Hampton Inn & Suites Newport/Middletown — Hotel in Middletown

Edit/Update Response to Adam- Adam, thanks for your (likely AI bot) response. I find it interesting that you literally didn't respond to any of the real issues I mentioned in my review. You said nothing about the completely rude and unprofessional service, deceptive practices or ADA compliance violations. "Judging by the rates and review details, I believe this review is from the spring/summer of 2023"- you would be wrong. We did not stay at the property spring/summer of 23. It was much more recent than that, but thanks for the guess. I do not know what that has to do with the horrible customer service we experienced. I am absolutely familiar with Febreze (made up of known neurotoxins and endocrine disruptors), but the smell we encountered upon entering the room was much stronger and more chemical-smelling than Febreze. Again, based on years of experience navigating these sensitivities, I am confident cleaning staff were not diluting the cleaning products according to product instructions. Perhaps it would be best for me to contact the Health Dept. and let them know of the OSHA violations surrounding chemical management. Very disappointing that your company does not take the poor and deceptive customer service we experienced with the front desk staff (Cait) seriously.

Original review- Some of the worst customer service I have ever received at a Hilton property. We had reservations to stay here for 1 night on a New England road trip. We had made reservations months in advance. When we arrived, we found the property to be somewhat dated, but the real issue began when we walked into our room. It smelled so strongly of chemical, we could barely breathe. I don't know if they were spraying multiple cans of Lysol-type products in each room, or if they were not properly diluting their cleaning concentrate, but it was horrible. A member of our party has serious fragrance sensitivities with serious symptoms, so we went back downstairs and explained to the front desk that there was no way we could stay there. Cait at the front desk was so unprofessional and rude and basically said there was nothing they could do. We asked if all the rooms smelled the same and she said yes, so we said unfortunately due to health reasons we would have to cancel the reservation. She argued, she was condescending, she threatened "good luck finding any other rooms tonight" and that we could check the hotel next door "but they are expensive- over $400 a night". Excuse me? Our reservation at this Hampton Inn was over $400 a night. I would've paid more for a hotel that didn't make our family member sick for improper chemical use. She made ridiculous claims that all the hotels in town will smell the same because they all use the same cleaning products. (That may be, but at least other hotels are using them property, because the Residence Inn next door is a great property and we enjoyed our stay there and had no issues with fragrances.) Finally, Cait says "ok, so you want me to go ahead and process your check out?", deceptively trying to process it as a checkout instead of cancellation so we would still have to pay for it. Very deceptive. Eventually the manager on duty processed the no fee cancellation. So, for Cait and all the Hilton staff who need to use this as a teaching moment- fragrance and perfume sensitivities and allergies can actually be considered as a disability under the ADA and subject to accommodations the same as other disabilities. You could have chosen to be kind and understanding to a guest's health needs, but instead you were completely unprofessional. I do not recommend this property. Especially stay away if you have fragrance...

Overall: A safe, clean, quiet option when looking for a place to stay in the Newport area - significantly less expensive than staying downtown, even when factoring in Uber / Lyft rides (over the 2 days/2 nights we were there, we spent about $100 between 8 rides to / from the hotel to either the beach or downtown Newport). ||PROS: |1. Rooms are clean and fairly spacious, hotel feels safe, free breakfast and downtown Newport is just a short ride away! A good spot for a weekend getaway to Newport. ||2. Front desk staff was great, they let us check in early (even after a sold out night) and both times we asked for extra towels, they were brought up almost immediately. ||3. I also appreciated how a Starbucks, Shaw’s and Walgreens are all within a 10 minute walk of the hotel (even though the walk to get there isn’t the most pedestrian friendly). ||4. I didn’t have the chance to use the indoor pool, but I appreciated the option, as I don’t believe all Hampton Inn’s have pools. ||Recommendations for Improvement: |1. Shuttle - either making the shuttle free or at a much reduced cost. I read in reviews that the shuttle was $3 one way and was disappointed to find that the price has increased to $7 one way per person. For the average couple, let alone the average family, it’s cheaper - or at the very least the same cost (depending on the time of day) - to just Uber / Lyft downtown. ||2. Not sure why the website lists an onsite restaurant? There isn’t one, other than the lobby hosting the complimentary breakfast, which is only open at breakfast. I’d recommend adjusting this on the website as it’s a bit misleading. As a Hilton credit card holder, I was hoping to use my quarterly Hilton credit for a drink and/or meal here, and was disappointed to learn this wasn’t a possibility. ||3. Fix the Keycard issue - our keycards weren’t working our second night and we had to go down to fix them. Then, that following morning before checkout we had the same problem with the new key cards as well, not sure the...

We really liked the experience of staying at this hotel. They were pet friendly and we were able to bring our little black cat with us. There is extra charge of about 25$ a day for pets. The rooms are decent size and clean and tidy. The hallways and common areas are also clean. The breakfast is simple but they have hot foods like eggs sausages and bread available. As well as some fruits like bananas and apples which is great. The juices could be fresh one but understand that is not the policy perhaps. There is also always coffee and tea available all day in lobby for guests which is nice as well as water fountain which is super great. Parking on facility was perfect. Location is perfect only few minutes to Newport mansions and shopping centers. The hotel staff is very friendly and they help with any requests for room service or items request very fast. Overall we really liked the stay for the two night and would stay again.

What they can improve: The shuttle service they offer to the city center is way too high price in my opinion - I think it was $25 a trip- almost price of just taking uber if you are two and worse if you are family. We would have loved to take that but didnt due to price- something for them to consider. Also, the checkout was kind of odd we requested late checkout- got only 1 hour extra- and then someone gave us wrong information that we could pay 75$ for 3-4 extra hours while another manager later told us its $135 for half day. So in end we just didnt opt in for any late checkout except that extra 1 hour given all this confusion. Something they could clarify with staff in training as no one apologized about this confusion also and was bit of a pity as we would...