The Inns at Equinox

My wife and I booked a weekend at the Equinox hotel using Hotels.com. We stayed this past weekend (not peak season for foliage) and paid close to $900 for a 2 day suite at "the town houses at the Equinox", part of the Equinox Hotel , a luxury property of theSPG group. I was mistakenly under the impression that we found a good rate at a 4 star resort, only to realize that we made a huge mistake. The "townhouses" are on property, adjacent to the spa. The building is a run down eyesore, with rotting wood and mold ornamenting many fixtures. Our "suite" was railroad apartment with 1970's furniture, Formica kitchenette, and bedroom. The bathroom was so small that the toilet was wedged between the sink and wall; the entire bathroom was probably 6' x6'! I am not afraid of roughing it: I slept in hospital call rooms with sewer rats as large as cats, but I am at a point in my life where I don't need to rough it any more. This location was an enormous disappointment. I was so grossed out by the old couch, rotting wood on the deck, and chocolate brown carpets that we only stayed in the room to sleep. I expressed my dismay to the management, to no avail. New York prices with tenement amenities.

The Equinox resort itself is beautifully situated at the base of the mountain. There are some nice amenities available as well (most at a hefty price). The Inn, however, feels a world apart despite being a 5 minute walk or short drive down the opposite side of the street from the main property. The “1811 Inn� is absolutely nothing like the modern-looking pictures on Orbitz. The building is from the 1700s and was presumably updated somewhat more recently (evidence being plumbing and electricity). It has some old school charm, but is dated, musty, and a bit creepy (ghost stories about the resort came up with a local and a staff person). Our room faced the street, and was fairly noisy from passing traffic. There was no temperature control…just a heat vent on the floor and a window opened a couple inches with a piece of wood to keep it open. One nice feature was a working fireplace with wood supplied. We did have to call the front desk to have it lit, and to get more wood the 2nd night. We also had to ask for a heavier blanket as only a thin one was provided, and had to scavenge for toilet paper in a downstairs room when we ran out. The ice machine was broken. There was also a long wait for the front desk at both check-in and checkout. On the bright side, the staff was very friendly. Overall, the room quality and service were very underwhelming, and rather surprising given the cost. Had we paid full freight of $400 or so a night, this would be a single star review, but we got about 40% off online. I actually overheard a couple next to us at a restaurant in town say the inn was so bad they immediately left and got a room elsewhere in town.

Just to start, I have stayed in a number of resorts and spas for business and personal travel. This was the most disappointing of any I have been to. I booked the Equinox for our 25th wedding anniversary. A few days before we arrived I had added a night to our stay. Luckily I recalled the woman's name who helped us, because when we got there they had us checking in the next night. The woman who was supposed to add our evening was working the front desk. She remembered our conversation and apologized. Unfortunately, we were supposed to be in the newer building in a suite, but that was not available. We could stay in another room out of the main building and then have to move to the suite the next night. We choose to stay in the other room for the 2 nights as we didn't want to move. While we were checking in and at another point in our stay we heard 3 couples, 3, that's not a typo, having difficulties with similar issues. There were also people complaining that their room wasn't ready for them to check in on time. They put us up in the 1811 Cottage. It was an antique type room with a beautiful 4 poster bed. The room was fine, just needed an updated bathroom. The room was not quipped to order a movie, but it wouldn't have mattered since the TV didn't work. We had a couple drinks on the patio by the fire pit. It was a lovely evening and the space was enjoyable. Yet there was no drink service out on the patio, so we had to go into the Falcon bar to get our own beverages. The next morning when I went to the main building for coffee, both urns were empty. I had to wander for a bit searching for someone to fill it up. I had a massage in the spa, which was good. The spa is really small. There was no staff that I saw picking up the place, so I found a pair of underwear hanging on the shower door. Also, there was not a washcloth to be found in the place. When walking through the main building, it looks very tired. Carpeting is worn down to threads in the dining area and there are massive spaces with little to no furniture. The last morning there we went to the dining hall for breakfast. We had to wait at the hostess stand for over 10 minutes to be seated. We were not greeted by anyone and the place was a mess. The staff was cleaning tables while we waited. They had a big group just pass through and were cleaning up after them. Instead of seating us while this was going on we, along with at least 10 other people, had to stand there and wait while they cleaned tables. When we were finally seated, it took forever to get our waitress, who was rude and unprofessional. I ordered french toast, which was good. My husband ordered the eggs Benedict, which were awful. He hardly ate it and has had much better eggs Benedict at diners. Throughout our stay there was not enough staff, and the ones there were untrained, not hospitable nor professional. The part that lingers is we had to pay over 1100. for these 2 nights of poor service in an unpleasant environment.

A spontaneous getaway with our dog found us on a road trip to Manchester, VT. We found lodging at the Equinox because it is a dog friendly ($125 fee added to your stay) and because of it's reputation. All of the staff we encountered were very friendly & courteous. That said, the rooms and property are a bit "tired" and by no means would I consider this a luxury hotel... cracked tile and dirty grout in the bathroom...lumpy, uncomfortable mattress. As for the property, there is a lovely back deck that overlooks the courtyard. The courtyard has approximately eight trees ~ 4 on each side~ I imagine that when all the strands of the white lights wrapping the trees are working and illuminated they create a dreamy effect; I found it curious that almost all of the lights were not working (one tree looked so sad with a single strand illuminated) ... we were there three nights and the lights were never changed out/repaired, why? It speaks volumes about the lack of Attention to detail ... this Historic Gem needs polished up!! FYI, I believe that part of the $35 per night resort fee goes to provide "free" wifi ;)

This is by no means a luxury collection hotel. The owners have clearly let this property go and it barely compares to a cheap motel, I actually considered moving to the brand new Hampton Inn down the road instead - at least their towels would be new. We fully anticipated (and embraced) the historic character of this property and honestly, none of our complaints are due to the antique qualities of the property- the creeky stairs, loud next door neighbors and noisy AC unit did not dampen our weekend. The service and the soft goods provided did. We experienced the full gamut of disappointments, including holy/shredding towels, bed comforters that are so old all the down fillers have fallen to the bottom of the comforter leaving your entire body frozen, there were no sheets on the bed - just the crappy comforter which is the dirtiest item in any hotel room, the shower curtains are gross and smelled horrible, there was a ceiling patch crumbling down in one of the rooms, the hot tub was grimy and disgusting, we all woke up every day aching from the lumpy mattresses (we're in our 20-40s, should not be in this rough of shape), etc. There were simple touches the hotel could have done in order to enhance the experience- for example, we were there over a three day, rainy period with temperatures in the 50s, the hotel had a perfect opportunity to capture their rained-out audience by lighting the fireplaces and creating a cozy environment, turning on the lights and making it less gloomy, etc. Nothing was done. Huge mistake as those guests would have been more inclined to spend money in the hotel outlets. Onto the service standards- this is not a four diamond service level. We didn't encounter a single employee who had been there for more than a few months, even after a few complaints. They were grossly understaffed as well. We asked for a different room, and were assured by the front desk that we'd receive a follow up call within 10 minutes- the call never came, we asked for an extra blanket- never arrived, we left a tray outside for them to clear- it was out there from 11 am and disappeared sometime after we turned in for the night at 10 pm, the waffles ordered at the Colonnade for breakfast were cold upon arrival- even after we sent them back, the list grew so large it became a comical part of the weekend. The only positives are that the grounds are very nice, there's a beautiful walking trail up the mountain behind the property and the orange juice at breakfast is delicious. Overall, very disappointing and wish we had chosen any of the other properties in town. Supposedly there is a renovation planned Q1 of 2018, so maybe it will be better after that. However, the service issues desperately need to be addressed before this property can be taken seriously again.