The Chandler at White Mountains, an Ascend Collection Hotel — Hotel in Bethlehem

My Boyfriend and I decided to spend one night here, pretty much just to try out this hotel - the nearby town of Littleton is my favorite, and we visit from Montreal several times a year... but we usually stay at the Hampton Inn, and it's pricey, and with the exchange rate... I've been looking for a more affordable option, mainly so that we can visit this area even more often! The Chandler is 1/3 of the price and seemed worth a try, given the good reviews on here. |Overall - for the price we paid - it was worth it. This is definitely more of a budget hotel, and it shows. |* The lobby has tremendous potential. Really cool floating gas fireplaces and a beautiful outdoor space that would be amazing in the summer. However, the decor was strange. Ladders, cleaning products and maintenance gear were left behind lobby sofas - isn't there a maintenance room to store these things? And I thought the lacey, flowery tablecloths totally clashed. (I peeked underneath - most tables are damaged, hence the tablecoths. But at least get something that goes with the fireplaces' modern vibe). |* A big sign in the lobby warning that "no housekeeping" and "lack of staff" because of the.... "pandemic"? Really, that's still a valid excuse?|* We arrived an hour before check-in time, and the front desk attendant charged us an extra $7 "resort fee" for checking-in "early". I let it go because it was such a small amount, but wow...||* Our room was fine - very clean. The bathroom was the best part, spotless and nicely renovated, with actual travel-size toiletries. There's a large "living space" area when walking in, with a flat screen tv on the wall, but it's a total waste with those two uncomfortable chairs facing it - just replace them with a couch, or get rid of the tv! Also, we counted 6 power outlets in that space - but the bedroom doesn't have any outlets near the bed to charge your things. ||The coffee maker in our room didn't work... wallpaper throughout the room was peeling and some of the furniture was wonky and busted. The HDMI connections on the TV located on the bedroom side, did not work - and reception wasn't great on the regular channels. ||It would also be useful to have screens on the windows in the room - we kept the windows open and it was so nice to wake up to birds singing etc, but in the summer, bugs would probably be coming in... ||As previous reviews stated, the room's floor was sticky, but I think it's just because of the vinyl it's made of - not dirty. ||*Location - in the middle of nowhere - but quiet and only a 7-minute drive to Littleton, which has great eating-out options. ||Bottom line - would we return? Yes! Despite the minor, mainly aesthetic issues, we both agree that it was worth it...

My wife and I stayed for two nights during the peak autumn while we were in town for a wedding.

First, the location. Easy to get to, easy to get away, no bad traffic, no problems there.

Second, the rooms. Everything was a step away from being great. They tried so hard to be an independent hotel but you can tell every reason the name brands dictate things. My room didn't have a closet near the door. No worries, there's a wardrobe around the corner (classy, huh?). The bottom of the wardrobe had a shoe shelf -- except it's not by the door where you want your shoes, but the shoe shelf meant it could no longer hold a full length dress without wrinkling at the bottom. The room didn't have a full length mirror but it did have some neat art on the walls. The zero-entry shower was pretty nice too, except water ran under the door all the way to the toilet (guessing the shower drain pan is too shallow). The floor had those nice looking linoleum tiles that look like wood, but there was a gap between each end. Wallpaper pulling away from the walls in a few places, and the bathroom ceiling was peeling.

Third, the breakfast. I think they're worried about keeping costs down because they get bus loads of tourists at a time and I'm guessing those tour companies don't pay full price. No meat at breakfast (no sausage or bacon), there were scrambled eggs and bagels and cereal and stuff. Not the worst "included" breakfast, but not great.

Fourth, the facilities. I didn't use the gym or pool or anything. The lobby had some nice looking fireplace looking things hanging from the ceiling. One was vaporizing and had pretty lights. The other 3 were just sitting there broken or turned off. The parking situation was bad. There was a whole tour bus that came when I was there. Lots of rooms went to them. Given that, should be plenty of parking, right? Nope. The tiny parking lot was overflowing (I parked with one tire in the mud, and someone parked on the other side of me with two tires in the mud). People were parking on the side of the road to the parking lot. I can't imagine what would happen if there's not a tour bus and they get full occupancy.

Lastly, the personnel. I like to keep to myself so it's not fair to weigh in too much here. I had to get my keys remade (both mine and my wife's wouldn't read the second night), and the receptionist let us know that they would mess up since we kept them so near our phones. I don't keep anything near my hotel key, nothing else in that pocket (neither did my wife), so that wasn't it. The interaction was pleasant enough, but I do have a nagging feeling either the key cards are too cheap to work more than 12 hours or someone cleared a few too many access cards when clearing out...

We stayed here for our 10-year anniversary this past weekend and overall, it was just okay. It worked for one night, but the hotel definitely wasn’t as advertised in appearance or experience. One of the biggest reasons we booked this place was for the indoor pool and spa amenities, and we didn’t find out it was closed until the day before check-in. Since we booked at a non-refundable rate, we had no option to cancel, which was really frustrating.

I also travel with a medical alert (seizures) service dog. I understand pet-friendly hotels often have specific rooms, but it should’ve been made clear that we’d be placed in one of them. We were in Room 120 and it was clearly a pet-designated room, and it was honestly pretty gross. The wallpaper was peeling, the lone stained sofa upon entry was clearly the dog area, the tub was cracked and patched with mismatched epoxy, there was visible dust, hair, and mold in the corners and along the baseboards, and our bedding had stains. It just didn’t match the quality shown online or the fact it was supposedly just renovated.

Another big issue was the door. At least on the floor we were on, which felt like the “dog floor,” the doors weren’t even standard hotel doors. There was a large gap under the door, and it opened and closed like a regular bedroom door at home. It didn’t feel secure at all. You could also hear barking dogs from other rooms, so it was obvious this was the section for guests with pets. And while I do have a dog, it’s a service animal. It’s a $50K medical device, not a pet. Being placed in this area and treated like we were just another pet-owning guest was really frustrating and felt discriminatory. This is why I typically don’t mention I have a service animal until after check-in, due to discrimination. I had decided to note it on our reservation this time, and it will be the last time.

We ended up avoiding the room as much as we could and checked out first thing in the morning at 8 AM because we were ready to just go home. Between the poor condition of the room, the lack of communication, and the lack of amenities, it really wasn’t worth the two-hour drive or the price we paid.

Also, most of the issues I’ve mentioned aren’t unique to us. I’ve seen other reviews from the past year that mention the same problems. I’d honestly recommend skipping this hotel altogether. Management needs to seriously upgrade the first-floor rooms, improve housekeeping standards, and educate their staff on how to properly accommodate guests with legitimate...