Fulton Steamboat Inn — Hotel in East Lampeter Township

For me, first impressions mean alot. When I arrived and saw this beautiful steamboat themed front and a walking plank with a waterway filled with koi fish, I knew I was in for a treat. The first impression of the property was beautiful! Lots of adirondack type chairs in the front. When you enter, the lobby is so beautiful! They have two beverage dispensers set up that is complimentary. One is water with fresh fruit inside and the other was fresh lemonade. They also had a plate of cookies! There was a beautifully decorated room that had a large tv where you can book attractions, restuarants and find activities. in the area. On the wall there were tons of brochures on things to do. They also have a wonderful gift shop!

Onto checking in: No matter where you stay the first face you see behind the registration desk represents the property. I have travelled extensively and you get all kinds of front desk staff. You get the ones who have a cold indifference and barely look up when you check in, you get the ones who are all business with no smile and care more about checking you in with efficiency and moving on to the next guest. In this case, I got the nicest, warmest, most personable front desk attendant that I have had in I dont know how long. His name was Josh. When I arrived at the desk, Josh greeted me with a warm smile. He checked me efficiently and explained all the amenties of the property.

The room: It was absolutely lovely! It had a gorgeous bed, nice size tv, a good size fridge (not the tiny minis that you usually get), a coffee maker and a microwave. You also have a side table and a wing back type chair. The decor was stunning! The shower was hot and had amazing pressure. The room as well as the entire hotel smelled so nice and was so clean. You also get a decent sized Lancaster guidebook in the room. As you are walking down the hallway folk type music is piped in.

The property and amentities: Although the kidney shaped indoor pool was small, it was perfect. I personally do not like giant pools as it means more crowds. This was so, so nice. There were floor to ceiling windows and super comfortable cushioned lounges on the inside as well as surrounding the wraparound deck outside. They had plenty of seating! They had plants all over and it was super clean. The hot tub was hot and very enjoable. They do add alot of chlorine so make sure your little ones bring goggles. What I LOVE most about the pool and hot tub is that they have ADULT ONLY swim from 10pm till 12 am. I just love that!! There were always fresh towels for the taking. They also a nice restaurant and bar. I am sure you can get a cocktail and bring it outside and sit by the pond.

The grounds: I thoroughly enjoyed them.There are so many areas to sit and relax. Plus tables. For children (which mine are now adults so it doesnt pertain to me) they have a fantastic playground! They have a large pond with tons of ducks and koi fish. Please do not feed bread to the ducks. Its very bad for their stomachs. There are weeping willows or magnolia trees surrounding the pond with adirondack type chairs all around. Behind that are corn fields and farms that are just so picturesque! They even have two gazebos with wood tables to sit. They also have TWO firepits. Just ask the front desk to bring the wood and light the fire. The maintenance was so, so friendly!! I brought my own marshmallows, wood sticks and graham crackers and made smores!!

Checkout was seemless and in the morning the beverage dispensers were replaced by hot coffee dispensers.

NOTE: Last February I stayed at the Disney's Port Orleans Resort. It was supposed to mimic New Orleans and the deep South. It was an expensive, horrible stay for me in every aspect, And...it was triple the price than the Fulton Steamboat Inn. Fulton Steamboat far surpasses what Disney tries to do. They should send a rep out here to see what a real New Orleans/Southern type themed property looks like. Fulton Steamboat's attention to detail cant be beat! They can learn alot from them! This was a...

This place is so amazing, and'll always hold a special place in my heart.

Years ago going through a little bumpy patch with my now fiancée. We just decided ok let's take a little trip, all the over time at work and little time seeing each other doesn't help anything.

We actually went off season, and we just decided to go cause his family used to go when he was a kid. And around his teen years they stopped, he never knew why. So I'd never been anywhere like Lancaster, I told him take the lead on the trip and if he needed help planning tell me what to do etc.

That first trip I was amazed by just how cute the place was. I'm a Disney lover, and this place even driving up looked so cute. Especially at night when it's all lit up? It really is beautiful.

The restaurant was under construction so we ate at the bar. The food was great, and the service is old fashioned and welcoming. There's a big difference of a server and a servant. Something I find most customers forget, and you can tell who's worked in retail/service and who hasn't. Some nights there was only 1-2 servers on the bar and with the restaurant closed yeah it was busy. But I bring that's up cause the servers were professional, pleasant and great. Even when I over heard people giving them a hard time.

We'd finish up and go to the gift shop, walk the grounds, my favorite parts feeding the ducks. The Koi were sleeping. Honestly even on my on season trips the koi didn't eat much or the ducks came over anyway. One of these days I'll get the right timing with them. But now that's my favorite part of going. At the start of the trip heck I'll buy $10-$20 of duck food at the start of the trip so I can get up in the morning and feed them. I'm more a morning person than he is, so even though we go together I like a morning walk and feeding the ducks on the way backs a little treat I add to my routine.

When we do together we talk for what feels like forever, then head to the fire pit later in the night and talk more. Off season the fire feels so nice keeping warm. It was my first time making smores over a fire and a massive messy fail to boot. They sell smore kits in the gift shop, I haven't don't that again. But we spent the night laughing how bad I did and the mess I made. But he went to get me a hand towel from the room to help me clean off with some water. He got a color changing pack from the gift shop and told me to toss it in the fire. And it was amazing to see the colors add wood. (Literally play with fire, every nine child's curiosity)

This little hotels very special. It's really a place you can connect, enjoy different little things we might not think of in daily life. But honestly I this place means so much to me and my partner now. We love going back years later. And yes I probably sound like an old lady, but I'm 28 writing this. If you're debating a trip, even when I was younger I was amazed at what's out here. Definitely a lot of shopping. The strasbourg train, mini golf, barn tour so many animals to see and pet, fruit fields of all kinds we like cherry hill orchards, Buggy rides. When you're not used to this stuff it definitely sounds different. Off season and on season have their benefits, I like the romantic time together so off season doesn't bother me. My other half likes it but he wants to do more together if we have time off. Which I understand, so we leave it up to what time we can get off work. With the wedding this year we had to put off the yearly trip. But we can't wait to do something bigger next year.

I'll always wanna go back cause I'll always remember the place that in a way we fell in love again. It was that little time reconnecting, and he forgot how much was closed off season. So instead of being upset about what we couldn't do we made an amazing trip. And had a list of stuff we wanted to come back and do. I can't wait in the future to bring my kids here and make memories. Will miss my 3rd floor for a while, oh that's adults only and pool / hot tub adult only 10-12. Who...

The worker at the front desk Nancy is nothing but rude. My Mother in law and her family have been staying in the Fulton steamboat inn since she was a young child and have held this place close to their hearts for over 40 years. However, as soon as Nancy began working here she has been nothing but a very mean person to deal with while visiting. She always has a nasty face when she sees our family walk through the doors. She claims since my husband and I first started staying here with our two kids we have been causing issues for the hotel. I’ve been accused of changing my son’s poop diaper on the couch in the main room. She claims I left feces on the couch. What a joke ! Never ever would I do such a thing. Im sure I changed a wet diaper quickly once or twice in the front when we came in from playing outside as I noticed one as all mothers do. I would never start wiping poop off my sons behind on your couch. So please save it and if I did please post it up here for me to see. I’d love to see it. Then my two and three year old sons just so slightly picked up your pumpkin decorations and placed them down and they cracked two of them. She charges almost 100 dollars on my mother in laws tab for literally Walmarts grade hallow fake pumpkins. She for sure doesn’t have an understanding heart and love for mothers and their children. She is an awful representative for this hotel and I find it so hurtful the way she treated my family every single time we’ve stayed there. We were super loyal returning customers. I would’ve never posted this before this point because I always intended on coming back and having to be in her presence with my family. However, if Nancy is there we will not be coming back anymore. Her looks and expressions have ruined our vacations time after time. She is just so so so bitter to all of us. She even complains that we are too loud. I mean what would you like ? I have two and three old boys. They’ve also been coming there since they were newborns so of course we’ve been loud. There is literally nothing I can do about it. Trust me no mother wants to listen to the crying and screaming but we deal with it more than you so that’s just apart of being a, “Kids Friendly Hotel”. So Sorry for the inconvenience. We come all the way from Brooklyn to you guys. We loved it there. No more after this. If you are a family with young children expect to be talked about a couple times after staying here. They won’t treat...