Hampton Inn Boone {US-NC} (no longer Honors)
 

This is a report for a stay I had from 2/25-2/26.

Location:The hotel is in Boone, North Carolina, a small town just inside Tennessee in the foothills region in the western part of the state. Boone is home to Appalachian State University and a lot of skiing. The hotel is located on NC-105 and US 221/321 a mile or so from downtown. It's across from a new Courtyard, next to a Wendy's and a mile or so from a Walmart. Warning: Mapquest and Google Maps do NOT know where hotel is and my directions were wrong.

Hotel: The hotel is an older style Hampton Inn, in this case a five story building with one very slow elevator. The parking lot is staggered around the building and the spots in the front fill up quickly. The lobby area is actually quite nice and has obviously been redone since construction. It features high ceilings and a ski lodge type look. There's a large breakfast area with a fireplace and a small living room are with couches and a TV plus the obligatory one computer off the lobby in the "business center".

Check In: Despite check-in time being 3 PM, the two doubles room I requested was not available when I showed up at just after 4. The desk clerk was, in my opinion, not overly apologetic. I'm sorry but if I'm an hour after check-in time and probably your only HHonors Gold showing up, expecting me to be satisfied with "we were full last night" doesn't work. We ended up getting our room about 90 minutes later.

Room: The room was the usual for a two doubles Hampton. There were two comfortable beds, a newer style TV (always a plus) which had a bunch of channels, the combo desk-attached-to-closet against the far wall from the door and the bathroom. Water pressure was fine and mercifully the room had a lot of outlets. I didn't use the Wifi.

Breakfast/Check-Out: Breakfast was where I was really disappointed. The room was crowded at 9 AM Sunday and food was slow to be replenished. Also, they were out of knives and plates and the food area was in disarray. The staff seemed inadequate and overwhelmed by in my opinion, a completely normal amount of people. Furthermore, while I'm used to the steam tray full of industrial type food, I wasn't ready for what they had. There was a small refrigerator with packets stickered with a picture of what was in them (egg sandwiches, pancakes, French Toast etc.) which the guests would microwave and eat. I've never had this before and it was pretty gross.

My rate here was $107 and I think the next time I come to Boone, I'm going to stay at the Courtyard and eat breakfast elsewhere.

deleted, company policy

I'm sorry your stay here wasn't up to snuff. I stay at this property about once a month, and was just there last week for two nights. I've found all the desk folks to be as helpful as can be. I've seen the place overrun with families and kids on weekends; weeknights are much nicer. The bag breakfasts are a joke; I always pray there is a #6 in the fridge. They run out of bananas often, and the pool and hot tub are closed frequently for service. Otherwise I've never been disappointed. Location is good, there is a fridge and a microwave in the room, the lights all work, the room is clean and the bed comfortable. It is just a Hampton Inn.

That is the truth, isn't it? It certainly puts things in perspective. I did like my room and the location was perfect but not being able to check in (especially after the long drive from Durham) and those breakfast bags rubbed me the wrong way. Perhaps I was a little too harsh though.

Next time eat breakfast at the Daniel Boone Inn. One of my favorite places for breakfast anywhere. Great southern style breakfast served family style.

I'd had dinner there the night before :D

This property is no longer a member of the Hilton family. Last week I tried to make a reservation for Sunday night, but there was no availability for ~any~ night beyond last Thursday. So I called, and the young lady who answered the phone told me they had some issues with not being up to snuff with Hilton standards, but assured me they would be getting them all worked out soon.

I stayed at the Fairfield down the street, and drove by the HI Monday morning. "So you are still here," I said cheerily, walking in the front door. "Oh, yes, we're just no longer a Hampton Inn," was the reply. They are, for now at least, independent.