Aspire Hotel and Suites — Hotel in Cumberland Township

I called a few days before NYE because I saw an ad on facebook for this "huge" new years eve "party" they were to have. When i called I must have asked 5 different ways if everything on the flyer was intended to happen and if it was worth it. The lady I spoke with assured me it was great. I also explained, in detail, that my husband and I would be arriving at different times and I wouldn't have his credit card to check in until we got there. She promised me it wouldn't be an issue as she put my name on the room as well. When I arrived there, the woman at the front desk was short and snippy with me and seemed annoyed that I didn't have the card. Thankfully my husband wasn't far behind and would shortly be pulling in. She kept huffing and puffing and when she asked for my id, she didn't even look at it, because she was waiting for the credit card, so what was the point there? The room was about the only half decent thing at this place. The supposed NYE "party" consisted of an ice cream sundae bar that was over by 7:30, the kids playroom had a bouncy house which we appreciated, however they only had two puzzles, coloring pages and a bean bag toss game, which they took away at about 10:00. They said all night movies, all night swimming both of which ended at midnight. When something is advertised as all night, I was expecting it to literally be all night. There was no music and dancing in the "adult" area as promised. I overheard guests and staff saying that some people were called to let it be known that the turn out was not expected to be what it was in previous years. I wasn't told this when booking the room and asking five different ways if this was going to be a good event. The bartenders were very sweet and I felt bad for them. They let our kids come in and watch the ball drop with us since the front desk couldn't even tell me what channel NBC was, they literally told me to flip channels until I find it. The arcade games were ancient and barely worked, ate our money. The "big" buffett at midnight consisted of frozen french toast sticks, little debbie snacks, dried out eggs and overcooked sausage. It was disgusting. I spent most of my night really angry and disappointed. It is not often we get to take our family of four out to places overnight and I was so upset that I lost $110.00 that we really didn't have but we wanted to make our children happy. I was told to complain to the woman who directed the event, Gail, but it seems she was more worried about her little dog that she brought along that I didn't want to bother. I won't be going back to this place for any event. I really wish I would have complained in person and attempted to get my hard earned money back. So...

When we checked in it was late and a sign stated the attendant would be back soon. Apparently this is two hotels and the staff must be shared between them. Aspire is newer and the rooms are really spacious, clean and really fit our needs well. However the Eisenhower Hotel it's attached to is dilapidated and needing of much repair. The pool area is very dated but was functional.They hot tub was put out of commission years ago and covered over. There was a power plug sticking up out of the walk way near the pool that I tripped over as it wasn't marked.

Unfortunately our visit was marked by a major power outage in the area after a storm came through and dropped some trees. We got to the hotel at about 6pm to find no power. The hotel was telling people a couple hours. We thought this would be ok. So went to pool and ordered dinner. By time dark was upon us the word was no power until 1 or 2am after we had to call the county 911 control center to get the right information.

The hotel provided no communication to guests. The teenager at the desk was not adequate at handling issues of this level. The owner/management staff made no concessions or arrangements for guests what so ever.. I understand this is a uncontrollable event but they total control their response to it and they did not excel at this challenge. We had to find another hotel at the last minute on July 4th weekend. I have had issues at hotels before we needed to relocate to another and the hotels always helped in that process. The management staff being a property so promenade in their business community had so many options they choose not to use. Expecting travelers to stay in dark rooms with no ac on a 90 plus degree day and no contingency planning is just not right. Especially those with medical equipment requiring power.

I have stayed before but sadly will not...

I stayed overnight at the Aspire on my trip to Gettysburg because at least on Travelocity, the Aspire has significantly lower room rates than any of the other hotels closer to town. The hotel room is significantly larger than I expected. There were two king-sized beds, an armchair, and a sofa. The room is also equipped with a microwave oven and refrigerator. The room has a bathroom and also an extra sink outside the bathroom. Strangely, there were two hairdryers, both at the same sink outside the bathroom. So all in all, it was a good value. The downside is the room could use a bit of an update. There were stains around the sink. The room air conditioner was a bit on the old side too but it did its job adequately. The TV did not get all the channels on the channel list card. The hotel may not have subscribed to every cable channel but I would hope they keep the list updated. One more oddity is one of the lamps in the room had no switch and had to be unplugged to turn it off.

If you need WiFi internet though, stay away. There was none in the Aspire. You'd have to take a walk over to the Eisenhower Inn next door to use their WiFi network. Speaking of which, the breakfast buffet is at the Eisenhower. There is a corridor connecting the two hotels but the signs pointing the way to breakfast were a bit misleading -- I entered the wrong hall at first and got yelled at by someone in there, which was a bit unnerving. Anyway, the breakfast buffet was a standard scrambled eggs, sausage, potato, cereal, bread, and waffles. It's about average -- I've had better and I've had worse.

In summary, I probably would not stay here again on a future visit. Although the room rate is a good value for what you get, the things that are broken or outdated show a lack of attention and care. It does the job for accommodation purposes,...