Clarion Hotel & Conference Center

Nice room, friendly staff. Walls are paper thin. Currently, I can hear the room next to us bumping uglies. Boy, oh boy, that ruins a good nights sleep.

Recently stayed for a weekend. Mostly because there are not many choices. Hotel is okay. Perhaps a little pricey. But it is shelter and a decent bed to sleep in with a good proximity to other towns and attractions. The furniture is fraught with wear. The TV too small. The shower walls could use a good scrubbing to remove the mildew nestling in the tile grout. The Formica comprising the sinks is dried and cracking and there may be some mildew in there as well. The room faintly smelled of stale cigarettes. The staff are friendly. There is a decent-​sized mini-​fridge in the room that worked well and was clean. Air conditioner worked well and was not noisy.

This hotel has significant deferred maintenance. For years the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management used this location as the Eastern Management Development Center (EMDC) but the long term contract has ended.
However, OPM is still holding classes here, having awarded the 2015 short term contract while they reportedly look for another location. The classrooms and offices in the EMDC are stripped of furniture, equipment etc — it’s now folding tables, empty rooms and shadows on the wallpaper where posters once hung. The technology center, which housed all the computer equipment, is completely empty and there’s only a couple of laptops and one printer for the students’ use.
The hotel rooms really have the deferred maintenance. The bathroom sinks (plastic marble) look like someone dropped a bowling ball in them, splintered outwards from the drain (other people confirmed their sinks were the same).
The furniture is in poor shape, scraped up and old. The comforter covers and the blanket are the same as in the earlier pictures — they look like they’re washed every few months, maybe.
There’s also functional obsolescence — while it might have been great when it opened, the building is outdated. The windows are very small and the shower curtain rod isn’t curved — so the curtain keeps trying to attach itself to me while I shower.
Worst of all, though, is the mold in the laundry room. The smell is horrendous and one of the washers was removed, with the mold clearly visible on the wall. A gallon of Kilz paint would go a long way. The dryer didn’t work well at all (an hour later, my laundry was still wet) and was installed, I think, during the Truman Administration.
Suggestion: head to the Laundromat by the Food Lion.

My family was in town visiting so I booked a room for them at the Comfort Inn. Strangely, in the morning around 8:30 AM the water was turned off. My family was not able to shower in the morning or use the toilets. Weirdest thing for a hotel to do. This was not a city-​wide water outage, just the Comfort Inn. There was no notice or warning given at the time of booking or when checking into the room. The person at the front desk indicated it is a regular occurrence and weren’t very apologetic, instead suggesting that we should have known because there was a sign posted at one of the elevators. Very strange. Despite my complaints, there was nothing the staff was willing to do to compensate. I won’t recommend or book again.

Recently, my staff and I attended the West Virginia Breeders Cup Classic Gala at the Shepherdstown Clarion Hotel and Conference Center. The staff was immensely hospitable, the food was excellent, and the service was superb. I definitely look forward to my next visit to this establishment.

The front desk staff is really friendly so that is the only reason why I am giving it two stars. And the room had a microwave and a refrigerator which is a plus.
We stayed here for a work function. I have to say this place feels like I’ve been warped back to the 1950s or something. The hotel really needs a thorough cleaning. I mean the sheets were clean but the covers on top were dusty. All the plastic placards and lamps had a film of dust on them and some weird sticky substance. I’m just not going to go there.
Pool closes at 8pm. Gymnasium is also closed if they have a gym class — which is like all the time. Talk about no fun in the middle of no where. The town is lovely but I’ll have to stay at another place next time.

I stayed there last weekend and was totally unimpressed. While the fist impression of the lobby was very nice, my over-​all feeling was that this place needs a visit from «Hotel Impossible». The carpet is worn and or/​dirty, the furniture is beaten up and in need of immediate replacement. I viewed several rooms and all had «garage sale» quality furniture. Several of the double-​pane glass windows near the courtyard/​pool area had broken seals and had become opaque. They should have been replaced years ago.
The Mid East Peace talks between Israel and Syria were held here in 2000 and they are pretty proud of that. I don’t think they have updated or repaired anything since then.
While I was eating the $ 8.00 continental breakfast I overheard another guest say, «This is like the free breakfast at the Comfort Inn.» I had to agree. As a side note, the butter (margerine) and jelly, etc for the waffles, was sitting out, not chilled or covered in any way. (not under a «sneeze guard»)
The cable TV was pretty bad. The lower channels were semi-​acceptable, but the upper channels were awful. The desk clerk said, «That’s just the way it is». If I’m spending $ 130.00+ per night, I want a decent picture. HD would be nice…
The quality of the facilities does not support the rates. I’ve stayed in much nicer places for a lot less money… with free breakfast.
They have recently lost their contract with the government and may have to learn how to actually cater to real customers. They have a lot of «deferred maintenance» issues.
While the employees that I dealt were very nice, the hotel is in need of an overhaul.
⁷⁄₂₅ Update: I almost forgot to mention the pool. and health club facilities. Pretty nice, actually. They sell memberships and have to work to keep the customers happy. One BIG negative: The towels supplied at the pool were the scratchiest towels I have ever used, like #60 sand paper. You must have to go to some special place to get towels that bad. Perhaps they do that so you won’t steal them. Beware: If you do taake one, do not use it to dry your car. You’ll ruin the paint.

The hotel is decent although it could use a renovation. The staff is nice. There are many restaurants in the hotel but the buffet meals prepared for the EMDC attendees are five-​star in variety and quality.

If you’re planning on staying at the Clarion you should be aware; This is not a traveler’s Hotel. The primary purpose of this Hotel is to serve the Government training facility (Eastern Management Development Center) that is directly attached to the Hotel. Because of this guaranteed business, the Hotel does little to no maintenance/​updating of it’s rooms.
The rooms are small and worn. Some smell like smoke (ours did), others smell like mold (other guests on floor). Some of our bathroom tiles were missing grout while a lot of the grout that was there was discoloured with mold. The furniture is showing serious signs of wear and tear and I’m fairly confident that it has not been replaced since the Hotel opened over a decade ago.
The staff was neither friendly nor helpful. When we walked into the lobby we were greeted with a sign saying the pool was closed (of course this was during the recent heat wave. Later on when exploring the hotel we saw the signs posted closer to the pool which stated that the pool was closed ‘By order of the Health Department’). When we checked into our room we walked in to find our Air Conditioning cover laying on the floor. The AC was also non functional. The fan worked but it was not cooling. The beds were covered with some kind of dirt and hair. We went to the front desk and the person there literally just shrugged at me and said there was nothing she could do as they were fully booked that night. Here’s a protip for the Clarion staff: when a guest who checks in at 4pm has a major problem with their room, you move them to another room and have your houseman clean/​fix/​repair the problem room and give it to someone who checks in hours later. You don’t just shrug at the guest and blow them off.
Other hotels in the area were fully booked so we were stuck. Luckily I was able to get the AC partially working by unplugging the unit and restarting it several times. The final straw was when I attempted to take a shower in the morning. I turned on the water and was immediately hit by an odor. It literally smelled like swamp water.
Broken AC. Dirt, mold, odors… The Clarion of course charged us full price for our experience. This is not a $ 120 hotel.

I cannot understand why there are so many negative reviews on this hotel. I have stayed here on multiple occasions (my daughter used to attend Shepherd University) so I would stay here during my visits, and my experiences were always positive. The front desk staff is professional and friendly, the rooms are always clean and the beds are extremely comfortable, and the restaurant food is very good. Overall, a very good hotel!

This place is extremely mediocre. I stayed here for a federal training course. The rooms smell like mildew. The provided food in the Byrd dining room tastes like prison food. Choice hotels will be low on my list of preferred hotel chains for a long time to come after this experience.

Unfortunately we gave the Tuscany Grille a chance, as the recent review was
only directed at the buffet (which are never that great, IMHO). Anyway, we are staying at the hotel (which is fine) and I’ll admit I was taken by the description of «fresh baked bread» etc. DON’T BE FOOLED! Bread was terrible, clearly sysco-​starter bread. The service was fine, our waitress was very nice, but if you actually like fresh food, take the time and go somewhere (anywhere!) else. Plenty of other nearby restaurants get decent reviews.

Rooms, service and gym are fine. We were there for a government training class so were restricted to the buffet. Anything that was cooked was pretty bad. The metallic taste of pesticides and preservatives was in everything. The meat and fish were bottom grade. Everything vegetable had the gloss of oil on it. High salt content in everything. Frozen desserts, Instant coffee only. They did always have a salad bar and fruit. If you visit plan on eating elsewhere.

Stayed here for work. It was absolutely awful. The place was so dirty and I am not sure how often they actually clean like they are supposed to.
I would avoid it at all costs.

Blech, the Clarion is not the best place to sleep in Shepherdstown. It’s probably the only chain type of place and there’s meeting space with the hotel which attracts business travelers, but if you’re trying to capture the historic charm of this town, the Clarion will catapult you right back to the 21^st century, and not in a good way.
Our room on the third floor was so rank with mildew smell that we ended up changing rooms. Now I’m not usually a complainer, but this was some strong mildew and I was scared mold spores were going to invade my body in the middle of the night and cause me to become ill.
Our second room was on the fourth floor, which we were assured had just been remodeled, so no mold/​mildew smells.
If you go, request a room on the fourth floor.

Snooty without cause to be. They tried to take my bicycle away, while I clinged to it with my claw-​like cycling gloves. A guy chased me in, yelling at me about my bike, then the desk clerk tried. Me «the bike stays with me».
The pool and hot tub closes at an absurdly early 7 pm on weekends.
Only stayed cause expedia had a room when everywhere else for miles was sold out.