I was feeling more assured when we walked into the main sitting room of the Inn. It was cute—there were a large fireplace and nook for coffee. We stayed in Sarah’s Parlor. My first impression of our room was the personal fireplace; it is a nice amenity to have a working, wood fireplace. Also, the rustic floors and antique canopy bed were beautiful. However, unfortunately, that is where our positive perception ended.
When my husband and I arrived at the property, we realized we were misled. The description gives an impression that the Whitehall Mansion Inn is a quaint and charming B & B. This was not the case. The original building is bracketed by a parking lot to a larger, chain hotel. There was no indication where to check-in, and once we figured the chain hotel ran the Inn—we were given keys and a complimentary bottle of wine inside the chain’s lobby.
My husband tried to open a window. There were no screens or locks on the windows. I found this alarming because we were on the first floor. I noticed something jammed between the panes, and he pulled it out—it was a periodical of the house’s history someone used as a stopper. If a previous guest had used them as a solution to lock windows, I don’t know why house-keeping would leave them there. It was bizarre.
In the morning my husband went to make coffee. Inside the coffee nook was a dirty pot with old coffee grinds. The guests in the room beside us also had an unpleasant experience and voiced the same concern for the room rate. It was not the B & B experience as advertised.
First—and this is more Travelocity’s error for not providing an accurate description—once we arrived my husband looked up the Whitehall Mansion Inn online, the Inn was originally used as a hospice in the 1700s before it was converted. Guests have experienced hearing children laughing (no children are allowed in the hotel,) people talking, floating mists, and a woman wearing a long white dress. We live close to Gettysburg and are familiar with this sort of set-up—but I didn’t want to book a haunted house—this was not stated anywhere in the Travelocity review and not the experience we were looking for.
When I lifted the comforter I found stains on the sheets. After that, my husband went to the hotel lobby and asked if we could switch to a room inside the chain. Because we booked with a third party site, they were unable to change our reservation.
There was vintage decor throughout most of the Inn, but the bathroom was equipped with cheap fixtures. There was a large Jacuzzi tub—when I opened the shower curtain, I noticed two long black hairs on the side of the tub. The front tub panel was falling off, and the knobs were broken—they pulled completely off and were rusted underneath. There was a plunger inside a plastic bag beside the toilet, and the bathroom sink was stained green and tarnished.
We wanted to relax and enjoy the complimentary Pinot Grigio, but there was no corkscrew in our room. My husband checked the common room and then walked to the front desk of the chain to ask—the receptionist said they didn’t lend out corkscrews because they usually weren’t returned. I don’t understand the gesture behind gifting chilled wine and not providing a way to open the bottle.
The chair upholstery was stained--most of the decor was stained or tattered, shredded window treatments, etc. We sat on the carpet and ate. From our vantage, we could see cobwebs and dust throughout the room. I don’t think it was intentional to add ambiance. There were broken legs from the dresser and entertainment center lying to the side covered in dust and large dust balls visible under the bed.
I find it depressing this gorgeous historical, property sits on an island in the middle of gravel and is not properly cared for. I decided to write this review when I found a post on Google where someone made the same complaint about the broken tub and knobs FIVE YEARS AGO—for years to pass and not make necessary improvements shows where their interests lays—not with the integrity of the property or guest hospitality.
Our room was pleasantly decorated, and accurately represented by the pictures on their website. They do not have grounds, as it butts up against a big chain hotel. It is run by the chain, and poorly. The breakfast never arrived in the mornings, the cheese plate was left out for over 12 hours every day (we threw one out after 23 hours so no one got sick). There was a nail that impaled us both in the floor boards. The Jacuzzi tub did not work, the dials fall off if moved. The ice machine did not work, so you had to walk all the way to the main hotel lobby for ice. If they would have provided everything they advertised it would have been a great deal, but for the price I would have gone somewhere else. I wrote down a long list of complaints and delivered it upon checkout. I am still waiting to hear from them, and have given them weeks before writing this review.
Whitehall Mansion Inn is a US Lodging based in Stonington, Connecticut. Whitehall Mansion Inn is located at 42 Whitehall Ave, Mystic, CT 06355, USA.
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