Advice on hotels

<p>My D will be auditioning at JMU on Feb 16. She needs a quiet hotel in an effort to get a good night's rest before the audition. When we visited JMU, we stayed at the Hampton Inn but we were very disappointed. D found one of those dental floss thingies in her bed, with used floss on it - yuck. Even more importantly, the walls are paper thin and the people next door started watching TV at 3am - it was so loud, no sleep after that. I have read reviews of almost every hotel and I can't find anything that looks much better. Anyone ever stay at The Village Inn- it is further out but gets the best reviews.</p>

<p>I do not know about the Village Inn -- although I think I have passed it and it looks nice. </p>

<p>One of my prospective musical theatre auditionees stayed at the Country Inn and Suites -- It is South of campus on South Main Street (I believe in the same direction of The Village Inn). They said is was quiet (and you get a free cookie at check in!), and clean. -- although the area is not particularly interesting or fabulous in terms of restaurants and such -- it is very easy accessibility to 81, so you could go to restaurants closer to the Hampton Inn part of town on East Market (where you stayed last time)... it is also very easy to access campus and downtown by driving down South Main street to campus.</p>

<p>Best of Luck to your D!</p>

<p>Thanks - I'll check that out. I just assumed that we would rebook the Hampton Inn because I get Hilton points, but we got no sleep and that won't work the night before an audition. I have read so many reviews of hotels and it seems everyone complains about paper thin walls everywhere so I guess we just have to hope we don't get noisy neighbors. I should track down other auditioners and everyone can book adjacent rooms and be really quiet.</p>

<p>:) yeah -- it seems that most newer hotels these days have paper thin walls!</p>

<p>My D certainly won't be warming up in the room that morning - she'd probably put a crack in the walls.</p>

<p>We prefer Hampton Inns. We have stayed at the Hampton Inn many times, and always found a clean room! I have noticed that many groups of students and perhaps college or high school teams stay there too. I could understand that it might have been loud when you were there, however, we have never experienced it. We have also stayed at the new Country Inn and Suites. The rooms there are even a bit larger, IMO, than at the Hampton Inn. We won't stay there again though, because we all found the mattresses to be uncomfortable. We all had a poor night's sleep because of that. We did look at the Village Inn, but we did not stay there. We ate at a restaurant that is next to, or attached to it. We looked at a room while we were there. After we had a look, we'd still prefer the Hampton Inn (even after reading about the dental floss)!! The only reason that we considered the Village Inn, is that it was much less expensive for Family Weekend. Oh, a tip, if your D is going to attend JMU, you might want to look into a room for Family Weekend now. They begin booking nearly a year in advance. Also, look online between now and the summer if you want to attend the football game. The tickets do seem to sell out. These tickets can be ordered online before a brochure about family weekend is sent out. Also, watch the date, bc if the date of that weekend should change, you will need to change your hotel reservation (this happened to us, bc we booked a year in advance). I can tell you that some of my son's friends' parents have stayed at the Marriott Courtyard. We stopped in to get a room price just in case we wanted to stay there in the future. This hotel was a bit more expensive and I don't think it included the continental breakfast that is offered at Hampton, or Country Inn. Hope this helps.</p>

<p>One more thought- JMU has a parent organization and I believe they are the ones who put together an extensive list of hotels, B&Bs, etc. It lists phone numbers and the number of miles that each hotel is from JMU. You might want to call or email them, or admissions. Perhaps they could send or fax it to you. Good luck to your daughter on the 16th!</p>

<p>Thanks so much. I was a little concerned about the Hampton Inn because I had read 2 reviews where patrons suspected that bed linens had not been changed, but I figured - what are the chances? When she threw the covers back and saw the floss, I was concerned that they really are not changing the sheets. The noise was from neighbors so that may not happen again, but hotels generally are made of construction paper these days. We have been so happy with our stays elsewhere but the choices are much more limited in Harrisonburg. Of course, that's part of the charm - the more rural setting. If the Hiltons are listening, maybe they'll bring in Homewood Suites or a Hilton Garden Inn for some competition. We may end up bringing our dog so the Hampton Inn will be out because they don't accept pets. The Village Inn might be the best choice for that. I have been boarding him so much for visits and auditions and have to board him for another 6 days for auditions at Otterbein and Westminster Choir College that he's getting to be as expensive as the hotels are.</p>

<p>Well, if I suspected that linens were not changed, I would call and make them change the linens while I was in the room! I would also send letter about my experience. </p>

<p>How did you like Otterbein? Did your D look at other schools in OH? We have a younger son, so I am interested (but not for music).</p>

<p>I hope that your D will be able to get used to noise and the college sleep schedule. My son claims that the normal bedtime in his dorm is 2am. I think that dorm life requires some getting used to. My son could sleep through anything, so noise would not bother him.</p>

<p>That is exactly what I did - I am dealing through Hilton Honors so hopefully they will respond to the complaints.</p>

<p>She loved Otterbein - she is applying for vocal performance and the audition is coming up soon. She didn't look at other schools in Ohio, but is auditioning at 5 other schools. </p>

<p>She usually sleeps through a lot, but when she is already nervous about an audition, she doesn't sleep as well. The sleep schedule at school may be a problem. Lack of sleep doesn't work well for a singer - she may have to learn how to use earplugs and sleep mask.</p>

<p>My SIL sings professionally, so I understand. A cold or a sore throat and one just can't sing! </p>

<p>I cannot imagine Hilton Honors not being responsive!</p>

<p>When I moved down here I had my cat and stayed in the Comfort Inn on East Market -- they accept pets. I thought that the room was clean and the hotel over all nice. The Hampton Inn has the best continental breakfast I think -- I stayed there when I interviewed for the job here at JMU.</p>

<p>I think that sometimes the school also puts job candidates up at the Courtyard Marriot.</p>

<p>We are going for the BlueStone scholarship interview this weekend. I made reservations at the Jameson Inn.. any coments?</p>