Hampton Inn - Grantville, PA
Written: Dec 15 '02 (Updated Dec 15 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean, comfortable and affordable.
Cons: No restaurants in the immediate area.
The Bottom Line: After staying at this hotel, I wouldn't hesitate to stay at another Hampton Inn.
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| deeann70's Full Review: Hampton Inn Grantville-Hershey PA |
My husband and I decided to take our two children, ages 1 and 4 to Hershey Park for the Christmas Candylane festival that is held November thru December. I checked the internet for hotels and found most of the hotels to be a little expensive for just a weekend. I checked Hampton Inn's website and saw that there was a hotel one mile from Hershey. For some reason, the website was telling me to call the 800 number so I did and spoke to a nice woman there. I inquired about the rate for the mini-suite which had a separate bedroom and living room and had two colored tv's. She told me that the mini-suite and the standard double room were going for $168 per night. I thought that was a little high so she checked for other hotels within 10 miles of Hershey and came up with the Grantville location. They did not have the mini-suites as I was hoping for but the rate was only $67 per night. I decided to book it. I wasn't worried because I had stayed at Hampton Inns before and never had a problem.
This hotel is located at Exit 80 off Interstate 81. I should add that if you use Mapblast to map out your trip, it will tell you that the exit is 28. Some counties in Pennsylvania have been changing exit numbers over the past year or so and some maps may not reflect this change as of yet. I'm glad my husband was driving and realized this because there's no telling where I would've ended up.
The hotel is tucked behind a Mobil Gas Station and looks like the standard beige colored three story building Hampton Inns that you see off major highways. My only complaint was that there was quite a bit of ice in the parking lot but we had just had a major snowstorm the day before and the temperature was quite cold so it was something you could overlook.
We entered the lobby which was clean, warm and inviting. Toward the back of the lobby was the eat-in area for the continental breakfast. There were fresh donuts and coffee at the counter that evening which a few people were helping themselves to. We were greeted cordially by a young woman at the front desk. Check-in was very quick and she gave us directions to our room and told us where to park for easy access.
We went to our room before unloading which is something that I prefer to do to make sure it's up to standard. The room was very clean and comfortable looking. It was done in earth tone and mauve and had a calming effect which I appreciated with two energetic toddlers. There were two queen sized comfortable beds. My husband immediately looked under the beds. Why? As a little boy he and his family went to a hotel and found a half eaten, badly decayed hamburger under the bed. Needless to say, they checked out immediately. Anyway, this is why my husband always checks under hotel beds. However, these beds were actually on a platform type of thing so nothing could accidentally roll under there. I found this to be great since my kids are always taking small toys with them and now we wouldn't have to worry about leaving anything behind. There was an oak wardrobe which held an iron and ironing board and a bureau which had two deep drawers and also held extra pillows. At the far end of the room were two chairs and a table which held a coffee maker with packets of coffee, sugar, etc. There was also a remote controlled colored 20inch? colored tv with HBO. The bathroom which was quite large also proved to be clean and had a hair dryer and complimentary soaps, shampoo and lotion. It had a tub and shower and had really great water pressure in the shower. Not that soft type where you can't get the shampoo out of your hair.
The hotel also had a heated indoor pool and jacuzzi. This area was clean and quite nice. The pool was quite large for an indoor pool in my opinion. The water in the jacuzzi was hot! Not boiling but hot the way a jacuzzi should be. After about 10 minutes, you wanted to jump in the pool to cool off a little. There were also complimentary pool towels. You were not allowed to eat in this area but there was a vending machine here that had bottled water. Down the hall from the pool was a small exercise room that had a few machines including a stairclimber and treadmill. There were also towels and a colored tv that you could watch while you worked out.
The Hampton Inn Grantville does not have room service and there really aren't any restaurants in the immediate area except for a restaurant inside the Holiday Inn across the highway. We actually went back on I-81 and drove South for two exits and found a Perkins, McDonald's and a Country Pride. If you go further, you will find other restaurants such as Cracker Barrel and of course there are other places to eat by Hershey Park. To be honest, there are 3 other hotels by the Hampton Inn (Holiday Inn, Comfort Suites and Econolodge)which all look fairly new so it might just be a matter of time before restaurant chains begin building in this area. This is my opinion, not a fact.
The Hampton Inn offers a complimentary continental breakfast each morning to its guests. It's pretty standard. They offer coffee, tea, juices, hot chocolate, cold cereals and packets of instant oatmeal. There is also fresh fruit, yogurt,danishes, muffins, bagels, toast, english muffins and condiments such as butter, jelly, etc. This was more than enough for my family since we're not big breakfast eaters anyway. Of course, if you get there after 10am, you might not find any food left. We had a table by a large window where we had a nice view of nothing. No joke. There was all this open space that was just covered with a thick layer of snow and there really wasn't anything to see. Everything looked so clean and it made you just want to run out and take a few gulps of fresh air.
I'll also add that I've never seen so many housekeeping carts in the morning at any other hotel the way I've seen them here. They started cleaning early yet never got in your way. I'd say by noon, all the rooms were clean.
Hershey Park is 7 miles away from this hotel. You can either get back on the highway and drive two exits or you can just drive out of the hotel driveway and make a right and drive for 7 miles and you won't be able to miss the big Roller Coaster at the Park. For those of you that like to shop, there are also shopping outlets nearby that are right by the Park.
All in all, my family and I enjoyed our stay at this hotel and would recommend it to anyone who wants to go to Hershey but doesn't want to pay the higher prices of staying right in Hershey. Hampton Inn has never disappointed me yet and I'm looking forward to using them again in the future.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
deeann70
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
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