My wife and I had a four night stay, room #114. We were visiting family in Lancaster for Thanksgiving.
We've always noticed The Wilbur @Lititz during our drive through the city of Lititz, we've always been curious about it, so we made a four night reservation for Thanksgiving weekend.
I am a Military veteran, and I wish that The Wilbur @Lititz gave us Military Service Men and Women complimentary parking. Yes, I know Hilton Honors offers discounted room rates for Military, but so do every other Hotel, plus those other Hotels offers free parking as well. The following are some of the miriads of Hotels that offers special Military/Government rates and complimentary parking, among many other rewards/perks, to honor our service; e.g., Hard Rock Hotel, IHG, Ocean, Caesars, Bally's, Marriott, etc.
My wife and I are experienced travelers, and we agree that the Hotel's staff and personnel are the main ingredients, the most important aspect of the Hotel is its hospitality. We must say that the staff at The Wilbur @Lititz are exceptional. They all provided us with superior service, always with a smile, positive attitude, impecable customer service, and incredibly helpful.
Kudos! To the Front Desk Team: Cassidy, Gracie, Megan, Ceinwyn (pronounced: Cain-winn) & Dawn.
Kate O'Neal from Guest Relations is on top of things, her emails sent to us before our arrival helped us greatly, Kate made sure that what we needed/asked was there upon our arrival.
One afternoon my wife was coming out of our room to meet me in the Hotel's lobby, and a young man with a goatee and ponytail explained to my wife that because we had our "Do Not Disturb" on our door, he wouldn't be able to leave us chocolates in our room, so what he did was gave it to her in person. This made my wife very happy, and when my wife is happy, so am I. She didn't get his name, but I did ask the front desk, and I found out this young man's name is Tyler. Thank you to Tyler for such wonderful customer interaction, he want above and beyond.
Big thanks to Sam and Jorge, maintenance at The Wilbur @Lititz, for such amiable character and strong work ethic.
Saturday night (our last night at The Wilbur @Lititz), we decided to invite my sister and my brother-in-law for dinner at Blackworth restaurant located in The Wilbur @Lititz.
The food was exquisite, to say the least, one of the best steaks, fish, and pork we've tasted by far. Up there with Homestead in NYC & Peter Luger in Brooklyn.
For appetizer, we had: slices of medium rare A5 Wagyu Beef.
My wife had: Bronzini with stuffing.
My sister had: The Salmon with roasted potatoes.
My brother-in-law had: The Chicken
I had the: Pork Shank with sauerkraut.
The same principle that applies to a hotel also applies to restaurants. The food might be amazing, or it might be subpar, but it's the staff that shines. They make or break the restaurant.
Fortunately the Blackworth's food was exquisite, and the staff are its shining stars!
Jenn and her excellent hosting skills are unequaled. She's so friendly, so easy to talk to, that within minutes of talking with her, she makes you feel like you and her are long-time friends.
Francesco is the Blackworth's GM, and he's very friendly, approachable, and accommodating.
Ours server Jessamin always had a bright, friendly smile. She helped us with recommendations, and Jessamin was always on point.
It would be fantastic if hotel guests were able to receive a discount or, at the very least, a free appetizer.
As always, my reviews have the pros & and cons of the business, I do it this way, as a list, in the hope that the business can fix those things that need to be fixed. So here we go!
Cons:
1) Huge wooden pillar in the middle of the room, this room gets extremely dark thanks to its excellent black-out curtains, because of this, it's highly advisable to bring a nightlight or leave one of the lamps on, or you will definitely take the risk on hitting this huge pillar head-on & getting badly hurt in the middle of the night while using the bathroom.
2) Our second day on Thursday morning. Loud hallway vacuuming outside our room at 0800. They should at least wait to vacuum after 1000, when everyone is up and out and about.
3) Unlike other Hiltons, self parking is NOT free. It's $10 per night. Metered street parking is available, but one must feed the meter Monday to Saturday between 0800-1800. It's FREE between 1800-0600, on holidays & Sundays. We opted for street parking.
4) The shower floor niche is missing from the shower, unlike other Hiltons we've stayed in, which has a raised niche to place one's feet to either wash it or shave the legs. I had to bend and/or squat to wash my feet thoroughly, which in turn exarcebated my sciatica.
5) It'll take a bit of time for the hot water to kick in. But when it finally does, oh boy! It's wonderfully hot.
6) The shower head doesn't have multiple/different water pressure settings, like other hotels we've stayed in.
7) In our room, the toilet paper dispenser/holder was broken, and the toilet paper kept falling off.
8) Towels are from very coarse and rough materials. Other Hiltons we've stayed at the towels were less hurtful, lol
9) No hooks on walls to hang a winter coat on. Upon entering our room, right across the door, there's a huge, open wall where a hook could've been placed.
10) Although I made sure that my wife was also included during the reservation (we are a couple), we only had one bathrobe and one slipper, not two as it should be.
11) TV started to malfunction on our 3rd night, Friday. We showed videos to the front desk. Next day, Saturday, TV is still failing.
Pros:
1) Staff is amazing! Kudos to Guest Relations Kate O'Neal for accommodating us and being so helpful; also to Cassidy, Ceinwyn, Gracie, Dawn; they're all amiable and knowledgeable.
2) There's a huge double-decker parking lot with two EV charging stations.
3) Spacious, beautifully decorated lobby, with seating area.
4) Quiet room (except for the time they vacuumed outside hallway at 0800).
5) Black-out curtains make this room exceptionally dark (careful of the wooden pillar in the middle of the room).
6) Guest is allowed to choose a room/floor 24 hours before arrival via the Hilton Honors app.
7) Digital key makes entry/access to various doors ( gym, garage, room, etc.) easy, quick & convenient.
8) Spacious & clean bathroom.
9) The toilet paper dispenser/holder was fixed immediately. Thanks to Gracie and Sam!
10) Shower water pressure is decent.
11) When the hot water does kick in, it's wonderfully hot, plus one can adjust the temperature on the knobs.
12) On our 4th night, Saturday evening; the TV was fixed! Huge thanks to Ceinwyn! She entered our room while we stayed in Wilbur's lobby, and five minutes later, she came out stating that the TV in our room was fixed, and sure enough, it was!
In conclusion, my wife and I highly recommend The Wilbur @Lititz for its huge, clean & beautifully decorated rooms, but even more for the excellent staff that treats its guests with the utmost respect, highly cordial and amiable. I personally will not return due to paid parking, I would rather wait for free parking to be implemented for Military Service Men & Women, if ever.
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