Well, it had a bathroom and lights that turned on. There was a microwave. There were beds so I didn't have to lay on the floor. There was a lock on the door. That's about the extent of the good things.
Staying at the San Angelo 76904 Hampton inn by Hilton was a trip back to the 1960s.
First time ever in my memory that I couldn't order a movie or stream one. There was no Netflix, there's no way to throw a movie from phone to the television. Yes it was a flat screen, but it did not have NBC, or CBS, it had a very sketchy ABC Network channel. 1HBO channel. Several children's channels and several Spanish language channels. Maybe a Hallmark channel I think, and every ESPN channel under the sun as well as Golf channel. I was not here to sightsee, I was here for medical reasons, and spent most of my time in the room. So my experience may be different from those who just park their stuff, run around all day, and then come in to collapse. It is functional if that's all you need it for.
This was in a good location in a nice area of town. I actually remember when this hotel was built so I think of it as a newer hotel that should be pretty nice. They brag about their breakfast. Well I don't eat breakfast, I'm not up at that time of day. So that doesn't apply to me. I have no idea if the breakfast was good, bad, or otherwise. The area seems roomy and clean and pleasantly well-lit for breakfast eating. There's a snack shelf area where apparently with a screen you can add stuff to your bill or pay with card. Brought my own snacks.
The pillows on the bed: four on each bed, all piled together felt like about two because they're feather pillows. I don't know anyone who still uses feather pillows. There are people who are allergic to feather pillows, people who aren't allergic to anything else who are allergic to feather pillows. They are lumpy, they are not comfortable, there were tiny feathers in the bed. Beds had a dip in each one especially clearly where people have been sitting on the side of the bed for I guess 30 years.
It was a port in a storm. Very dark carpet that showed anything light that you dropped. Appear to have been vacuumed.
This bathroom had grab bars and room for a wheelchair to use a transfer bench. Not necessary for me, however what was necessary was the hair dryer which literally was on the shelf so high I was not able to reach it or use it. Would have been nice to have a step stool in the closet for people who are under 6 ft tall.
It did have a low peephole for wheelchair, helpful for someone shorter because the top peephole is made for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, apparently. Or so it seems to someone who is a smaller person. There is no way even on tiptoes I could even think about seeing out the top peephole but I could bend over and look out the lower one.
There was a pen provided on the desk, but there was no paper. Not sheets of paper, not a pad of paper not even a scrap of paper with a Hampton or Hilton logo to leave a note when I left my tip. I didn't expect postcards or match books or anything but a small notepad or even one sheet of paper would have been nice. This is a hotel on a very, very small budget.
There were coffee and sugar/sweetener packages but no tea packages. I had brought my own tea and used the ancient microwave that took about 5 minutes to heat up a cup of water with tea bags.
The mini refrigerator kept water and drinks cold but freezer kept ice cream a nice cold soupy texture. They may want to check that mini fridge because going by the loud buzz whine that went on and off every couple of hours for 3 days sounding like a jet engine taking off, it might need to be replaced sooner than later.
Literally no clock... not that I could see. No radio.
I am preoccupied with the fact that a hotel in 2025 has no way to stream a movie, order a movie, do anything but watch the Die Hard movies or Forensic Files over and over and over and over, because that's all that was on a couple channels. There were several Fox channels of course, I believe I counted three. The major news channels were there, not Newsnation which was the one I was looking for. Nothing to turn on and leave on as background noise.
Flat screen TV, I expected of course but I also would expect the ability to, with their DirecTV connection, choose something other than the 20ish channels. Luckily I brought books, but I got awfully tired of watching things on my phone when I needed to check in with the world or have something playing while I was doing something else.
Mostly clean, but the bathroom bottles, if you're going to cement them to the wall, need to be at a different height. If you're in the bath taking a bath you are not going to be able to reach the shampoo and conditioner that are about 4 ft up on the wall. And when you're underneath them you can see all the wet dust underneath them where they haven't been wiped. I wiped them off.
Absolutely no instructions with regard to how to use the shower, the handheld shower attachment, or how to regulate the hot and cold. Most people would be able to figure it out, some might not be because there are no markings on the handles. Yes we know left is hot and right is cold but there was a little handle up above that had no instructions, so when you're turning on the handheld shower, guess what it turns on the top shower too so I hope you're ready to get your head wet.
Two small ... I want to say bath towels, and I think four hand towels, two washcloths. They were all very white but they did not smell too clean. I like my hotel towels to smell of bleach. They had a weird smell of olive oil. I don't know if that's because the proprietary soap and lotion products may contain olive oil or some kind of oil that is natural or different or something.. but that scent is everywhere and it did not smell good. The bar of soap was very strongly scented, again it smelled like something from the 1960s. Strong water pressure that was appreciated, quickly-hot water. No makeup mirror. Can't remember the last time I was someplace that didn't have a makeup mirror in the bathroom.
Other than the refrigerator yelling at points all night long, and the toilet seemingly flushing for no reason, which was alarming the first time -- I was able to stay successfully in the room, sheltered and safe. Unaware it was even having a thunderstorm outside. Nice cold air conditioning even though it also sounds like industrial fan blowing, that's just a hotel room for you they got some noisy air conditioners.
I needed a place to lay my head, I brought my own blankets, I needed it to be cool, and I needed to be able to charge my phone so I brought my own charger though there was a charger/sterilizer next to the bed. I was glad to see that, not sure if it fit my phone, didn't need to use it. Brought my own blankets and next time I'll bring my own pillows and towels.
I still find it most peculiar that the TV situation was so antiquated. Was I in a room where maybe Amish people tend to stay so they don't use the TV? I don't know. It is weird that there was no clock there. Even the microwave did not have a clock setting, it just glowed brightly 0:00 all night long a nice little night light, right in your eyes across the room to the bed.
I find it odd that people brag on this location so, because I did not find the staff particularly extra friendly. It was just business as usual. House cleaning was bored and I had to beg them for two extra cups. That's all right, she got a tip for it.
There are better places to stay, I think, for this price or possibly better. I'm just really disappointed that this used to be the nicest hotel in this area of town and now it's just a sad relic. Had a nice big window that I covered easily with their curtains which were blackout curtains as one would expect. Drawing them in the morning you discover that you were looking right into the bays of an auto service center. Just a stone's throw away. I mean that business parking lot might have been 5 yards from the window? There must be a donut shop in the vicinity because it smells strongly of glazed donuts from about 5:00 in the morning to past noon.
I would have expected hand sanitizer to be in any hotel room these days. There was none of that. No air freshener, one box of tissues in the bathroom that had a very few left. Grateful that the toilet tissue lasted because the extra ones were up above my head too high to reach which was amusing in a hotel room meant for wheelchairs.
It was the basic of the basics pretending to be something more. It's time to make some modifications and bring this hotel into the 21st century. It feels like the very very last little bit of the last century, which makes sense because it was built in 1995, I believe.
If you want just the basics and I mean just the basics and you don't mind feather pillows and a lumpy bed, and no comfortable chair to sit in -- everything has to be sat on the bed -- and you want to pay just under 200 bucks a night well this is your place.
Seriously there's no better TV options than 2025??? They could at least leave a card with options that there's a fire stick or a Chromecast you can get at the desk, something, anything! I'm not even particularly into staring at a TV but I do expect options. I've had better options at cheap motels decades ago. Strangest thing ever.
Was able to check out on my phone, it wasn't the worst experience but it certainly wasn't the best. I hope this hotel spends a buck or two to upgrade audio/video options, and leaves a sheet of paper to write on. I don't know what the pen was for, they had a little what looked like a folder but it didn't unfold and it had cards about how to use the TV guide, but it was just slightly above a cheap motel experience. I'm still thinking about it, days later. It just seemed stripped down I guess is the term.
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