My husband came back from his 5th deployment to the Middle East a few weeks ago, and we decided to take a road trip through New England as a much needed family getaway. On night 4, after having driven for 14 hours, we stopped in West Lebanon, NH. As this was the closest hotel to the interstate, we ended up staying here. The room itself was ok. It was dated, but clean. There was a bed and shower. No funky smells in the room. You could tell they tried. We're a military family, we've stayed in hotels all over the U.S. and in Europe during PCSes- believe me when I say, the room is fine. This is not my issue. The problem came the next morning while my family attended breakfast. My husband took my son ahead while my daughter & I got ready. My husband waited patiently to be seated, as indicated by the sign and once he'd done so, told the server that there would be 4 of us. When my daughter & I showed up, the wait staff studiously ignored us for around 15-20 minutes- going so far as to wait on the table adjacent to us THREE times before I finally was able to get the lady's attention to ask if my husband & I could have coffee and my daughter could have juice. I should mention there are NO coffee pots in the rooms, so your only caffeine fix is what your server pours you in the buffet area. She immediately copped an attitude, passed the task off onto a younger server in front of us - a college kid, I assume - and walked off. I don't remember her words, exactly, but I haven't forgotten her attitude, or how she made us feel. She then came BACK to the table next to us and resumed her conversation. Our drinks, for some reason, came up in their conversation and she said "I was going to, but you know, it must have slipped right out of my mind...." then asked them if she could get them anything. When the server finally showed up with our coffee & my daughter's juice, I was in the process of rubbing my eyes and made the comment to my daughter that it was too early. This waitress spit out "I've been here since 5 am." Then promptly went back to ignoring us. I was so upset that for the first time, EVER, in 14 years of military service - 10 PCSes---countless trips back and to across the country requiring countless hotel stays --- I went to the front desk and made a complaint. Apparently, the first lady is the floor manager for the breakfast area and has "issues" with people seating themselves (which we did NOT do). Look, I don't know what their deal was, but I have a 5 year old Autistic child, a husband coming in from his 5th combat deployment & countless other things going on at any given time. We were on vacation, we were supposed to be getting away from all of our worries. It was supposed to be a fun trip - and instead, these people ruined the last day of our vacation and left a sour note on what was a much needed getaway. I have never been treated so poorly, EVER, in any hotel, anywhere. I would not recommend this place to anyone. Keep driving.
Room Tip: Keep driving.
See more room tips
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
22 October 2011
I would like to start by saying that we are truly sorry for the situation that you encountered with one of our servers. This kind of behavior is not tolerated here at the Fireside Inn & Suites, and has been addressed with this individual. We take great pride in the service that all our employees provide our guests and want to assure you that this was not a typical interaction with any member of the staff. We do have coffee makers in all of our guest rooms. We are undergoing renovations too all of our guest rooms and some of them have the coffee makers in the television armoires. Fireside Inn & Suites is very appreciative of all that the military members and their families do for our country. Please accept our sincerest apologies. I hope that the next time that you are in the area, you will be willing to give us another chance. Please call me directly so I can be sure that you get the experience that you, and all of our guests, deserve.
Shawn Blanchard
Rooms Division Manager
Fireside Inn & Suites
West Lebanon, NH
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC