The Hotel Northampton — Hotel in Northampton

Color me unimpressed.

I've been traveling for business to the Easthampton area weekly for the past month. In that time, I've stayed at several local hotels. Hotel Northampton is, by far, the least of all of them.

Let me start by saying it's fine. It's clean and the beds are comfortable. It's located in the heart of downtown Northampton and if you're in the area to go out and have fun, it's probably an excellent place.

For the room rates, what you get from the hotel is laughable. Every other hotel I've stayed at has offered amenities that HN simply does not. Bottled water was $2 (most hotels offer it free). There was no complimentary breakfast, although the website does claim to offer continental, this is not accurate. There was no brewed coffee available, just small coffee pots in each room.

When I checked in, I was told that no outside alcohol is allowed on the premises, including the rooms. I was surprised and mentioned that I had not heard of that before. The clerk's response was strange. I said that I'm not much of a drinker, and his reply started with "Well, if you decide to become a drinker on this trip..." That really put me off. He followed it up with an explanation that the bar in the hotel was available and I could order there or even have one delivered right to my room! This was also a lie, because when I attempted to call (overpriced) room service, my call went unanswered, and I was eventually rerouted to a full voice mail box. Even finding a menu was difficult and there were no signs or papers in the room explaining how to get room service actually ordered.

I wound up using GrubHub for all my meals, but I felt like I was doing something wrong ordering outside food after hearing all about how you can't bring outside alcohol.

My room was small and cramped. The door to the bathroom didn't open fully because the toilet got in the way. All the doors to the rooms have cracks around them, so as you're walking by, you can see which rooms have the lights on. The curtains in my room didn't close fully, which would have been fine if there hadn't been a spotlight pointed at the window, causing bright light to shine in lines all night long. Also, because it's downtown, you get all the sounds and smells that come along with that. I also found the numbering to be strange and misaligned, making it a little confusing to find my room.

A friend of mine phrased it well, "Its a good example of dorm life for parents visiting their college-student kids."

Now, the other hotels I've stayed at, for a slightly cheaper rate offered: Free bottled water on request Forgotten sundries (safety pins, razor, etc.) Free breakfast (most offer full breakfast, but continental at minimum) Free brewed coffee 24/7 Room service that picks up the phone Pool/fitness center/business center

Even though I wasn't the one paying for the room, I felt ripped off. Ultimately, this is an overpriced hotel in a cool, historic building, with a convenient location and very little...

I chose to stay here on my birthday and the staff were so welcoming and kind upon arrival! I don’t have any complaints on the staff because they were just all very kind, it stuck with me, thank you!

As for the hotel itself I'm a bit mixed on it, I love the front exterior it shows. The photos that draw you in with the fancy glass windows and all, that's all nice! See, I don't know Northampton well enough, but those photos are definitely misleading because when I finally drove up to there it leads you to a weird back parking lot right next to a graveyard.. and I'm not trying to say I'm completely against that, but it definitely throws a vibe. Also seeing a homeless person walking around the graveyard where my car is parked overnight, was slightly unsettling..

The room we got had a private balcony, which was super cute, but it kind of just overlooks the street and church, at least in the winter time, maybe the scenery is more pleasant in the summer or fall. The room was spacious as we got a couch with our king bed, and a very cozy bathroom with seemingly updated floors.

Those are probably the only features I can say i liked about the hotel tbh, it definitely didn't outweigh the cons... The heat was an issue.. they have an individual thermostat in there which I had to keep kicking on every time it shut off because we're in the middle of February, but it was either chilly, or grossly hot once the incredibly loud heater kicks on. But actually only worked a few times, it then never let me manually kick it on until the next morning, so that made us cold.... The blankets were so thin, they reminded me of hospital sheets, but at least we had like 8 feather pillows. Also, the pull out sofa is maybe 1cm thick (if you go with a group, Do Not Try And Be Nice... Do Not Take The Sofa!) The cABlE TV was so old it struggled for any of the channels to work, me and my son tried watching a movie and it kept shorting out + the quality is actually 2 megapixels with a contrast of +89. It wasn't worth even watching anything at that point. The wifi also didn't work, so I was using my mobile data the entire time as well. The tub actually had a hair in it but I cleaned it out myself because I didn't want that to ruin my time thinking of an unclean, unsanitary bathroom. They also don't even have a microwave 🥲

I think I was trying to keep myself cheerful throughout staying here because it was my birthday and I just wanted to enjoy my night, but I definitely think the hotel needs some insane upgrades to be worth the $$.. the only upside is location. If you're looking for motel quality (at least with good service), then sure! But there's definitely cheaper places for the same hotel experience I received — I'd advise a person who's looking to go for a celebration etc., to 👀...

I have stayed at the hotel before and do love its quaint feeling. This time we stayed in the residential Junior suite because we would be in and out for 3 days at a festival. I chose this room because of the kitchenette, sitting area and the gas fireplace. |The space is cozy and comfortable but the kitchenette just has a microwave and a refrigerator. The coffee system can only be used with the available packets. There were paper and plastic cups, no coffee mugs, no silverware, not even plastic. Not a kitchenette!||The eating table that shows in the photo is not there. A desk took its place, but there are no dining chairs to be able to eat comfortably. |If you advertise a kitchenette you should supply what is needed to eat reasonably!!||I must say the gas fireplace was great, especially since we used that instead of the noisy regular heating system.||But the worst part of this room was the shower! I have never seen a shower placed on the middle wall so that to take a shower you have to face the side wall with the billowing shower curtain( also too short so water ends up on the floor).|The European type of shower that usually is flexible and removable so you can wash is screwed on the wall, but it moves back and forth so you can’t really get a great stream of water.||The water was hot enough but it was just a weird shower. If you try to move against the shower curtain billowing behind you have to be careful not to fall backward!!|I do hope they change this dangerous shower system before someone gets really hurt!!!|I think the management should take a shower there to see how strange it really is…||I don’t mind paying for extras, but I would like to get what I paid for.||On another note the restaurant was very understaffed on a Sunday evening. One relatively new waitperson was covering the dining room alone with just a host to help. There should have been at least two waitpersons, along with a bus person. The service was lacking because the waiter was covering both the upstairs and downstairs and didn’t have the ability to give the service that people required and should expect from such an old and respected hotel.|I work in the restaurant business and train both front and back of the house people, and I was embarrassed for the waiter that night. He did the best he could have but was not given the help he needed to do his job well!!||When I mentioned this situation and one other, I heard from two or three people that the management is just interim. ( so the employees are left to excuse the situation) This shows that it is time for the hotel to get their act together or people|like us who have stayed occasionally over the past twenty years will|move on to someone who clearly cares about...