Hampton Inn Manhattan Grand Central — Hotel in New York

My ten day stay here was disappointing for many reasons.

Firstly, after seeing the cleaning staff let a person into a room without checking with the front desk to see if that person was staying in the room we had with concerns about the security of the rooms which turned into a worry for what happened throughout our stay when I later found out staff had gone through my personal items and taken photos of them.

Secondly, the cleaning of the rooms was generally poor and not done regulary. For example, on arrival my shower drain was full of someone else's hair.

I stayed for 10 nights and even tho I was out at work all day everyday they did not clean the room everyday, which is not the experience you want to return to after long working days away from home.

The iron for clothes in the room was old and stained one of my work shirts. My wife visited for a few days and found the hair dryer was also broken.

Thirdly, the hotel was a nightmare when full. The lobby got blocked by queues of people checking in and it became hard to get in and out of the building. Many guests got upset during this period and complaints at the front desk were regular. The lift at these times took up to 10 mins to come to my floor which was quite frustrating. The food ran out at breakfast which shouldn't happen but did on two occasions during my stay. After about 20 mins it was replenished, but on one monirng i did not have the extra time to wait.

Fourthly, the rooms are also very small. Basically just enough room for the bed and that is it. The hotel is old and in need of some updating. The air con units were old, noisy and didnt work well. Not all the light bulbs in my room and the corridors were working.

Finally, the staff lied and added false charges to my credit card, so beware. I was given a 125US smoking in my room charge. Yet I never smoked in my room. The manager claimed to have evidence yet the evidence was not the smell of smoke in my room or a smoke alarm going off but that the cleaner took a picture of loose cannabis flowers from in a draw in my room (cannabis was decriminalised in NY for anyone wondering). When I disputed the charge the manager had problems understanding English and stuck to the argument that seeing loose cannabis and the end of a joint in the room is the equivalent of smoking. But smoking in the room would need smoke and/or lighting something. Yet i never did that. So i have been charged for cannabis possession in my own room. This "having cannabis" in your room penalty is not stated in the fine print and to say possesing cannabis is the same as smoking is a false equivalence. These are tricks and hustles of the trade I guess. But it's not a nice feeling when people lie and steal your money under false pretence and accusation. The manager also never mentioned this charge to me so that we could discuss it, or came to the room to mention any smell of smoke to me, which suggests this is a common hustle they are operating and hoping guests do not challenge it. If they had a probelm why not come to my room at the time to mention it and then you would have evidence of smoke. This never happened. An end in your room is not smoking in your room.

They also have not returned my 175US deposit for incidentals yet.

So overall not only is the hotel poorly maintained and cleaned but they are looking to scalp extra charges onto your credit card. Double check your records if you do stay here.

i regret staying here. The price is relatively high because of the location but the standards are pretty low. I should not have tried to go more budget by staying at the Hampton Inn, but I was trying to save a few bucks. Sometimes however you find out that in trying to save yourself a few bucks you actually end up having a much worse overall experience. Lesson learnt.

If it can be avoided I would suggest not choosing this hotel during your trip.

I am hoping this issue will be taken to a higher level as i have also written a complaint to...

This did not live up to the usual high Hampton Inn standards.

1. The desk worked tried to charge me an extra $300 upon checkin and asked me to sign for the bill without me even seeing it. I do NOT sign without seeing it first and so glad that I did. When I told her that was incorrect and that I got the price directly from the Hilton customer service number, she told that I needed to call them because that's how "they put it in". I would think a Hilton employee should call Hilton since she claimed that's how "they put it in", but I tried to call anyway. When I got to speak to someone, the desk worker said my room was ready and asked to sign again. She didn't say anything about the price, so I was not going to sign again. I actually had to ask about the price and she admitted the mistake because she read it as a higher price for the 1st 2 nights and assumed that was the price for all 4 nights. I can't believe that she would ask me to sign again without telling me the correct price.
2. The next day I found out that this hotel does not have housekeeping make up the rooms unless we specifically request it. That should be something that the desk should notify guests at checkin. I've stayed multiple nights at different hotels in multiple states since Covid and never heard that anywhere.
3. The room was incredibly small for the price that I had to pay. I know it's NYC and everything is overpriced, but seriously? This was overpriced even for NYC.
4. There were no hotel directories in the rooms, so I had to ask where there was an ice machine. Again, other hotels have directories in their rooms, but not here. No communication either where the fitness center was. We actually found it by accident. Did not even know it existed.
5. While I appreciate the hot breakfast and precautions of having someone serve rather than everyone grabbing same utensils, the variety was the poorest I've ever seen an any Hampton/Hilton property. Does this hotel or corporate have anything against serving pork products? Turkey sausage is OK, but 3 days in a row gets old. Same with potatoes.
6. Upon checkout, the desk worker gave me incorrect information regarding public transportation to LaGuardia airport. I asked about the way we arrived and she said that's not available. When I got the Grand Central Terminal, it absolutely was available and the best route. On the positive side, I would like to say that it was very nice that my room was available early (once the pricing was corrected). That saved us from taking out bags with us around the city for a few hours. Also, the website was saying that breakfast was only a bagged grab & go, so the hot breakfast was a nice surprise even though the variety was lacking. Overall, this visit did not meet the 100%...

I am disgusted by the treatment I have received from this hotel. I am a very loyal Hampton and Hilton customer, but I minded to never stay with them after my recent experience with being wrongly charged for cancellation and then not being able to secure a refund. They even promised not to charge me any cancellation fees via Expedia, and then later refused several days later to refund me the cancellation fees.

I had to cancel a stay at this hotel recently due to a last-minute family emergency. This was upsetting enough without having to go through this arduous process of cancelling my stay and securing my rightful refund. I booked my stay on a no-cancellation fee condition and the circumstances meant I had to cancel just a few hours before the time window for free cancellation expired.

However, an issue that arose with Expedia’s website on 20th March (which they acknowledged) meant that my request for cancellation was not processed by the company correctly and I had to try again the next day - at which point I was charged a cancellation fee because it was no longer within the time window. This is despite me initially requesting the cancellation within the time window. Note that my day of check-in was 23rd March, so I still cancelled a whole two days before I was due to check-in the hotel.

I contacted Expedia, who contacted the hotel and all agreed that the cost of cancellation would be waived on this occasion. However, to my disappointment, the cost of a night’s stay was still withdrawn from my account as a cancellation fee. I have tried contacting Expedia, who insist they can’t handle the refund as this is Hampton’s responsibility, but I contacted Hampton and they insisted that the refund is actually Expedia’s responsibility. I am at a loss for words and I am quickly losing my patience. Maybe next time I will take my business to another hotel chain.

UPDATE: the manager has claimed on TripAdvisor that I cancelled on the day of check-in. Expedia have also notified me that a refund was denied. Unfortunately the manager appears to be mistaken. I cancelled on the 21st March as email proof can attest to, and my day of check-in is 23rd March. It is extremely disappointing and unprofessional that the hotel can’t even get its facts right in response to a loyal customer of the Hilton brand on TripAdvisor. I love Hampton and the Hilton brand in general but I will have no choice but to stay at other brands in the future sadly. I will be advising my friends and family to stay...