Williamsburg Hospitality House

I stayed here for a night while I was in town to visit graduate programs at the College of William & Mary. I thought my stay was good. The building looked very nice and it has some historical culture to it. The rooms are a bit plain, but were perfectly adequate and clean. The man at the front desk was very friendly and nice.
It was a good stay. I don’t think things have to be brand new to be fabulous, things are a bit old but they were great.

I am baffled by all the negative reviews for this place. I spent three nights here and had a great stay. Of course, it’s not a new, modern hotel, but who goes to Colonial Williamsburg wanting a «new» hotel?
The pluses: my room was very spacious with a comfortable king-​sized bed. The location was ideal, within comfortable walking distance of every place I wanted to go in Williamsburg. The lobby area was beautiful, designed in a colonial style with a warm fire blazing in the fire place. The Saturday breakfast buffet at Papillon’s was very good, with a great selection of meats, eggs, potatoes, fruits, pastries, and (of course) grits.
There were very few minuses: they had a decent exercise center, but no elliptical. The shower was a little dated, but worked well. The TV in my room was old, a bit small, and the reception was not ideal.
All in all, this is a beautiful, colonial style hotel with all of the expected amenities. I would gladly stay here again.

I’ve stayed here three times, and each time was great every year. The way that you really measure a place is how well they handle issues that come up. There was a wedding party that decided to move their party into the hallways at 3am. A quick call to the front desk took care of that, and we went right back to sleep.
Check in has always been smooth, and the hotel manager Steve is one of the nicest guys that I’ve met. Rooms were clean and quiet (save for that one-​off event) and I look forward to going back next time I’m at BG and the outlets. Great water pressure and everything else that you’d expect. Close to local bars too!

I went to William & Mary for two years and always wanted to experience staying here at the spot many affectionately call the ‘Ho House’. Well it’s location is great especially if you visit the nearby bars and restaurants which are walking distance. The restaurant kitchen closed at 9pm sharp and would not make a concession at 9:04pm. Ok, thats fair, I guess. The rooms/​hallways were inexplicably freezing in August, so much so that we requested extra blankets. The place is clean and people nice enough. I might return.

The place is old so I wasn’t expecting a 5 star experience, but 3 stars would have been nice… The room we had STUNK of mold/​musk. You could feel the moisture on the carpet when walking. We tried leaving the door open to air it out, but the hallway smelled just as bad. We decided to deal with it because the few other rooms we had been in (our friends stayed as well) were just the same. We figured they all were like this. We did notice mold on the ceiling in the bathroom area. I took pictures of this and wish I was able to upload them. Mold is disgusting and a health hazard! If we were not staying there for a wedding (which was there as well) then we would have left.
If we ever return to this area, we will not stay here. That being said, the people who worked there from the front desk to the housekeepers were VERY friendly! I feel bad that they are exposed to the moldy musky hotel.

Very friendly service, clean, convenient location and affordable price. I read mixed reviews so was concerned but we had a pleasant stay. The décor is colonial and not high end linens but it’s not $ 200 night hotel. It was very clean and all the staff were friendly. Bed was more comfortable than the high end ny city hotel I stayed in last month. We had a king bed and the room was huge, another queen bed could have fit. We also ordered room service for breakfast. It was a bit Luke warm vs hot but tasted good. I would stay here again. Overall the décor was not as outdated as some reviews mentioned and for being 3 blocks from colonial square you are getting a great deal for the price.

Good location in Williamsburg. Affordable. Clean but old. Does the trick if you only want somewhere to sleep.

Ho House’s primary appeal is its proximity to campus and Colonial Williamsburg. Other than that, it doesn’t have a whole lot going for it. However, it was undergoing renovations when we went in November, so eventually they’ll have a more updated look for future guests.
Check your shower to make sure the water is hot enough for you. We were caught off guard by the water that wouldn’t heat up, and called the front desk about it. However, we still had cool showers because we couldn’t wait for maintenance to fix the temperature. Our friends also experienced the same issue with their room.
The gym is downstairs, near the parking lot. Smells funny, and I would not feel comfortable going by myself since it is in an isolated area. Also, I think parents who hate their kids would send them to the arcade in the basement. It has old school games, but is darkly lit and in the same unmonitored area near the gym.
Housekeeping has a later schedule then I’m used to from other hotels where they clean in the morning. We came back to our room around 2, and they were just getting to our room. We quickly freshened up, and headed back out.
Overheard convo between Ho House’s restaurant bouncer and drunk girl:
Drunk girl Have you seen my friend?
Bouncer Who is your friend?
Drunk girl Jessica!
Don’t think that bouncers are checking people’s names on their IDs. Hope Jessica was ok!

I love the old feeling but they really need to repaint. The shower was way too short for my fiancé. If you are over 5’6″ don’t stay here. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at the restaurant the food was terrible. We also ate breakfast there on Sunday and the food was worse. Not sure how you can screw up scrambled egg whites but they managed to. My parents love this place, but besides it being cheap, across from William and Mary College and an easy walk to Colonial Williamsburg I wouldn’t recommend staying here.

Whoa, whoa — people be hatin’ on the Ho House. Poor thing.
I admit The Hospitality House has definitely seen better days. When I attended William & Mary in the late 90s, this was THE place to be. If anyone’s parents came to visit, there wasn’t any question as to where they were going to stay. The cooler ones hosted end-​of-​year parties here, in sweet suites, and W&M students affectionately referred to the joint as the «Ho House.» Probably still do.
Now, however, the décor is a bit outdated, the hallways a bit dim and depressing, the furnishings a bit worn-​out and tired, the carpet a bit dingy and threadbare (how much are you really going to be in your hotel room anyway?).
But.
Ho House’s proximity to Colonial Williamsburg is the best. There aren’t a whole lot of other hotels within such incredibly easy walking distance — half a mile.
And the room rates are affordable, much more so than a lot of the other hotels in the area. Especially for the location. Did I mention how close it is to Colonial Williamsburg???
Also, I’ve not encountered the poor customer service here that others mention. In fact, I find the front desk staff is usually friendly and will often «upgrade» you for free to one of those formerly sweet suites if one’s available.
Plus, the Ho House is a stone’s throw from Colonial Williamsburg. Not sure I put that out there yet.

A bit outdated hotel. the rooms were generally clean but had mildew smell. I stayed here b/​c of its proximity to the college.

Our group has met here for several years. It has gotten progressively worse. Rooms not clean, mold in bathroom, old Tv no free wireless, torn blankets, sagging mattress, etc. Restaurant was pretty good but catered food was sub par. This place seems to think its location trumps a quality lodging experience.

I recently stayed here last weekend for a business trip because there was a deal on hotel rooms for $ 119/​night. Let me tell you firsthand: you get what you pay for, which isn’t a whole lot for $ 119/​night.
The WHH was close to where I had to go for my business trip which was great. It was about half a mile walk to shops and restaurants which was also an added bonus. If you’re used to boutique hotels, or even just chain hotels, this hotel was about 100 steps below, quality-​wise. The hotel is overly ornate with extremely old, antiquated furniture. When I got to my room, it smelled like someone had been smoking in it although it was marked as a non-​smoking room. Bed linens look just as they smell: old. Despite messing with the thermostat, it stayed a cool 65 degrees almost all night.
The accommodations were slim as well– their gym closes nightly and opens up at 5am. It would be nice if it was open, say, 24 hours? It was also advertised that there was complimentary wi-​fi but when I double checked the accommodations binder in my room, it came with a price tag of almost $ 10 per night. Seriously? The TV also was a boob tube TV… considering how old everything else was in the hotel, this was expected. I was going to order breakfast from the hotel the next morning but considering how shoddy of quality everything else was, I decided to forego breakfast.
I added a star for discovering the room in the basement of the hotel– with arcade games! Mortal Kombat II, Street Fighter and your run of the mill racing game. Only downside was the room was ridiculously hot and it was downright creepy in the basement of the hotel.
I definitely think you can have quaint charm to an old building. But there’s a huge difference in having vintage charm to being outdated and old. While the staff of WHH was friendly and down to earth, the hotel itself could really use some help.

Okay.warning.this review might sound a little harsh!!!
So we just got back from a night stay in this hotel and my experience was… Damn I wish I wouldve stayed at an another hotel! We found this hotel through priceline and their ratings was somewhat decent and since its only less than a mile from Williamsburg, we said why not right… WELL… WRONG!!! When we got there, we walked in the hotel from the garage and as soon as we entered, i smelled some kind of funk in the hallway. I don’t know what it was, maybe its just me but it just didn’t smell fresh. Then, they re trying to be cute with their little old fashion game room. My fiancé thought it was great but me? lets just say I wasn’t really too thrilled. Then we went to check in and I personally didn’t feel welcomed to be there. To think that we paid for this dang hotel as much as we paid for our HYATT stay, I was expecting a little more than we got from it. After we checked in, we ended up in a LONG ASS hallway and they put us on the other side of this lonnggggg hallway who seemed like it was never going to end. The feel of the place was a little eerie! The BED was NOT comfortable, the TVS are OLD and sheets kind of smelled. Let me get started with the AC… It has been really HOT and HUMID in the eastcoast/​VA area all summer and it was HOT and HUMID when we visited and YES… The AC needed to be colder but it wasn’t. When I tried to go to sleep, I felt like someone was watching me and it wasn’t my fiancé that was doing the staring. Maybe I’m a little paranoid but I WILL DEF NOT stay here again. EVER! this hotel just reminded me of one of those haunted OLD hotels you end up watching on TV. NEVER AGAIN.

There is nothing good for me to say about this place except the wonderful catering staff that worked our event. Check in was fine. The lobby looks ok. Upon arriving in the room the beds were made but dirty towels were everywhere and the floors needed to be vacuumed. They moved us to a supposedly better room. The next room looked the same. There was even junk on the floor. The furniture and bedding is worn and outdated. The whole hotel needs renovations. The carpet is stained and worn. The bed was the worst. We had 2 nights of the worst sleep. When you looked at the bed you could see it sinking in the center. Outdated, small television. The food at breakfast and at the catered event was bland and unexciting. The food we had at the event was on the brunch buffet on Sunday morning.
If my family had been alone we would not have stayed here. We would have checked out immediately. Stay away.

On a good night, this place gets packed (usually with students) and it turns into an extremely fun karaōke/​dance party. Go with a big group and you’re bound to have a great time. Definitely try it out a few times to catch one of the good nights (usually Friday nights). And the other plus is that the sketchy-​ness factor is relatively low!

The Hospitality House is a place that reminds you that even though you’re in this college-​town, tourist/​transplant area, you’re still in the South. Like it’s *almost* classy, but not quite. That said, my family is from the South– I love the South.