Hampton Inn & Suites San Marcos — Hotel in San Marcos

So first off, I was VERY hesitant to rent here as the reviews go back and forth between 1 star and 5 star. I noticed everyone with a bad review did not leave any photos. I stay at alot of hotels for work and last week I tried Fairfield Inn...while that hotel was a lot more renovated, I do not like their breakfast options.

I decided to give Hampton Inn in San Marcos a chance since I normally stay at Hilton hotels.

Upon arrival, I go into the lobby and noticed the very front lobby needs major painting but they have a sign up saying renovations in progress. As I'm in property management, I understand things can take time. I get to the front desk and the employee was taking a work call on the landline. He politely asked them to hold on for a minute and put them on hold to ask if I was checking in. He checked my ID, gave me my room key, explained breakfast hours, where the elevator and my room was located.

I get to my room and I'm ready to take pictures because I know whether this is going to be a good or bad experience, photos are a MUST since everyone lacked the common courtesy to show us what the big deal is.

I open the door, a slight smaller stale smell is in the room. The AC is off so I assumed the smell is from no air movement. This smell almost instantly goes away as I step inside.

The room is mixed with newer and older items....gold door handles, newer curtains, older headboard, newer ottoman, etc. Obviously, they are trying to better the place.

A fresh coat of PAINT is needed but overall, not bad.

Clean: Clean sheets with a few small pen markings like it wouldn't come out. Sheets and pillows appear and smell clean. Clean front sink. Overall clean microwave. Clean towels. Clean shower. Clean bathroom sink minus behind the sink faucet where it has slightly moved and collected some hard stains/grime. Clean behind bathroom door.

Dirty: Small amount dust on bottom of window sill near the floor. Two small hairs on base of toilet. One small indention on door frame that has a small hair in it. Behind front entrance door is some dirt.

LOCATION is in center of town but their is construction in front of the hotel on the feeder road that is OUT OF THEIR CONTROL.

I would normally give this type of hotel a 4 star rating due to a little more TLC needed but I honestly believe they have been jipped on their reviews so I decided they deserve a 5 star with a lengthy review...

This has to be the worst Hampton Inn I've ever stayed in. The location was less than desirable and the hotel itself was very outdated. Service was sub par but given that it was Thanksgiving holiday I won't hold that against them. Once checked in and in our room it was incredibly muggy inside and was hit with a strong stale smell. Set our bags down, adjusted the thermostat, and left for a few hours so that upon returning it would be at least comfortable. Turns out that the air conditioner wasn't working properly and wouldn't stay running for more than a few minutes at a time, which would become a problem throughout the first night as it'd be almost too hot to sleep in. The bed sheets were too small for the "king size" bed I'd chosen and would slip off the corners at the slightest movement. The bathroom had what appeared to be black mold growing on the ceiling above the shower and the shower head itself had so much build up of calcium inside that water pressure could barely be felt. The vent to pull the air out of the bathroom had so much dust and build up inside it was hard not to notice it even at a glance. The iron was filthy, looks as though it's never been cleaned. Half of the lights in my room didn't work along with most of the outlets. The microwave area looked pretty bad as you can see in the picture, never been dusted by the looks of it. The elevator didn't have an annual inspection sticker posted anywhere inside or outside and no weight limit sticker was posted either, which if I'm not mistaken is an OSHA violation. The only stickers were ones for "firefighters operation", a "use stairs in emergency", and one advertising hot sauce which was also torn in several places. All of these seemingly small things added up and for what I was paying, it just didn't seem right. We stayed one of our two nights here and opted to stay at an Embassy Suites 10 minutes up the road instead for our second night. A complete 180 from this dump. I DO NOT RECOMMEND...

First off, lets me just say I’m a frequent traveler and stayed at everything from 2 star to 5 star hotels.|In the case of the Hampton Inn in San Marcus, I can honestly say I’ve never had such a bad hotel experience by FAR. The ineptitude and lack of managerial oversight of this property is incredible.||So starting with my first night, I woke up to FIRE ants in my room and in my clothes which stung me severely when I put them on. When I went downstairs to request a new room from the front desk, the front desk clerk was totally unfazed by my problem and barely seemed to care. He then offered the room NEXT DOOR to my |current room (you mean the room with a FIRE ANT Infestation?). When I declined, he finally put me in a handicapped room down the hall on the same floor. ||Fine, or so I thought. ||The next morning I woke up at 2:00am to a PARTY going on right outside my window. Yes, apparently a hotel guest invited 30 of their friends over to have LOUD party (IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT) When I a called down to the front desk to complain,|the clerk said he’d “look into it”. LOOK INTO IT?? The party was going on directly across from the front desk in PLAIN eyesight. |Did the party stop? NO. |So this is the type of property Hilton runs in San Marcos?. No management oversight, poor training, totally inept staff, and a free-for-all when it comes to security and a peaceful night for the guests? I was of course offered a “discount” for|all my troubles. Did I receive a discount? Nope, full price. ||I recommend staying ANYWHERE but the Hampton Inn...