My one kid was graduating Basic Training down in Fort Jackson, SC. It would be a pretty quick trip down to the area and back, with three of us driving down being cheaper than flying and renting a car. That meant hotels. The first night I wasn’t sure how far we’d be able to drive. I’d just worked the night before so I planned to stop at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Wilkes-Barre PA.
LOCATION
Definitely a plus here is the location. Not only is it fairly easy off & on exit 168 of I81, but it’s also located in an area with a lot of shops and restaurants. There is an arena nearby and I imagine traffic can sometimes be a nightmare when there’s an event going on, but we didn’t have to deal with any of that. The only issue I had was there didn’t seem to be any gas stations at this exit that I could find the next morning when we went to leave.
CHECK-IN & ROOM
The hotel is a fairly new one. I can tell that by looking at it, as I work for another hotel in the chain. There are certain things I picked up on that indicated this, not the least of which is the newer lobby design. All of the Hampton Inns are supposed to have a similar design by this summer, but it’s pretty easy to tell which hotels were built with that design in mind versus which ones were remodeled to alter the original design. The front desk is on the left as I walked in with an expansive breakfast and seating area on the right. It’s quite comfortable with lots of couches and soft chairs as well as the “bar” with plugs for people who want to sit with their electronic devices.
I had no issues checking in. The staff was pleasant to deal with. I have a standing request in my profile for the top floor if it’s available and here we got that. The room keys are still the electronic locks where you slide the card into the slot.
The room was quite nice and roomy. Everything was immaculate, which also helps with the impression of it being a newer hotel. (A conversation in the morning indicated this was 2-3 years old, which did sort of surprise me. The hotel is obviously well maintained.) Two queen-size beds took up most of the room but there was still plenty of room to move around. The flat-screen television received plenty of stations. There was a desk for working at as well as a chair between the bed and the far wall, so plenty of places to sit beside the bed.
The bathroom was also immaculate with plenty of towels for the three of us and enough counter-space for two females to spread out. There was the usual shampoo, conditioner, moisturizing lotion, etc. here as well as the coffee maker for in-room coffee. Water pressure was good when I took my shower in the morning.
AMENITIES
The first thing we headed to was the indoor pool area. This has a pool and Jacuzzi. The Jacuzzi was huge! It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. If every hotel we stayed at had a Jacuzzi like this, I would have been a happy camper. It was nice and hot too. My son swam in the pool while we soaked in the Jacuzzi. There were plenty of lounge chairs to relax in as well when I was done with my soak and he wanted to swim a bit longer. Next to this was the exercise room. This is another thing Hampton has recently updated and it had a good selection of equipment and weights.
Breakfast in the morning was typical of hotel breakfast bars and fine by Hampton standards. I get the hot items all the time, so I tend to stick with just the cereal and fruit. My son tried a waffle here in the waffle-maker but couldn’t finish it. There were also bagels, pastry, toast, yogurt, and the hot items which are usually a meat selection and an egg-based protein. Contrary to popular belief, these are not powdered eggs but eggs that come frozen in a bag and are re-thermed in the bag in a convection oven. Still not the same as fresh, but I like it for a little something to have in the morning before getting on the road.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My bill was under the door and all was right with the world as we left. I would definitely choose this hotel again, especially when we head in this direction. The location is great and the hotel itself is cleaned and well-maintained. All of the staff I encountered were pleasant to deal with and we got a good night’s sleep with no noise issues or other disturbances.
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