North Conway Grand Hotel — Hotel in Conway

Book elsewhere! Below is part of the email I sent to the owners and never received a reply. NOTE: we stayed in their “premiere suite”.

Upon arrival we checked in and went straight up to our room. We immediately identified issues. First, the window blinds were broken, cookie crumbs and lint were visible on the floor, the mirror in the bathroom had water spots on it, the 1/2 length mirror in the hall had lick marks on it, and the remote in the main bedroom was broken and missing its battery cover.

We called front desk to report the issues. Maintenance handed us a new remote and did not fix the blinds. He stated that “was why we had a privacy shade behind it”. When housekeeping came, we had to repeatedly show him what needed to be cleaned. After he left I could still see handprints on the furniture and feel stickiness on the surfaces. I pulled out my Clorox wipes and was disgusted by the filth I found. My mother-in-law and I spent the next 45 minutes disinfecting all surfaces including the vinyl chairs, table tops, counters, and bathroom.

When we went to put our kids to bed that night we found dirty, crusty, gross, freshly stained sheets. We call the front desk yet again- which was a constant theme during our stay. They sent up housekeeping to change them.

The next morning, we woke up and went to use the bathroom. The toilet handle got stuck, pouring water all over the floor. We called the front desk yet again and had to wait for maintenance to arrive. He fixed the toilet cleaned up the water and stated he would be back to put another chain on. I told him we were now running late and needed to leave and he stated he would come back to fix it after we left for the day. I asked him if this would keep happening and he annoyingly stated no, that is why he was putting on a new chain and that it happens to all toilets with chain (not the case if they are properly maintained as we have lived in our house 12 years and never encountered such an issue). As we were leaving, I asked the front desk to let the maintenance man know he was free to make the toilet repair.

The next morning, Monday, we went to use the toilet and the chain broke again… toilet water pouring on the floor. We again called the front desk who sent up maintenance. It was a different person this time and he quickly “fixed” the issue and left. When we went back into the bathroom, we discovered blood on the bathroom wall above the toilet. The maintenance man must have cut himself while fixing the issue and either did not see or chose not to clean up the blood stain. As we left for the day, I went to the front desk and ask that they have someone clean the blood off the wall.

Tuesday, we woke up to use the toilet- as most people do- and it broke yet again (first flush). We called the front desk yet again. The original maintenance man from Saturday and Sunday showed up again. He was carrying a plunger. When I told him no plunger was needed, he jumped down my throat and stated he didn’t know that so he brought it. When I told him this was the 3rd toilet issue, which was ridiculous, and he had not fixed it properly the first time he gave me attitude and started talking back. My husband, who was in the other room, stepped in and told him to fix it and get out. The man “fixed” the toilet but left the toilet water all over the floor. I had to call the front desk yet again and have them send housekeeping up to clean the water. After housekeeping left, we continued to get ready for the day. The toilet broke AGAIN. I called the front desk to let them know and the gentleman offered to send the rude maintenance man to our room again. I refused. At this point, I had had it with the hotel and just wanted to leave. So, instead we shut the water off to the toilet to stop it from pouring on the floor and continued packing.

The room maintenance was non-existent. Multiple staffers were rude. There was mold on the bathroom ceiling, tiles falling off the shower wall, staining in the toilet, and dead bugs in the lighting fixture… and that is just...

This is a GOOD hotel, not a "Grand" one. Let's start with booking. We asked repeatedly if there was a hold, as that is common practice. We were on a budget and I wanted to be adequately prepared. We were told 3 times there would be no hold. However, there was actually a $250 hold and $50 "occupancy" tax that we were not made aware of prior to booking. So there goes $300 spending money for our vacation. Yes, we got the hold back, but that doesn't help while you're on vacation! I am not upset about the hold- that's standard practice. I am upset about the lack of communication, when communication is a basic component to customer service.

The location is excellent. Easy to find from the highway but still quiet with no real road noise. Very close to shops and restaurants.

Our room was good- very comfortable bed, clean, nice warm shower. We wanted to take relaxing hot baths and found the hot water couldn't keep up to fill the tub so we had to keep refilling it, which was doable. Our room had a difficult to manage heater. We really could not get our room at a comfortable temp. We only used housekeeping service once during our stay and everything was mostly good except that they did not replace the washcloths.

Regarding amenities, they boast about a spa, a restaurant, a movie theater, an arcade, indoor and outdoor pools, hot tubs and saunas.

The spa was not a real spa, but rather a couple rooms reserved with signs on the door that said "spa room" , other hotel guests walk through the spa area to get to the shared public bathroom. No robes , no water,no tea.... I will say we had excellent massages though! But it was basic massage therapy for spa prices.

The restaurant was definitely lacking. Small menu, limited hours, only beer and wine, no full bar.

Breakfast is not included - a pretty basic amenity at most hotels, but not this one! Instead they offer a breakfast buffet in their restaurant. Seeing as they boast about their restaurant as an amenity, I expected restaurant quality food. Boy was I wrong! It was all hotel food...I literally ate the same meal for free at best western last year! Mass produced, fake eggs, store bought muffins, boxed cereals etc. The coffee was decent. And they charge $15.95 per person for this basic sub par breakfast.

The restaurant is closed for lunch so have some other options planned for that meal.

We never had a dinner entree, but did have some apps and salads a couple times. We did enjoy the mozzarella sticks, wings, Caeser salads and wedge salad. The potato skins were really not that great. Overall, the restaurant is really just a notch above a cafeteria and really not really worth it unless you need something quick and convenient.

They boast about the free snacks- literally off brand little Debbie cakes.

The movie theater is comfortable and they offer 2 movies a day that are quite family friendly. There are no concessions or vending machines, but they do allow you to bring in your own snacks.

The arcade was nice with several games, a claw machine and an air hockey table.

The real redeeming amenity is the pool, hot tub and sauna. We loved the outdoor pool! Well heated and enjoyable even in March. There is a fireplace outside that was lovely and they have a ln adults only hour which was quite pleasant. The hot tubs were nice and my husband loves the sauna and uses it several times.

The lobby area was welcoming with a beautiful fireplace that was going all the time. It was a pleasant seating area to sit and read.

The front desk staff were kind and helpful. Our servers at the restaurant were also kind. Every time we ran into staff in the hallways, we were greet kindly.

Over all, this was a good hotel that we would stay at again. For my first experience at the "Grand", it wasn't as good as I expected, but overall was...

I stayed here for two nights with my mom. Upon checking in, they put a $250 hold on my card, as well as $50/night. This was surprising but I was told it would fall off at the end. One of the first things I noticed upon entering the hallways of the hotel is that it smells very musty, like old wet laundry. The rooms are quite dated and could use new rugs as they seem to hold a lot of odors. There is a shopping outlet directly next to the hotel. It was clear that the hotel is a family oriented place. We could hear some kids having meltdowns a few times through the wall, and a little girl actually wandered out of her parent’s sight at one point and knocked on our door very early in the morning, waking us up. We were able to find her dad down the hall. So, if kids aren’t your jam, you may be better staying somewhere else. When sleeping in the bed the first night, I broke out in a rash and was so itchy that I didn’t sleep at all. The sheets smelled strongly of bleach, so I assume I had an allergic reaction to the chemicals used to wash the sheets. My mom did not have a reaction, so it was not bedbugs. The second night I was able to sleep after taking some allergy meds, but just FYI if you have sensitive skin. The pillows were soft and lumpy, but the beds themselves were very comfortable. The bathroom had a bit of mold along the top of the shower where it met the wall, and the ceilings had yellow water stains. Also, when I was showering, brown water collected and dripped from the ceiling of the shower, and smelled of cigarettes. This indicated that at one point our room may have been a smoking room. There was no fan in the bathroom to help with steam. I was surprised when we had to pay $15/person for the self serve buffet continental breakfast. Usually it is free when you stay at a hotel. There was a nice view from the window in the back of the dining room. The coffee was watery, so we decided to go to Starbucks down the street. We opted to not eat breakfast at the hotel the second day. On Saturday, we had a spa appointment at 11am. We got a 60 min massage, a foot treatment, and a facial. The two women working were accommodating and so amazing. The 2 hours we spent getting the treatments done were so relaxing. They did a great job. The spa is by appointment only. It’s not really a spa per say, it’s more just one room with two beds. But still a great experience and a high quality massage. My back feels a lot better today! The hotel is close to many local attractions and nature. We went to Cathedral Ledge and Echo Lake. There is also a movie theater locally, where we caught a showing of Barbie. We did not eat at the restaurant at the hotel, but had incredible food and drinks at the Black Cap Grille right down the street. We did not have time to check out the pools, but there is great swimming at Echo Lake. The staff here were very friendly and answered all our questions. Overall, I may come here again if I had children and if it were a little more cost effective. For how dated the hotel is and the updates it needs, I believe it...