Hampton Inn Denville/Rockaway/Parsippany — Hotel in Denville

At approximately 5:45a the fire alarms at The Hampton Inn Denville were set off. At this time we had 3 rooms with 4 small children. Immediately upon opening the doors to the hall on the 3rd floor we noticed all the halls were filled with smoke. There was an obvious fire and exiting safely was a priority. There was no direction from any staff members and extreme confusion on which way to safely exit. There was extreme fear among the children which to this day they are scared to go back to the hotel.

We exited through the emergency stairway to the back of the building to the exterior. We quickly noticed the exterior of the building on fire and traveled to the interior. Upon talking to other guests we discovered there had been reports of a burning smell for well over an hour but the hotel opted not to clear the building.

We all got outside safely and several fire departments arrived on scene. Once fire and police were able to extinguish the fire they informed us the fire was set intentionally and it's now a crime scene. Nobody was allowed to enter to get any of their belongings. After several hours of waiting outside the building I was able to find a police officer that would get some of my belongings from the hotel since they included medication for a major back surgery I had just had. At this point I was in a lot of pain from walking down flights of stairs and being outside in 20 deg weather in minimal clothing waiting for a response from the hotel management which never once came outside to address the crowd of people.

After several hours of waiting outside we were told we would not be able back in. At this point we had to leave personal belongings behind and leave the hotel. The hotel was shut down for several days after this incident.

I immediately called Hilton customer service to speak with a representative. A case was opened to issue a refund for the 3 rooms involved (case #241216170284552). They assured me a refund would be issued and the manager at the Denville location would reach out within 24hrs. After several days of no response I called Hilton back. They stated the manager updated the case verifying what happened and he was going to issue vouchers for 3 free rooms. I explained this isn't what was discussed and again asked for a refund. They again agreed and stated they would reach out to the manager to have him correct it and call me. Several days later I still had no response. I reached out multiple times directly to the manager (Mecene Louis Saint) leaving multiple messages. I never once received a call back to discuss the matter. I was told by the gentleman at the front desk that the manager is impossible to get on the phone and I would be better off disputing the charges. I never received any vouchers from the manager.

I'm now being told there's a no refund policy for the services rendered. Services were not rendered in this situation. My entire group was removed from the building causing the loss of belongings, loss of the facility use, loss of breakfast included, smoke damage to my vehicle and mental trauma for several kids. The policy also states I would be given 3 rooms for a 1 night stay which I never received. I was not able to check out since I was not allowed back into the building since it was deemed a crime scene. The merchant attached a copy of the agreement showing that I paid for 3 rooms with a 1 night stay. These services paid for were not granted by the merchant due to the fire.

Please see the attached photos showing some of the fire damage and police/fire response. Please note how all entrances are blocked off preventing anyone from returning into the building. The lack of safety protocols not followed during this fire is extremely alarming and dangerous. We were completely disregarded by the manager on site and still have not received any refund for our rooms. They simply state they have a no refund policy....

My husband and I booked the Hampton hoping for a great wedding experience with friends and family. We had many guests travel from far away and unfortunately they were greeted with poor attitudes and an unpleasant ambiance. My husband and I were not made aware of construction in the front foyer. There were no rugs and many things looked disheveled. We were told that this construction was not to start until November, and that they did not know it would be starting sooner. I find this hard to believe as even the week of we were not made aware of this work being done…Although we had been in contact for weeks leading up to the event. It was not until we dropped off our welcome bags, and were surprised by the unwelcoming appearance. This was just the start as then many of our guests also had issues with their rooms. My aunt had nail clippings in her bathroom, and when she asked for maintenance to come clean the room, she was told that no one was there at this time (7pm). When she asked for a broom and pan to at least clean it, someone rudely brought it to the room and left. There was no offer of changing a room or compensating from this poor experience until my aunt argued with the front desk about it. Although this was a wedding block, all of our guess were put on different floors. My husband and I were on the fifth floor and we had family/friends on the second and fourth floor. We were the only ones on the 5th floor in the furthest room. I do not understand how everyone was separated when we blocked the hotel 11 months before our wedding. Our guests were not greeted with the welcome bags that we prepared. We encouraged our guests to go back and ask for the bag prior to checking out. When we came back on our wedding night, there were still multiple bags not given. When people checked into our block, they reported they were not offered the bag, but instead had to ask and were given attitude for the request. To top it all off due to the lack of construction signage multiple people fell at the hotel entrance way. To say the least we had an extremely negative experience with this hotel and it’s staff. It is such a shame as the expense our guest paid to be with us on the biggest day of our lives, turned in to such a poor experience. We hope that more couples have a better experience moving forward! There is potential but the staff should be trained in customer service and communication needs to...

This is going to take a minute. When someone goes the extra mile for you, the favor must be returned.

This is my second stay at a Hampton Inn in the past two weeks. As I travel for business, often three weeks out of a month, I try and find comfortable yet affordable places. I don't typically review hotels unless they hit a home run or really stink up the place. If you look at my reviews you will see that the last hotel I reviewed (2 weeks ago) was a Hampton Inn outside Boston. It didn't do so well but that has nothing to do with why I am reviewing the Hampton Inn Denville. Mr. Orson Cox is.

After finishing work for the day I had to hustle to make the 600 mile drive to New Jersey in order to surprise my son who was starting off his season playing a series of games there. My bride and I hadn't made a reservation in advance since the initial plan was for me to fly but my daughter missed her brother so we all packed up the family truckster so the kids could see each other once more before school and hockey really got going and they both would be too busy.

What should have been a simple 8 hour drive got stretched into 13 thanks in no small part to the wonderful traffic on I-95 in Maryland, so when we arrived it was almost 5am. Having stayed at this hotel 2 years earlier I remembered that it was centrally located to the rinks so we gave them a call to see if we could get a room and check in early.

Mr. Cox answered and said that not only could he help us out but that I should come over right away as the coffee was fresh and he'd get us settled in. The check-in process took far longer then I expected because Mr. Cox is an awesome individual and we talked like old friends who had been apart for years. We shared photos of our kids, talked about how fortunate we were to marry such awesome wives and truly enjoyed meeting another parent who is working hard to give their kids the ability to chase their dreams. Heck, our boys even live in the same town! (Cambridge Mass.) We chatted so long my bride was wondering if I'd forgotten she was in the car....guilty as charged but I didn't know she woke up.

Anyway, the room was better than average and the breakfast was as well but it's the people that make the difference and deserve the recognition. So, when you are next in the area and need a place to stay head here. If you see Mr. Cox tell him the hockey dad sent you. He'll know...