Heritage Hotel - Lancaster — Hotel in East Hempfield Township

AVOID this hotel like the bubonic plague! Traveler be warned! I had the extreme misfortune of having to stay at this hotel for three days and two nights. Here is my story: I arrive at the front desk on my day of check-in, very early. I was fully prepared upon my arrival to just sit in the common area and work while I awaited my check-in time. The font desk attendant was on the cell phone when I entered, and decided that her personal conversation was more important than her guest, I waited. Then she greets us and offers us to check in early as the room was ready. Great! I forgave the personal phone call and was quite pleased. This was unfortunately the only good occurrence during my stay. While she "checked us in," she proceeded to have yet another phone call, not business related. Later, I went down and dropped off my free breakfast coupons with the order for the next day to a different front desk attendant. She took them graciously and I went to grab some food at the attached restaurant. The employees were less than enthusiastic to have a guest and less than welcoming. My server did not know the menu, and could not answer my query about the side salad that came with my entree. She later returned telling me what she first said was incorrect, and that she had just ordered me fries because she figured thats what I would want... I did not want fries, I asked for a salad. After lunch, I was going to enjoy the outdoor pool amenity offered by the hotel. I changed my clothing, then went to the front desk to get some pool towels. I was informed that my room (consisting of two individuals) had already "checked-out" 2, that's two, pool towels and that we were unable to have any more. Apparently, pool towels are high dollar and the hotel just simply could not allow guests to be comfortable while laying out on the pool patio; equipment which had no pillows, mind you. We also were required to return our used towels to the front desk after we were done sitting at the pool. I decided then I would not go back to the pool as it was obviously too much trouble for them. The pool, by the way, was very cloudy and the hot tub did not even run. It was just a vat of murky, white-ish water roasting in the sun.... I still have nightmares of it. That night, yes we are still on the first night of my stay, I attempted to watch the television. I press the power button on the remote, and nothing. I checked the batteries, as one would do in this situation, and found they had leaked inside of the remote. I walked down to the front desk to inquire about new batteries and when I said, "The remote does not work, t..." I was cut-off.... "No, sir... the TV works just fine. Sometimes you just have to unplug the cables from the TV and plug them back in." We won't address the fact that I, a guest in this establishment, should not be plugging or unplugging anything in the room that is not mine. I simply reply, "Be that as it may, the remote would still not work as the batteries have leaked out all over the inside." She looks at me confused, then goes to get a new remote. 25 minutes later, I have a new remote in hand and am walking back to the room. (By the way, there were dogs barking all day and all night the entire stay in the room across the hall from me... nice). I click the power button, and am whisked away in an episode of The Office. No cable alterations required. I slept. There is a character limit, so this is the end of my story... but that was only day 1! I will never...

The ONLY reason I'm giving any stars is because the food at the restaurant was good and the bed was comfortable.

Now for the BAD- I booked a KING room with 1 KING sized bed on 6-5 through booking.com which I have used for over 3 years to stay at over 20 hotels and have never had an issue. Most hotels don't require you to pay up front until you arrive for check in however this hotel required payment up front. Room was booked and PAID for on 6-5 for 6-25 and check out on 6-26.

We arrived for our stay on Friday 6-25 and wandered around the hotel aimlessly which was very confusing before we finally arrived at the front desk. After waiting awkwardly for over 10 minutes with no one to be seen a very flamboyant gentleman eventually arrived to check us in. Everything seemed fine, we received our keys and instructions and were prepared to walk to our room.

At the last second the gentleman said there was a "problem" and we needed to hold on. We asked what the issue was and the gentleman literally stared at his computer screen for an entire 15 minutes with no reply while people lined up behind us. I was asked if i still had my card on hand and that he would need to run it again but " I WILL NOT BE CHARGED and the issue will be handled in the morning, but ultimately the problem is between me and the third party" without giving any details.

After over 30 minutes from the time we arrived my wife and I finally get to our room to find we were given a small room with 2 Queen sized beds, again - i had paid up front for a KING room with KING sized bed over 2 weeks ahead of time. Due to all the hassle, i decided not to complain as it seemed like the previous gentleman was the ONLY employee working at the time and I didn't want to deal with him again.

The next morning we go to check out and i explain all my frustration to the friendly woman now working behind the desk. I was assured i would not be charged again and the issue is not my fault but no explanation for why i was given the wrong room. Later that morning at Breakfast I check my bank account and I was indeed charged another $189.00 on my card. I called the hotel to inform them the money had been taken out of my bank account and was told they accidently charged a "pre-authorization" but no money was taken. 3 days later the money was still gone out of my account.

I called back one more time to ask what was going on and a different woman answered. I was told " we didn't take anything from you, its now between you and your bank. Thankfully after 5 days the charge dropped and money was refunded into my account. My wife and I are young adults who just bought a home and almost 200 bucks being tied up for a little less then a week was a big hassle. I was made to feel like it was my fault. First it was a problem with booking.com, then my bank? The common denominator here was the hotel. By the way, who doesn't use a website or app to book a room these days, I'm sure more then 50% of their guests use...

I would NOT recommend staying at this hotel. Customer service here is a joke. I waited to review for over a month while repeatedly trying to get in touch with Pat Lehman and Lamar Reid (supposedly the hotel managers) via emails, phone calls, and messages left with the front desk. Apparently these folks couldn't care less about their guests' experience in their hotel, because after several emails sent and dozens of calls made, I never once received an email reply or return phone call to discuss my dissatisfaction with my stay at the Heritage Lancaster. Courtesy and customer service evidently aren't part of the job description, as shown by the front desk staff all the way up to the managers.

We stayed in two different rooms over a 5 day period. We switched rooms due to an air conditioning issue, only to find that BOTH of our rooms would not properly cool. The temperature in our rooms was literally climbing to 80 degrees during the hottest part of the day and at night. This is unacceptable. For a $100+ per night hotel room, we were highly uncomfortable while in our room, and especially disappointed with the way it WASN'T handled by those in charge of guest care. We assumed other guests were complaining as well, because we came outside one morning to a maintenance man working on the A/C unit. Funny thing is, the hotel corridors, hallways, and lobbies were never unbearably hot, just the guest rooms. But, because our discomfort could never be resolved, we ended up leaving on the 5th day to go somewhere else with a more accommodating establishment and staff.

According to a local, the Heritage is a renovated Days Inn. It's uniquely themed after Robin Hood to go along with its overpriced "treehouse" restaurant. Despite being recently renovated, everything still looks (and smells) very dated and musty. The swimming pool was caked with hundreds of dead bugs that had likely been there since they reopened it for the summer. Like the air conditioning, I guess they don't require anyone to maintain the pool for guests either.

I recommend spending your hard-earned money somewhere else where you're actually appreciated and accommodated as a hotel guest. This place's blatant lack of customer service is disgusting. We will never stay at the Heritage Lancaster when we return to the area...