DoubleTree by Hilton Front Royal Blue Ridge Shadows — Hotel in Front Royal

Not mad about the rules, mad about the way it was handled.

It was 10:30 on a Tuesday night when my 3 children and I (12, 10 and 6) rolled into this area VA fleeing Wilmington, NC from hurricane Florence. With me I had my 2 dogs and was in desperate need of some sleep before finishing our drive to PA. I called the booking like for Holiday Inn's, telling them I needed a room in Winchester, VA, explained by animal situation, and was informed that that normally they do not take pets however due to the storms they were making an exception. They let me know everything was unfortunately booked. Hanging up and upon doing my own search I found the one in Front Royal (which I had not known) and decided to swing by and see if they could accommodate my family. Upon entering I was told they did in fact have a room, but when I mentioned the animal situation the clerk told me "THEY were not excepting animals" .. "Are you sure?" I asked "I just got off the line with your corporate booking people and they said exceptions are being made". To which I swiftly received the reply of "WE are not". That's it. I am not a person who thinks everyone should have bent the rules and rescued my family in my time of need, I get it, rules are rules and I understand there are plenty of reasons to allow no animals. My issue is how it was handled. The clerk could have at least pretended to verify for me, asked a manager, assisted me in finding one of their sister properties who was taking animals, but no a simple and dismissive "WE are not" leaving me to retreat to my search tired and frustrated.

Upon googling I have also found where similar instances have occurred with other people and Holiday Inns in the time of hurricanes all of which wound up publicized and apologies issues ... so to the clerk who sent me away remember you are in the hospitality business ... and while I'm sure the hotel was nice, Ill never know, and working in an industry where I travel often can guarantee you I will seeking out a different hotel brand...

Beautiful Hotel, but Disappointing Stay...

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5 stars)

I recently stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Front Royal Blue Ridge Shadows on August 15, 2024, for one night. While the hotel itself is beautiful, my experience was not without its issues, which is why I’m giving it a 3-star rating.

The Good: The hotel staff, particularly Sarah, Alex, and Norman, were excellent. They were polite, kind, and very helpful during my short stay, which I greatly appreciated. Their professionalism was a highlight of my visit and a redeeming factor for this review.

The Room: Unfortunately, my room had a couple of significant problems. The air conditioning did not work, making for a very uncomfortable night’s sleep. Additionally, the deadbolt on the door was misaligned, rendering it unusable—a concerning safety issue for anyone who values secure accommodations.

The Restaurant: My worst experience was at the hotel’s restaurant. I was informed by a restaurant employee that breakfast was served from 7 to 11 a.m. the next morning. However, when I arrived at 10:28 a.m., I waited for a few minutes with no assistance. When I finally sought help, I was denied service at 10:31 a.m. because “we close at 10:30.” This poor customer service left a bad impression, and I would not recommend dining there.

Overall: While the hotel staff’s kindness and professionalism were noteworthy, the issues with the room and the disappointing restaurant experience made my stay less enjoyable. I wouldn’t let this particular experience deter me from staying at this DoubleTree again in the future, but for now, I can only rate it 3 stars.

I hope this feedback helps improve the experience for future guests.

Carey...

My family and I came out to visit family over the Easter weekend. Our first impression of the hotel was awesome. Alex at the front desk was accommodating in so many respects (more on that later). We came early (around 2:15pm) and check in was at 3pm. Our room was not ready so they moved us up to the 5th floor. We stayed in a 2 room suite and when we got up to the room, first impression was, looked like nothing was updated from when it was the holiday inn except the mattresses. The pull out couch was the same and very uncomfortable but the beds and pillows were very comfortable. We were taken back by the fact that the hotel cleaning service did not come and make beds and clean between nights. Every hotel we’ve ever stayed at came and removed trash and cleaned up a little bit. They did not at all! My wife even asked the front desk lady the second night to leave a note to do this and nothing. Also, I understand the towel situations in hotels (the 2-3 day rule) and if you leave towels on the floor, means you should get clean ones, that also didn’t happen because they didn’t come into the room to even check. One of the nights, my wife went to go get new sheets and comforter from Alex for the pullout couch and she was more than accommodating. Listen, these are all fixable areas and we know they’re changing things over but don’t open a hotel if you’re not completely ready too. Houlihan’s restaurant was open for breakfast but not anything else. The saving grace to all of this was the people and how kind they were with our concerns. I would’ve rated this weekend a 4 but with all of the small details, I expected more from a doubletree and a Hilton hotel (as we are...