Hampton Inn Ellsworth/Bar Harbor — Hotel in Ellsworth

I have been a Hilton diamond member for four plus years, usually selecting Hilton properties to maintain that status and gain points for future travel. Sad to say that some Hilton properties have gone way downhill. I selected The Hampton inn in Ellsworth Maine as it was the only Hilton property in that immediate area. This is the third time I've stayed at this location in the past 5 months. The previous time I went to this location I was disappointed to find not only my room not cleaned to the standard that they usually do, but also found weak old sushi in the hotel refrigerator that immediately stunk up the room as soon as I opened The refrigerator door. This time I was even more disappointed to find two different hair colors and multiple strands of hair on the interior of my sheets my bad which to me just tells me they were not changed but just tidied up and made to look like they were. Jen to top it off there was either a party or some kind of very loud gathering in either a neighboring room or in the common area two rooms down that kept me up well past 1:00 a.m. The room I was staying in was literally less than 20 ft away from the front desk so I can't imagine that hotel staff didn't hear how loud these people were being on a Thursday night. My last complaint with this stay was I woke up in the morning and put my bags in my car as I always do, went across the street to a restaurant for breakfast, just to return after 9 :00 to see that they've already checked me out of my road and my digital key was not working anymore. This is a pretty common practice for me to leave and come back in the morning as checkout time is usually 11:00 a.m.. not sure why they felt they needed to check me out prematurely but at this point I was done and just walked out of the hotel at which I'll never return. Lately Hilton properties have been twice the price of other comparable properties in the area so I think this Will be the end of Hilton properties being my preferred choice stay and I'll only stay if they're the only hotel available or around. Very...

Highlights (and why the 5 stars): wonderful, kind and helpful staff - they even provide "goodie bags" for to-go breakfast (which we didn't find out about until we were already about to leave to see sunrise); quickly provided towels after we called when it seemed like our room was late/missed for room service, breakfast that exceeded our expectations (hot eggs, sausages, waffle maker, etc.), well functioning fridge and microwave (so we can actually have leftovers)

Minor feedback/info - our room was missed for room service (or room service was running late which is probable since there is probably staff shortage across the board due to covid - we left our room at 7am and got back around 2:45pm), I think the room smells a bit funny but my husband thought it was fine, and the queen sized beds (only the 2 queen beds room were left when we were booking) felt more like full sized to us and we are not big people. In order to optimize sleep on the last night (prior to Cadillac Mountain sunrise), we actually slept in the separate beds (also a side benefit of not fighting over the blanket 🤣)

Overall, just really exceeding my expectations of a Hampton Inn. Made me really thankful for this place to stay while we explore Acadia National Park. It's a bit further of a drive than places in Bar Harbor but the distance didn't end up not being much of a problem at all - just need to plan the day...

So, honestly, everything was great for the first day. Room was spacious, tidy, bathroom was huge, and the front desk when I came in was so understanding and polite. But by the morning of my third day, I noticed bed bugs in the room (most notably crawling on my son's pillow as he slept) so I scooped the bug up in a cup, took it downstairs, and explained to the lady that there was bed bugs. I even took plenty of pictures because no one wants to hear they found bed bugs.

Although extremely polite, she actually didn't inform the hotel staff at all about the bed bugs, and actually slightly questioned the 'liviliness' of my captured foe, to which I assured her he was plenty lively as he crawled on my kid's pillow. When I came down the next morning to give my keys to the other room (she only moved me across the hall?) I told the front desk manager and he was openly confused why I moved rooms. When I explained I found bed bugs in the room, he was completely baffled, as no one had mentioned it to him. Are you serious? No one mentioned bed bugs to you?

I dunno if anyone has ever had the pleasure of trying to get rid of bed bugs, but it's not easy. All they really did was say sorry, and send me on my way. I paid WAY too much money to get bitten by bed bugs, or even openly ignore the issue. Very disappointed. Will not be...