenix and University of Hawaii in February while in Honolulu. The other big question is: do they accept credit cards for tuition?. Who really cares about academics? :o

nice.