The Valley Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection

This hotel is in need of maintenance and renovation. The door to the bathroom would not close as the door hinge was needing adjustment. The cabinets were worn, scuffed, and dirty. A mouse ran across the room when my husband opened the refrigerator. When we called the front desk they were aware of mice problems and offered no other explanation. The breakfast consisted of Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich that had a spot of mold on it when I opened the package. I was thankful that we were only there 1 night. I would not recommend this hotel until some major problems taken care of.

Pro: - Room was nice and big Con: - 2 switches that did nothing - Bathroom heater was broken - Bathroom fan light was out - Ice bucket had water and an old cup in it - No extra blankets - 1 of the 2 closet doors didn't work (not just off the track) - No bathtub grab bar - Old and out dated. Needs TLC.

My wife had stayed her with our daughter in 1996 so we are familiar with the area and property. We stayed again this week for an overnight. The room was clean. The bed was "tired" and saggy but we slept ok. The room was bright with nice windows overlooking the parking lot. We had plenty of outlets and the TV worked fine. It was nice to have a list of channels, and also to have two suitcase stands. The bathroom was small but otherwise fine. We were there during a heat wave, around 90 degrees, but the AC worked fine. When we got back from an early dinner, we had hoped to take a swim but found that the pool was only opened from 10AM to 6PM. Given that check in was at 4PM and checkout 10AM, we were very surprised that the pool was only available to us for a 2 hour window!! This was not acceptable! We understand the property is under new management, and we spoke with one of the managers before checking out. We were told that there is a pool at the Rec Center that was available to us. This would have meant gathering all our swim gear, getting into our car, driving about 5 minutes up the road, going into the Rec Center, checking in, changing into our suits, swimming, drying off and changing back into our clothes, etc, etc. NOT the convenience expected when paying for an on-site pool. We hope the management reconsiders the timing of the pool (8AM to 10PM is typical at most "Resorts"!). Since there is not lifeguard, this should not mean extra costs to the property - makes no sense!! The breakfast was fine - continental with some "reheatable" breakfast sandwiches. We would consider going back.

The rooms are large and beds comfortable. But that's it. My room was a cave, with two very small windows and inadequate lighting. There is WiFi, but otherwise the rooms are set up for 1990 minus the radio or a clock. It looked like there were no outlets near the beds, but rummaging around I managed fish a power ***** out from under the bed to charge my phone. The bedside light was plugged in to the power *****. Looking at the wall the lights had fairly obviously been swapped out from whatever was there originally whenever the room decor was updated. That update was done on a visibly minimal budget. In June there is nothing in the vicinity. The "village center" was almost entirely closed, except for one astonishingly wretched restaurant. I chose this hotel because it was close to a trailhead, but you have to drive 20 to 30 minutes to get something reasonable to eat. If it had been half the price I would have been fine with all this, as it was I'd have been better off camping.

We stayed on Columbus Day weekend for a family wedding that took place across the street. The Inn is centrally located and easy to get to anything within Waterville Valley. The front office "staff" were terrific, and I put quotes around "staff" because we only ever saw the same woman. I'm glad we did because she was that good, but I hope she eventually was able to go home. The inn looks and feels a little tired in places, such as the carpeting, the floors which squeak a lot and the furniture in the lounge. Free continental breakfast is pretty standard, but its easy and convenient. The room was great, very spacious, A/C worked very well and the bed was extremely comfortable. Bathroom was clean and a little light on soap, but not bad. Easy parking in front of the Inn.

I exchanged a gorgeous unit at the Marriott Shadowridge in Palm Desert for this dump. First impression- the musty smell when you go in the main entrance. Next - no check in. Just a series of notices directing you how to get your keys. Turns out our unit was directly in front of the entrance and when our unit door opened, anyone could see right into the bedroom. The unit had brown industrial carpet, snazzy valances from the 80's, cracked tiles in kitchen and fake oak thrift shop furniture. But the topper was the bathroom. Two doors. But the genius who designed it neglected to check measurements. One door had a hole in it and they obstructed each other. Ancient 4 inch tiles on the counter, teensy tiny toilet, old jacuzzi tub. Such a depressing dumpy place, we left early. Oh, and the "second bedroom" is actually a foldout couch (that jammed) behind a folding screen. Couldn't spend another night there.

We enjoyed our 3 night ski getaway to Valley Inn (Sat-Tues). It was not only our first time to Valley Inn, but also our first time visiting Waterville Valley. We were pleasantly surprised at check-in with "Freedom passes" which allowed us to complimentary access the local fitness center (indoor pool, gym, tennis courts, squash). We feel that this is of huge value and next time will be able to factor this in when packing (swimsuits/workout gear). We had a 2nd floor bedroom which was a good size for the 3 of us (queen bed+pullout couch for our child). The kitchen (full size fridge) was really helpful for making sandwiches for the ski day and we even brought in a pizza one of the evenings from the local pizzeria. The complimentary breakfast was served downstairs was fine to get the day started (oj, coffee/tea, bagels, yogurt, cereals). To get up to the ski mountain, it was only a 5 minute drive to their parking lot. I would also like to highlight just how helpful and nice both Mike and Charlie were at the hotel front desk. We really hope to return next ski season!