Mid-tier, mid-level, and mid-range hotel properties usually offer a complimentary breakfast as part of the room rate — but what if too many people at breakfast at this unprepared Hampton Inn prevented you from participating during your stay? That happened to me during the second day of my stay at one hotel property for two days.
Too Many People at Breakfast at This Unprepared Hampton Inn. Hotel Review.
The hotel property in question is the Hampton Inn Athens in the state of Georgia. The city of Athens is primarily known as a college town and home to the University of Georgia.
Adjacent to the front desk was the usual display of snacks that are complimentary to members of the Hilton Honors membership program who earned Diamond or Gold elite level status — but two University of Georgia flags were placed on top of the display, which contained a:
- Bottle of water
- Can of Coca-Cola
- Can of Coca-Cola Zero
- Can of Diet Coke
- Can of Sprite
- Package of Lorna Doone cookies
- Package of Swedish fish candy
- Package of trail mix that was both sweet and salty
- Package of Georgia Sweet State-ments peach flavored jelly beans as the local choice
Were those treats for dogs that were in a glass bowl only available to canines who earned elite status as well?
Actually, Hampton Inn is one of the brands of Hilton that are friendly to pets — and having a bulldog as a mascot for the University of Georgia certainly does not hurt.
This ain’t no Mississippi State bulldog — and yes, Mississippi State University and the University of Georgia are both part of the Southeastern Conference; and the Bulldogs have played against the Bulldogs 26 times in the past 110 years. Go Bulldogs?!?
Behind the bulldog is the area where guests can eat breakfast. The area where the buffet for breakfast is offered is in the background of the photograph above.
This area may initially seem spacious; but on the second night of my stay, a large group of high school teenagers that was part of the all-state chorus converged on — and easily filled up — this area. More information pertaining to how too many people at breakfast at this unprepared Hampton Inn hotel property affected my experience the next morning is related later in this article.
If staring at the statue of a bulldog gets you hungry or thirsty, a variety of snacks and beverages are displayed for sale between the entrance of the hotel property and the front desk. Assorted sundries are also available for purchase. You can even buy a Dawgopoly board game or other University of Georgia merchandise.
On the other side of the front desk is a coffee station, with a variety of teas, coffees, hot water, hot chocolate, and assorted condiments. Ice machines are available as well.
The good news is that a dispenser with filtered water is available in the hallway on the ground floor at this hotel property to refill water bottles and containers. The bad news is that the temperature of the water that is dispensed is tepid at best. Good thing that the aforementioned ice machines are available — although one might have difficulties fitting ice cubes into the opening of some types of bottles.
The Room
The bathroom is located on the left side of the entrance to the room in the above photograph; and a full length mirror is on the right side of the entrance.
The bed was comfortable in which to sleep.
Mounted on the wall adjacent to the bed were three hooks from which clothing or other objects could be hung. A piece of art work is usually on that wall in most other Hampton Inn hotel properties.
A night table was built into the wall between the two beds; and on it was a telephone. Below the switches to the lamps that were built into the wall were electrical outlets and Universal Serial Bus — or USB — ports, which were quite convenient. No alarm clock was included in this room — and I did not miss it at all.
In the room was a unit that contained an open “closet”, a storage area behind a narrow door, a flat screen television, a cabinet with a miniature refrigerator, a microwave oven, a coffee station, an ice bucket, three empty drawers, and a desk area.
In the open “closet” were four hangers. In the drawer below was an electric hair dryer in a white cloth bag. Hidden behind the narrow door was an ironing board and an iron. In the corner of the room was a built-in desk with a small lamp, a round mirror attached to the wall, and a red chair on wheels to keep with the motif of the University of Georgia. To the left of the desk but not show were more electrical outlets and USB ports, which were convenient when working on a laptop computer.
I received two snacks and two complimentary bottles of water, which I placed in the miniature refrigerator.
On the top shelf to the right of the miniature refrigerator was a microwave oven, which I did use. It worked well.
Below the microwave oven was a coffee machine with assorted tea, coffee, paper cups, and condiments in a tray — as well as an ice bucket.
The Bathroom
The bathroom was that of a typical Hampton Inn hotel property. A mirror was installed on the wall above the vanity, which included a bar of ZERO/o soap, a large dispenser bottle of body lotion on the left, a large dispenser bottle of hand wash on the right, a black towel for makeup, and a box of tissues. To the right of the mirror was framed art that reminded guests that they are staying at a hotel property in Georgia Bulldog territory.
Adjacent to the vanity were an adequate number of assorted sizes of towels, a toilet, toilet paper, and a bath tub with an adjustable shower head and a convenient small shelf.
Installed in the wall above the bath tub were bulk dispensers of shower gel, conditioner, and shampoo — all manufactured by ZERO/o.
On the mirror was the following notice:
For your comfort, housekeeping services are
provided every other day during your stay.Make
BedReplenish
AmenitiesReplace
TowelsEmpty
TrashNeed anything else? Call or message
Guest Services, and we’ll be happy to assist!While we value your privacy, please note that we
reserve the right to enter the room if the need arises.
Breakfast — The First Day, Anyway…
I was easily able to have breakfast on the first morning of my stay. The second morning was a completely different experience.
Hot biscuits and gravy — along with hot sauce, ketchup, and other condiments — were offered on the first morning of my stay…
…as were link sausages and folded scrambled eggs. A toaster with four slots allowed guest to toast assorted bread products…
…which included bagels, sliced white bread, blueberry muffins, and lemon poppy seed scones. Butter, grape jelly, and peanut butter were available to spread on the bread.
Guests had a choice of assorted flavors of yogurt and three types of dry cereal.
In addition to skim milk and two percent milk, orange juice, cranberry juice cocktail, apple juice, and strawberry kiwi enhanced water were offered.
Although the breakfast area had two waffle irons to create your own waffles, one of the waffle items was out of commission. On the morning when I was there, a choice of two flavors of waffle batter were offered: red velvet and malted vanilla.
Whipped topping, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, chocolate sprinkles, cinnamon sugar, butter, syrup, and honey were available for toppings on the waffles. The inoperable waffle iron had an old washcloth on it to alert guests not to use it.
This might have you grit your teeth; but hot grits were also offered. Plenty of napkins were on hand.
The major problem with my stay was that the aforementioned large group of high school teenagers that was part of the all-state chorus and stayed at the Hampton Inn Athens hotel property overnight — and they all converged on breakfast on the second morning of my stay. Because too many people were at breakfast at this unprepared Hampton Inn, the lines were very long; the entire breakfast area was crowded and noisy; the group was disorganized; and the two attendants of the breakfast area were frazzled. I thought that the older of the two was very close to snapping to the point of completely losing it.
The situation was so bad that after approximately an hour of waiting for the crowd to dissipate, I had to go out and purchase breakfast outside of the hotel property. I have no problem with purchasing my own breakfast; but when it is included in the room rate of greater than $210.00 for the second night — including taxes and fees, as the first night was significantly less expensive — I expect to have access to it.
When I brought this to the attention of the person behind the front desk, she admitted to me that they were completely unprepared for the chaos that ensued at breakfast that morning. I found that response to be unacceptable, as this is a hotel property that is located in a small city where the university is the main focus — several other colleges are also within the area…
…and hotel properties have been known to be completely sold out for many events throughout the year — such as graduations and football games. Hotel rooms can command several hundred dollars per night. Not being prepared for an event would certainly be inexcusable at a price point of $500.00 per night — or even more.
I was never compensated for this mishap.
Views From The Room
The views from the room were not very good.
I certainly cannot say that these views are the best that I have ever seen from a room at a hotel property — but I have seen worse views.
If you like this particular view, more power to you. Amp it up a notch. I find it revolting. Wire you not laughing at these puns?
Fitness Center
The Hampton Inn Athens hotel property has a fitness center, which is equipped with treadmills. The water machine was inoperable at the time I was there.
Two exercise cycles, a bench, dumbbells, assorted balls, and towels were also available.
Final Boarding Call
This Hampton Inn hotel property would have been a reasonably decent, pleasant, and uneventful stay if not for the uncontrolled chaos at breakfast. The room — and the remainder of the hotel property, for that matter — was clean. Members of the staff were nice, polite, and friendly. I cautiously recommend staying at this hotel property when in Athens, for if a large group stays there, the stay may not be a good one. The issue which I experienced was never resolved. Other choices of lodging are available nearby; but I do not know for certain as to whether they can handle large groups of people any better, as simply too many people were at breakfast at this unprepared Hampton Inn.
The total cost for the room for two nights was $350.83 in United States dollars, including all taxes and fees. The rate for the second night was significantly more than for the first night — and quite overpriced, in my opinion.
Hampton Inn Athens
2220 West Broad Street
Athens, Georgia 30606
United States of America
1-706-548-9600
Free parking is available on site.
All photographs ©2024 by Brian Cohen.
