After experiencing one of Hampton Inn's newer & more elegant properties the night before, the hotel in Columbia, SC was quite a come-down. It's the older version property; small rooms, tight bathrooms, with enough stays under its belt to be on the downhill slide to a needed renovation, and with very little to recommend it to fellow travelers.
Everything just seemed to be a bit cramped here. Granted, it's not a new building, but we've stayed at other, older Hampton Inns that really try to maintain high standards. This one seems to be coasting along.
HVAC - the temps were in the upper 50s during the day, but the heat was pouring out of the below-window unit & the room could not be cooled without switching to ice-cube cooling mode. Turning the unit off simply made the room stuffy. HINT: when the HVAC is controlled by a wall-mounted thermostat, you're probably going to be able to control your environment. If the controls are on the unit itself, it's old-school and probably going to be cranky.
BREAKFAST - Ugh. Hot foods consisted of only-warm French toast sticks that stuck together, and "scrambled eggs" that resembled yellow crumbly cheese in consistency, and which we refused to taste. One of the two waffle irons was DIW, and the other one was backed up. Oatmeal & an English muffin it was, and out the door quickly for better pastures as we headed south.
If we could give it 2.5 overall grade, we would. Not poor, but not average, and definitely beneath Hilton's standards.