Stayed here for a couple of nights a month ago & thought I'd do a quick trip report.

Some friends of mine from high school were back for a high school reunion (they live in different states) so drove up to have dinner with them and stay overnight.

Alpena is in the 'upper lower' (as Michiganders say) peninsula on the Lake Huron side. For those familiar with Michigan, Alpena is directly across from Traverse City but on Lake Huron rather than Lake Michigan. US 23 goes through Alpena (US 23 runs along Lake Huron from Standish to Mackinac City, so lake views/scenic drive).

The Hampton is located on the outskirts of Alpena on M-32, which is east/west vs US 23, which is north/south. Hampton is just past the Home Depot, Walgreens, Meijer, Applebees, etc. Front of hotel faces M-32; back of hotel faces fields/woods. My room faced the back.

Alpena is basically a 10 minute city. It takes 10 minutes or less to get anywhere, so even though the Hampton is not right downtown it's not a biggie. There is a Holiday Inn Express located downtown (same franchise company).

According to front desk, the Hampton had only been open 3 months before my arrival. Check in was efficient. I was upgraded to a suite, which I wasn't expecting given no status.

There are some decent restaurants in downtown Alpena: Red Brick Tap & Barrel, Samantha's on Second, Mango's, Black Sheep Pub, Old Polish Corner, about a 5-7 minute drive from the hotel.

Alas, some of them are closed on Sundays so ended up eating with my friends at Applebee's, a 30-second-1 minute drive from the hotel.

I was exhausted from literally just moving homes & then the drive up north, so decided to stay an extra night. Called in the morning to extend. They had to do some juggling but managed to keep me in the suite, so didn't have to move.

The market was well stocked. The fitness center a good one. Indoor pool. Lobby area slash dining area. There were still balloons in the lobby from opening. On the front desk in an acrylic box was the goodies they give to Diamonds. Staff was excellent.

I ate breakfast (or attempted to) day of check out. It wasn't very good. Had some OJ and a few bites of oatmeal. The rest of the stuff didn't look very appetizing. Only had regular tea bags when I was there & you could tell the water for tea had gone through the coffee maker as there was a faint taste of coffee when trying to drink the tea (which I didn't finish).

Check out was efficient.

Unlike the Traverse City side, Alpena has never had a plethora of hotels and not really chain hotels. So good to see both a Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express in town. Hopefully they'll get a Fairfield Inn in the future. Rates were higher than I expected for Alpena, but it was the middle of summer so perhaps not unexpected.

I did take pictures which I'll upload at some point.

Cheers.