What's New at Holiday Inn
Written: Oct 25 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean, convenient, economical.
Cons: Poor room lighting. Cosmetic changes not a sufficient upgrade.
The Bottom Line: A good mid range motel. Generally well maintained. Still a little tired.
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| ulysses4's Full Review: Holiday Inn - New Hartford |
Once in a while, one winds up in a place almost at random. A long driving trip needs to be cut into smaller pieces. A business or social function is scheduled in a place you have never needed to stay over in before. If that overnight stop is in small town America, the chances are there is a Holiday Inn there. Ever since the early 1950s, Holiday Inns have become almost ubiquitous. In the early days, they provided reliablly safe, clean, and fairly consistent accomodations. While the rooms were plain, you could always expect an iron and ironing board, an in room coffee maker, a TV set that worked, a chair or two and a table, clean sheets and towels and other amenities that became standardized out of home office in Memphis, TN.
There is a lot more competition out on the highways and towns today. Holiday Inn, like many other hotel companies, has gone through a number of ownership changes, the ebb and flow of owned and franchised hotels, the success and lack of success of various loyalty programs and the aging of heavily used properties.
All a rather longwinded way of saying we found ourselves at the Holiday Inn Utica (which is actually in the adjacent and smaller town of New Hartford) this weekend in connection with a local wedding. I have driven past Utica dozens, if not hundreds of times, without having a reason to stop. Also, over the years, we have found other brands of motels more to our liking, and though we have stayed at a few Holiday Inns, it hasn't been our lodging company of choice. A special event discount can and was a convincing motivator. It also required a call directly to the hotel to obtain the special discount, as opposed to using their web-site.
Having agreed to stay at this hotel, I then went to the corporate web-site to gain some more information on the facility and its location.
THE NEW HOLIDAY INN-WEB-SITE AND PROMISED AMENITIES
With usual corporate exuberance, the web-site bubbles on about its redesign, a new corporate logo and signage, and new amenities being introduced throughout the chain. The webiste does seem somewhat improved in getting you right to a map showing all of the company owned properties in a given area (you choose how many mile radius you wish to look at); there are pictures of each property. A click or two will show you all of the rates available on a given day, including applicable discounts, such as AAA, AARP, government discounts, etc. In bullet point fashion, it also lists the hotel's amenities, and businesses and tourist sites nearby. Whether I start with a hotel chain web-site or a broker such as Booking.com, Expedia or Venere, it is always a good idea to check the brand's own web-site, which sometimes offers better deals (Holiday Inn guarantees that they have or will match the lowest internet rates).
After a browse of the web-site, it was clear that the old Holiday Inn signs are gone or going, replaced with several modernized versions. Still, green and white are the corporate livery. A big white script H on a Green background, the most streamlined version, must have cost them a lot in artistic consulting, but looks a little insipid to me.
While I did quickly read about new room features, it seemed best to focus on their application to a specific hotel. While each hotel stands on its own merits, or lack thereof, unlike Best Western, Holiday Inn has, over the years, seemed to value sameness or uniformity more than individual hotel expression.
NEW HARTFORD
From Exit 31, on the New York Thruway Toll Road, you descend on to a poorly designed , limited access highway bearing at least four road designations: I-780, and State Roads 5, 8 and 12 (which appear to split off beyond our destination.) If that were not enough, this road is also named both the North-South Arterial and and the Casimir Pulaski Highway. Casimir would not have been pleased. Focus on the 8 and 12 South signs, and be ready to change lanes quickly as exits come up suddenly, and you will get through to your destination.
Without any fanfare, you ride over the Erie Canal, a mini-wildlife mamnagement area, a half dozen railroad tracks, and quickly pull away from a small and tired downtown core. The road passes by abandoned and/or repurposed old factory buildings towards the more prosperous suburb of New Hartford. In less than three miles, you take the Burrstone Road exit west towards Utica College and several local hospitals. The Holiday Inn is at the front of an office park. You drive past the hotel, and then make a left at a light. Make sure you stay to the right, as there is a small divider between traffic leaving and entering the hotel grounds.
Frankly, we didn't see much of New Hartford, but the area around the hotel certainly appears to be safe, well lit and tended and inviting. There is a large covered awning and circular drive, which is certainly helpful in inclement weather. Utica is well within the snow belt approaching the Adirondacks and the Great Lakes. The hotel has a typical square horseshoe pattern, with a large parking lot in front, and smaller parking areas along the two sides (and with electronic key access doors athe the far ends). A Tour Bus was parked outside during part of our stay.
The location is convenient for a number of area colleges (Utica; SUNY IT; Hamilton College; Colgate University) and several community colleges, as well as families visiting the local hospitals. It is sufficiently away from the Thruway, however, that it wouldn't be a primary choice for through travelers.
THIS HOLIDAY INN
The lobby is rather spacious, airy and has some inviting furniture, lamps and a faux oriental rug. The tile floor and peachy beige walls also work well. Only the ceiling tiles reveal some of the original and dated design. Front desk personnel were helpful, and a little casual. We were grateful for an early check in as we needed to change and help others before heading to the wedding reception several miles away.
Our room was nearly a football field away. The corridors had cheery new dark patterned carpet, probably purchased by the acre. One can't blame the hotel for maid carts in the corridor, but they, and a number of food trays outside rooms along the narrow corridor made it somewhat of an obstacle course to get to our room. Actually, one can blame them for the trays, they were still there a couple of hours later.
Open the door to your room. Turn every light on, and it still feels like two AM. Mood lighting is one thing, but none of the lamps were really suitable for reading, and the fluorescent lights in the ceiling in the bathroom were only half the strength needed for shaving, make-up and other customary usage.
Bathroom upgrades included a curved shower curtain rod and a new Kohler shower head. The citrus-mint soap, although it looked like an Ivory Soap Bar, did have a little more character. The depressing beige plastique sink enclosure and low grade fixtures haven't changed. White towels were crisp, abundant and still a little on the thin side. The twilight lighting was the real downer.
In the main room, new pillows (identified as soft or hard) bedspreads and presumably new mattresses are Holiday Inn's answer to the competition. They are not quite there yet, but it is an incremental improvement. My wife and I debated whether the wall covering was wallpaper or pattern board. In either case, it was not particularly attractive, probably designed to blend into the background. A few pieces of generic art work graced, or at least sat on the walls. You know the kind; tranquil outdoor scenes of no place in particular. The chest of drawers and headboards, probably manufactured by the thousands, would only be bought by a budget or lower mid range motel.
A 27 inch thin screen television is clearly an upgrade. Satellite reception gives you a wide range of channels you wouldn't want to watch, and a few premium channels, such as HBO and Showtime. Pay Per View Movies are available. Does anyone really watch them?
The heating and air conditioning system worked rather well, quickly bringing the room from refrigerator cold to too hot.
The old amenities are still there: hair-dryer, coffee maker, ironing boards. A concrete cubby, perhaps for a hanging bag, contained four of those hangers that are designed to stay with the room (metal ball at the top fitting into a hook apparatus.) None of the hangers were suitable for men's trousers. Headboards, carpets and lamps were clean and undistinguished.
We were given an end room, which helped on noise. It isn't outside noise that will trouble you, but the old cinder block design, like many college dorms, means you can hear dripping water, and plenty else from adjacent rooms and the corridor.
While the smoke detector and sprinkler heads in the ceiling were reassuring, the concrete overhead seemed too close.
Some facilities listed, but not tried include an outdoor pool (closed at this time of year); complimentary high speed wireless access in the rooms; a fitness center with a whirlpool and a sports bar.
The hotel can purportedly handle business meetings of up to 300 people, with or without banquet service. LAundry and dry cleaning service are available for longer stays.
We tried their restaurant for Sunday Breakfast. The food was simple, but good. The theme restaurant had something to do with a Moose, and probably the Adirondacks. The 45+ minute wait from the time our order was taken and delivered, however, reminded me of why breakfast buffets have been developed. As much as I dislike them, this kitchen was overwhelmed during an only moderately busy time. Or, perhaps, someone didn't show up on the kitchen crew.
So, would we stay here again? I would look elsewhere else first. Not bad, not great. The kind of basic, reliable, and somewhat boring
accommodation that Holiday Inn has been providing for years. Yes, there are some new upgrades. The people are nice, and it gets the job done. Others are doing better. I hate to criticize hard working people, but it is our dollars, and I think you get more for them at some other chains.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ulysses4
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Member: Alan R. Fridkin
Location: Westfield, MA USA
Reviews written: 234
Trusted by: 21 members
About Me:
Mediator;attorney;retired Navy Captain;avid traveler;bon vivant.
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