My son had a baseball tournament in Anthem, AZ. We wanted to stay close to the field. Anthem is a suburb about 15 to 20 minutes north of Phoenix. The big landmark there is an outlet mall that could use a lot more business, frankly.

The Hampton Inn in Anthem offered a great rate and received high ratings from other travelers so I booked. When we arrived, it was past midnight. I guess Hampton cancels reservations for guests who don't arrive by midnight. They had just cancelled us but promptly gave us a room when we arrived. Unfortunately, the desk manager didn't look at the rate I was supposed to get ($9 per night lower than he put in for us)...but that got straightened out at check-out and Hampton honored the lower rate no problem.

The hotel is very clean and well kept. The rooms are spacious and quiet. I am very picky about bed firmness and the bed was pretty good. Linens were in good shape. Towels were still nice and thick. The bathrooms are kind of tight...not much space in there. But the tub was clean and they launder their shower curtains. Counter tops were in good shape and they provided us with ample towels.

Complimentary breakfast was nice...they offer a good selection but if you like bacon or sausage with your eggs, you'll want to go to the Denny's across the parking lot. The hotel features a hot breakfast (eggs & potatoes or biscuits & gravy), oatmeal, dry cereal, pastries, fresh fruit, and waffles (that you make yourself). There were enough spaces to sit and there is a sitting room in the lobby too.

I used the business center and that was in good shape too, enough to print out boarding passes in a hurry.

There is a pool outside. My husband watched the hotel maintenance man clean the pool from our room window and was impressed with how hard that man worked. He really put in a lot of physical effort to clean that pool, not just a quick, get-it-over-with task. We are impressed with how conscientious people are doing their jobs. Everyone at this hotel seemed to really be invested in their jobs and it shows in how well run the hotel is.

The best service story here was what happened on our last night of our 3 night stay. The guests in the room next to us decided to burn incense in their room. The odor was awful and made me physically ill. I called the front desk around 10PM. They contacted the guest in that room to ask them to stop burning the incense but they obviously did not stop because the odor became stronger. I called a second time and the manager agreed to move us to a room on the other wing. She came and brought keys and we were moved. No hassle or push-back. The manager was very apologetic about the situation. I was glad I asked to be moved because I heard the incense problem affected other guests too and I wasn't sure if all the guests were able to move to other rooms like I did.

Anyway, this Hampton Inn was pretty good and the staff were very attentive and friendly. Assuming my son's baseball team goes back to Anthem next year, I will definitely stay here again.