Randolph Inn & Suites

I arrived at the Randolph after a very long 14-​hour drive. We arrived a little after 11pm and expected to check in and get to bed in order to be ready for our early morning. The lady at the front desk was initially pleasant until there was a problem with the company credit card on file. Part of our group had checked in earlier in the day and addressed this problem at that point. A solution to the problem was reached earlier in the day, however it was not communicated to the night staff.
The lady at the desk immediately became defensive and started taking quite the ‘tone’ with me. As a customer service professional, her job is to help guests solve problems quickly and efficiently with a positive attitude. She failed at this task with flying colors. I should mention that this incident seemed to be isolated to this one individual. I had neutral and positive experiences with other people at the front desk throughout my stay.
Eventually I call my manager (who had already checked in earlier that day) and she comes down to help address this problem. When desk-​lady realized I had backup she immediately upped her game in the attitude department. She was condescending, rude and unwilling to help solve the problem at hand. I stood there and watched my manager try several times to be conversational and kind to desk-​lady, but desk-​lady was having none of it. I thought Midwesterners were supposed to be nice! After a cringe-​worthy 5-​minute exchange of threats to call managers, veiled insults and passive/​aggressive mini-​lesson on how credit cards work, an agreement is reached and a personal credit card is used to pay for one night with the hopes to sort it all out the next morning.
I’m handed my card keys and I’m off to my room.
I get out of the elevator and the hallway smells musty and smoky. The hotel is non-​smoking, with a standard $ 250 fee for smoking. Obviously not a deterrent.
I get into my room and very quickly realized that the walls are made out of a material the thickness of your standard printer paper. I can hear, clear as day, EVERY intimate detail of what the people in the room next to me are «saying» and every last bit of what they were, uh, «doing.» I could also hear the party going on down stairs. I came to learn later that a member of my group requested his room to be moved because of said party. Their experience with the room change was about as pleasant as mine at check-​in.
Okay, whatever, I’ll deal with it. Time for bed. Early morning.
The sheets were cheap. Like, REALLY cheap. They were also the best part of the bed. The mattress was lumpy. I could feel the fine details of each and every spring. The pillows were only slightly better than sleeping on a half-​used roll of dollar store paper towels.
The next morning I go to hop in the shower. At first glance, the bathroom was pretty nice. Granite counter tops, nice fixtures and a throne worthy of a king. Also found a bounty of the standard cosmetic items. A second look found some issues. The shower head was caked with calcium build-​up (gross) and the wallpaper was in desperate need of some attention. The towels were about as nice as the bed sheets.
Okay. Let’s review what we’ve learned about The Randy so far: Abysmal customer service at the front desk, inconsiderate clientele, paper-​thin walls, scratchy sheets, lumpy bead, rock-​hard pillows, crusty shower head. How can it get worse, you ask???
…BREAKFAST. THAT’S HOW.
Granted, this was a ‘free’ breakfast. I can’t really complain about something that I’m not paying for, right? Well, this breakfast is so bad that I’d rather they make the room cheaper and just go to one of the wonderful breakfast establishments within a 3 – 5 minute drive from The Randy (I suggest Mrs. Wicks, but even McDonalds is better). Breakfast at The Randy includes a coffee machine that makes a mediocre brew, sausage gravy, biscuits, canned fruit, cereals and a fun little waffle maker that I had a blast with. Some days there were eggs that were scrambled so hard that they resembled pellets rather than the expected yellow, fluffy chunks.
I had an overall negative experience, and for the price we paid I suppose we got what we paid for. They are a privately owned establishment. As such, they don’t have the apparatus in place that the chains do to keep things running smoothly. They also have a monopoly in the area because the next half-​decent hotel is a half hour drive away. If you can lower your standards into a 6-​ft grave, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. If you can get past the overwhelming amount of little things are wrong with this hotel then you can probably have a nice stay. If you’re working in the area and need a home-​away-​from-​home to come back to at the end of a long day, AVOID. It’s worth an extra hour on the road to find a better place to stay.

The Randolph Inn & Suites is a definite winner with a friendly crew, warm and comfortable rooms, free wifi, a solid nearby dining option, and an atmosphere far beyond that which I would expect from a small-​town, locally owned hotel. The hotel is apparently owned by a locally based group of investors. It has that kind of feel — professional yet relaxed. A friend of mine reserved the room as a donation to a charity event I was on — I arrived at the hotel after a long day of wheeling that had been really challenging. I was tired, a little grumpy and really wanting to just relax.
Bingo. This fit the bill.
They offer 47 rooms in the 3-​story main building. They also offer a «budget» building that doesn’t look nearly as inviting, but it does look like they keep it up. The budget building, which essentially means you save about $ 30 bucks a night off their usual rate of around $ 84, is a one-​story building that closely resembles those old school roadside hotels like the one where Norman Bates killed a certain female in the shower.
But hey, that was in another state. Right?
I was in the main building in an accessible room with lots of room, a roll-​in shower, and an appropriate height for the bed. I originally thought there was an internet problem, but my computer died the next day on the road so I’m kind of figuring the problem was on my end. They do offer free wifi and do have a business center. They also have an indoor pool, laundry facilities, 24-​hour video surveillance, restaurant delivery to the front desk, and all rooms are non-​smoking. They will charge your room $ 250 if you smoke in the room and you do sign a statement agreeing to it.
They also serve a continental breakfast.
I found the Randolph Inn to be remarkably wheelchair friendly. It honestly surprised me a bit as I’ve had some challenging experiences in smaller cities, especially with non-​chain options. They seem to have a rather small staff, though it’s definitely more staffed during the day. I arrived at about 6:30pm and noticed that the person working the desk was also helping out in a room. However, the wait was definitely reasonable and they were super friendly.
It was also nice that prices for snacks and drinks weren’t gouging the customers. You could buy chips, water, sodas, and candy for $ 1 each instead of the usual $ 2 – 3 or more often charged by chain hotels.
The television options were plentiful, the room was comfortable, the mattress was just right, and even the bathroom décor had a nice warm feeling to it rather than the usual institutional feeling. There was lots of dark wood or faux wood décor. I really liked it.
If there was a gem on this particular Tenderness Tour, it would likely be the Randolph Inn & Suites. While I’m not quite willing to proclaim it a 5-​star experience, it was definitely a winner in every way and definitely a place I’d go back to again. I watched the customer service as I waited for my ride to arrive the following day and noticed that they went out of their way to accommodate requests and had clearly built a rapport with several customers.
The Randolph Inn & Suites may not be the best hotel experience you’ll ever have, but if you’re in the area and need a safe, clean, inviting and comfortable place to lay your head you should most certainly be happy here.

One of three small local hotels in town — and the only one I considered as an option. Right across the street from the new Gillman Home Center so the spot is ideal for me when I’m here on business. The hotel is very impressive; king suite room is very roomy, modern, and clean. Staff was very friendly at check in. Will definitely recommend this hotel to anyone visiting or passing through Winchester.

We needed a great hotel for one night while visiting family, and Randolph Inn and Suites definitely delivered.
We were able to check in around 3 (which is the only bad part about the whole experience-​we asked if we could check in earlier – around 1 – and were told no) and it would have been way more on the way from our destination. But that’s ok.
We weren’t able to use the pool because we were too busy with our family, but it looked nice. We also had to skip the continental breakfast (we had something better waiting for us!!) but it was busy and smelled delicious. They had scrambled eggs out there as well as biscuits and gravy and other standard fare.
The rooms were really clean and comfortable. They provided us with the pack n play we needed for our son to sleep in. We felt safe and comfortable, and that’s really all that matters!
I would definitely stay at this hotel again! Great job, Randolph!