Hampton Inn & Suites Lonoke — Hotel in Lonoke

Although we are rewards members and regular guests of the Hilton chains because of our past experience with their hospitality, our recent, two-night stay at the Hampton Inn/Lonoke was a complete disappointment.

For instance, our first morning was without hot water. To be fair, I didn’t specifically request hot water when I made the reservation. I ignorantly assumed it was included in the price. After about an hour, two calls to the front desk and a personal visit to same, an unapologetic desk clerk finally got us just enough hot water for one shower (we were both still late for our scheduled appointments, but at least one of us smelled better). Now I realize unexpected system failures occur outside anyone’s control, and I have written many positive reviews based on how well normal problems were calmly mitigated (not fixed, mind you, but honestly mitigated) by attentive, polite and invested managers. Sadly, this is not one of those reviews.

To continue adding insult to Hilton injury, both mornings of our stay, we ate breakfast while listening to the “soothing” sounds of the staff of the front desk clerk (loitering in the kitchen area while the unattended front desk phone rang and rang) complain about her job and her plans to quit. Frankly, I hope she doesn’t. Looking back, the impromptu dining/drama theatre turned out to be the highlight of our stay at the Hilton/Lonoke, and I suspect future guests may enjoy it as well.

Of course, we had hot water problems again on the second day but simply didn’t have the time or the energy to fight the ingrained apathy of the staff or the powers that be.

Simply put, the stay at the Lonoke Hampton was enough to drive me to drink, but since it is also located in a dry county, actual and considerable driving would have been necessary. (On the other hand, had I found some beer, I suppose I could have kept it ice cold in the shower.)

In fairness, the room was reasonably clean, but I would avoid this island of misfit management until Hilton Corporate steps in and gets it back...

I arrived at the Lonoke location on December 27th and had to go to the front desk because I was not given a digital key. There was a short wait as the guest in front of me completed their check-in. As I approached the desk, the female clerk was borderline unfriendly in their greeting.

While I was checking in, the clerk sharply stated that I needed to swipe my credit card. I said to "Please, use the card on file" and was SHOCKED to hear, "You are JUST silver status! You need to swipe your card." The tone used was loaded with arrogance. I have been traveling throughout the United States this year for business and have been in various Hilton brand hotels, but they aren't available everywhere, therefore I am only a Silver status member of their rewards program. I stood there stunned for a few seconds and I said, "Wow, JUST silver status, what a way to make someone feel welcome!" The clerk immediately started backpedaling and said, "I didn't mean it in that way! I ask Diamond and Gold members to swipe their cards too." YEAH RIGHT! If that was the case, then why not say, "We are asking everyone to swipe their cards." She also forgot that I had stood there watching her interaction with the guest before me and her tone of voice was so much nicer, but he must have either been a Diamond or Gold member. Never before have I encountered such prejudiced approach to service and snobby attitude at a hotel.

Edit to respond to Hampton Inn response: It does NOT surprise me that they are trying to place the blame on me. It was not the credit card policy that was the issue, it was the attitude of the employee, which is also the person responding to my comment because I suspect she was the manager too. So, they now get 1 star review and I would make is a -1 if I could because my review was of the employee's arrogance NOT the credit...

Fabulous. I said I would never stay at a Hampton Inn again after numerous issues this past year, but the reviews on this particular property caught my eye. I decided to give it one more attempt since I used to love Hampton Inn before the past year. I simply cannot put into a short paragraph or two how taken I was with the entire facility, especially the room. Honestly, I went out of my way to find something wrong, and I could not, it was spotless. It was awesome. All of the furniture was spotless, not even a scratch on the desk. Even the hallway carpet smelled new. I was shocked to learn the property was ten-years old, I thought more along the lines of 1-2 years tops. The tiles and the stainless shined, and I must say that the coffee pot was the cleanest that I have ever seen. I did not even hesitate to brew up a cup. Very friendly staff, and I was impressed when I was asked what floor I would like to stay on, having never been asked that before. Conveniently located next to food establishments, filling stations, and the on-ramp for the freeway. I am completely impressed and so glad I decided to try this Hampton Inn. It is no fault of the hotel, but be prepared to pay a ludicrous amount of Arkansas...