The Hewitt Wellington — Hotel in Spring Lake

A friend had her wedding in Spring Lake and so booked a block of rooms at the Hewitt Wellington. When we called to book a room we were told it would be $139.00 per night with the wedding discount and the deposit required was 50% of one night, so would be $70.00. Great, we made the booking.

The wedding day is finally upon us so we head down to the hotel and at check in we are told no, the price was incorrect and actually it would be $200 per night. I said no, we told $139 by the employee. I asked if the deposit was not 50% of the first night and was told yes it is. The record of our deposit shows we were charged $70 which would mean $139 per night. The manager said sorry, that employee was wrong and it was $200.

In my line of work if an employee misquotes a price, we do not penalize the customer. We eat the cost to retain a customer. I cannot believe we had to pay for the mistake of an employee that obviously didn't know what they were doing. The manager admitted it was a mistake but refused to fix it. Had we known the cost, we would have stayed elsewhere.

The stay itself was ok, certainly not worth the price. I get that it is an old Victorian bed and breakfast but that doesn't mean things can't be repaired or kept nice. Our room was very musty and dusty and there was dirt and bits of broken up, dried leaves under the bed. Many of the walls need to be repainted and most of the screens on the windows are torn up and frayed.

The bed itself was quite uncomfortable and maybe only 8 inches thick. On top of all of this we barely had any water pressure and it didn't stay hot for very long.

We read a small sign in the bathroom that said if you wanted fresh towels, just leave old ones on the floor. So we each used our towels twice and then placed them on the floor. We then left for the day and came back about 10 hours later. Nobody had come into our room to replace towels or anything. The bed was left unmade (not a big deal but a sign that room service had not been there) and the towels were right where we left them. Friends of ours staying in the same hotel said they had gotten new towels and turn down service so I know it is available.

Overall this hotel seems to have gotten by simply based on the fact that is older and "quaint" however that doesn't excuse the poor customer service, lack of basic amenities, and an apparent lack of cleaning staff.

Had the manager been more helpful with the mistake that her employee made, I would have been much more willing to forgive all of the rest. You simply cannot have poor service like that and then only have a mediocre facility. Will not be going back and will make sure others know there are plenty of other places to stay in...

I checked into the Hewitt Wellington on Monday, June 13th, 2022 at approximately 10 p.m. The front desk was closed and it is important to note that the lights were off. I could not see the notice on the darkened desk that gave the after-hours help number. Contrary to what Mr. Johnson, the manager, later claimed, there were no other notices in the reception area for the after-hours phone number. There was an envelope with my room key on the desk. Unfortunately, the key was not for the suite that I reserved, but for a smaller room. The result was I had to sleep on the floor that night as I gave the bed to my daughters. Next morning, the front desk clerk admitted the hotel's mistake and was very apologetic and helpful. The first chance that I had to speak to the manager, Mr. Johnson, was on Wednesday. I informed Mr. Johnson of the hotel's mistake and the fact that I had to sleep on the floor Monday night. Mr. Johnson informed me he would only refund me the difference between the price of the small room and the suite for Monday night. In light of the inconvenience caused by the hotel's mistake, I was of the opinion that Mr. Johnson could have done better to redress this. This was and is not about the amount of money involved, but the fact that I wanted some acknowledgement that the hotel had fumbled this situation. Mr. Johnson was unfortunately not apologetic or indeed professional as regards my respectful sharing of the facts with him. When I asked to speak to the owner, I was informed that the Hewitt Wellington was owned by a Home Owners' Association and that Mr. Johnson was where the buck stopped, so to say. Mr. Johnson then offered to take one night off my three night stay, if I left immediately. Again, all I was looking for was a token acknowledgement of the inconvenience caused by the hotel's mistake. Mr. Johnson badly needs a refresher course in Hotel Management 101 and Good Manners. He seems to be of the opinion that he is not answerable to the Home Owners' Association board that hired him, but I will continue to share my experience with the Spring Lake Chamber of Commerce and other...

Be Prepared To Be Escorted Out By The POLICE if You Complain About Room Cleanliness and Service!

If you stay at The Hewitt Wellington and find the service or your room unsatisfactory, and complain to the manager Matt, you will have to answer to the POLICE!

I had booked room 18 a few months ago for a 3-day weekend stay in July. Knowing that most Spring Lake hotels are outdated I called the front desk ahead of our stay, and asked if room 18 had been remodeled. I was assured that it was. Upon checking in I found our room not to have been remodeled nor to be sanitary. There were greasy and questionable stains on the sofa, curtains and bed. After my initial complaint about multiple issues with the room, the on-duty front desk assistant manager Bridget did not apologize for this inconvenience however, offered a discount upon checking out.

Upon checkout I was instructed to speak with Matt, the manager. I began in a very friendly tone telling Matt the issues with the room:

-Questionable stains -Nobody cleaned our room the entire stay -The mattress on the sofa had springs sticking out and was extremely uncomfortable. I was in significant pain after sleeping on it -Miscommunication about the room being remodeled

Matt proceeded to cut me off. The on-duty manager did not allow or want to hear from a guest, instead he offered to print out the definition of the word remodeled. I declined. He then said “the customer is not always right” and proceeded to verbally abuse me. He said he wasn’t going to offer proper discounts and that if I did not like the hotel I should leave at once.

On my calm remark that I found it unbelievable that a manager shall allow himself to talk to a customer in such a rude way, Matt called the police to escort me from the hotel. Allow me to repeat this, the on duty manager in the hospitality industry decided to call the police on a guest speaking and voicing genuine concerns.

I am bewildered at this hotel’s complete lack of service, mistreatment and abhorrent behavior...