Best Western Williamsburg Historic District — Hotel in Williamsburg

Extremely Disappointing Stay – Not Family Friendly, Poorly Maintained, and Poor Customer Service

Our recent stay at the Best Western in Williamsburg, VA was deeply disappointing and fell far short of expectations, especially for a family-friendly hotel. We were a group of four adults and four children, staying for five nights, and encountered significant issues that no guest—let alone a family—should have to deal with.

Facility Conditions: The general condition of the hotel was unacceptable. The bathroom in our room was so cramped that you had to squeeze between the sink and toilet just to close the door. The shower drained so slowly that we ended up standing in several inches of water after only a few minutes. The carpet was filthy—our socks were stained after walking on it briefly. The indoor pool was a major reason we booked this hotel, yet it was unusable due to a broken heater and water temperatures below 60 degrees. Outside, the “landscaping” included artificial flower arrangements with tags still on them stuck into the flower beds—an odd and lazy attempt at decoration.

Customer Experience: Midway through our stay, we were inexplicably locked out of our room—despite having two more nights remaining. When we asked for help, the situation was met with confusion rather than urgency. One morning at breakfast, a strong odor led us to discover there was an active gas leak—police and fire officials were on-site. There was no clear communication or guidance from hotel staff during what was potentially a dangerous situation. When I attempted to speak to the manager on duty about our experiences, the conversation quickly turned unprofessional and combative, making it clear that customer feedback is not welcome or valued here.

Housekeeping: The housekeeping service was among the worst I’ve experienced. Upon arrival, we moved a sitting chair and found what could only be described as an entire bag of chips under it. Beer bottle caps were scattered around the bed. Despite having four people per room, housekeeping repeatedly left only three towels—we had to ask for additional towels every day. Trash was left unemptied on multiple days. One morning, we told housekeeping we’d be out shortly—they never returned, and our rooms went untouched for the entire day. When we brought this to the front desk’s attention, the response was defensive and accusatory. The manager showed us a checklist that falsely marked our rooms as cleaned, essentially calling us dishonest instead of taking responsibility.

Final Thoughts: This hotel is in desperate need of better management, basic cleanliness standards, and a serious reevaluation of how they handle guest concerns. It is not a family-friendly option and, based on our experience, not worth the cost or the frustration. We strongly advise other travelers—especially families—to look elsewhere for accommodations in...

Good hotel overall, with a few improvements needed and a bit old.

First, the bedrooms were a good size. We were in a 2x queen bed one. They are a it dated, and ours had a relatively small window. Ours was clean enough, and included a small fridge, microwave and coffee/tea machine. Beds were comfortable, pillows a bit less so. Included a closet for coats etc by the entry door, which we found very useful. The upside of this being an older hotel is that the walls are thick and sound insulation if definitely above average. We had our kids, and families with kids on each side, and did not hear any noise. They were cleaned well every day.

The room’s bathroom was clean, included above average supplies (soaps, shampoo etc, but also makeup remover). Came with plenty of towels and hairdryer. It had a combination of bath and shower. Good water pressure and heat. It was on the smaller side.

Breakfast was good, with above average selection. Included a number of warm options every day, sometime sausages, sausage patties, bacon, scrambled eggs, cereals, breads, fruits, yogurt, pancakes, French toasts, etc. Fruit juices, coffee and tea. On the downside, the breakfast room is too small for the size of the hotel. We stayed 4 nights, and had to wait to get a table for all but one of the days.

The indoor pool is definitely above average. It also has a hot tub. The water was very clean and depth was perfect for kids (our 5 yo old that swims well was perfectly safe, our 2yo needed help as it was too deep). Pool towels were not great, too small even for our oldest kid, but you can ask for more towels like the ones in the rooms. The layout is nice as well, with a combination of loundgers and chairs. A bit slippery, so kids should definitely not run.

Parking was good, easy.

Finally, service was inconsistent. Most staff were very friendly. We had one very rude one however. When we asked if we could get just two small cartons of milk for tea/coffee we were told very rudely that not. Note that the coffee/tea machine is open all day, but at this time there was no milk or creamers for the coffee and tea. The employee treated my wife very badly, berating her. Only after noting we wanted to discuss with the manager, we were given the milk. If not for this experience, we would have given this 4 stars.

Ratio price/service was good if you can get a deal on one of the travel websites. Also note that while this says Williamsburg Colonial, it is about 30-40 minute walk to the actual colonial part, but so are most of them.

We...

Man …. This was rough..

So.. my family and I looked at these reviews to find a place to lay our heads near Busch Gardens..but I have to say, these reviews are a bit filtered or something.. the only positive is how close this location is to the park… and the cute little restaurant attached.

So to start, this place is ridiculously over priced for the very dated and small rooms they provide… but since we were in need and it was last minute, we had to go ahead and tough it out. So to start, walking into the room, it is very small and very dated… the carpet caries an old smell. The bathroom is very small you can’t even close the door while sitting on the toilet.

As soon as we walked in to check the cleanliness of the room we noticed that the toilet was covered in urine and appeared to have been completely untouched by housekeeping. The toilet bowl was unclean and there were stains on the toilet seat. I immediately asked them to come and clean the bathroom as this was extremely unsanitary (especially with COVID and such). Two of the towels had stains that appeared to be blood on them. They did come and immediately clean the bathroom.

Off to the park we go after cleaning and sanitizing on our own.

Once we returned and sat down to eat, a roach crawled onto the table while I was in mid bite. Disgusting right…

I excused it and hoped that the little sucker snuck in due to the trees around. Nope..

In the middle of the night I go to the restroom and flick on the lights..multiple(about 6) roaches scatter away to hide. It’s about 3am.. entire family is sleeping. I was so grossed out I was up and couldn’t dare sleep.

The toilets barely flush.. walls are thin.. we left as soon as our children woke up. Had to get out of there.

The nerve of this place to charge $260 for a small outdated(old) low ceiling roach infested room blows my mind. This is not okay. Place needs a serious update… a deep cleaning and price adjustments! I feel cheated and honestly want my money back....