Sturbridge Host Hotel & Conference Center

Staying here for a conference. I got an upgraded room that overlooked the lake. The room was spacious and clean! The water pressure in the shower is on point! I wish the pool opened before 10am though! The staff at the desk are fabulous and have given me nothing but good tips on where to get food!

Needs a major facelift. The mattresses are lumpy and feel like a camping cot. The rooms smell musty. The tub has a pull out drain and you can take a tub/​shower at the same time. The drain doesn’t drain well.
Has great potential but doesn’t meet it at this time.

I wish I read the reviews before I purchased my Groupon.
I will cut some slack here– Memorial Day weekend, several weddings, very full hotel equals a very busy front desk. My boyfriend and I arrived about a half an hour after check in time (4pm) and waited in like for about 30 minutes. Upon reaching the desk, we were told our room would be ready in 15 minutes and to check back then. Fine. We got a drink at the bar and had a really good margarita and a beer– reasonably priced and the bartender was super friendly. As we sat, about 15 people walked in for dinner– she was the only person working. A sure sign they were under staffed.
Upon returning to the front desk, we were told they only had rooms with two double beds left. Whatever, by this point we had already waited an hour. The room was nice– had a great view of the lake and did the job for one night. The tv’s are outdated and the locking mechanism on the sliding glass door needs to be updated for better security. We sat out on the balcony– they all should have been repainted in the early spring or something, the paint was peeling off and just looked bad. The family below us had a large group with them, and they were pretty spread out and had loud music playing and were smoking– made it a little uncomfortable to sit outside and enjoy the view, but I guess there are no rules here.
The next morning we headed to the Greenhouse to use our $ 25 resort credit from the Groupon. We decided on the buffet. Nothing to write home about. There was no method to the madness, no order to go in, kids running everywhere with no parents. We even witnessed a housekeeper making a deal with a room of kids! «Your parents said you had to leave the room so I could clean. How about I just give you new towels and you can say you left» what!!!
Then there was checkout. I just happened to be standing with our belongings when the waitress from the restaurant asked why our bill wouldn’t go through to our room. (To use the resort credit, you must charge the bill to your room) Turns out, the woman who checked us in actually cancelled our reservation. As I was checking out of the room with towels on the floor and an unmade bed, two guests were being checked in to our messy room!
Would I stay here again? No. Was the staff friendly? Yes, but they were all so frazzled. As if they had never seen a busy weekend before. The «atrium» needs updating and their staff needs more training.

Like the other reviewers have said, stayed a couple months ago but left early. Neither the Pool nor hot tub was working. Was given the run around about using the hot tub from employees for a full day. By the end of it I just wanted to go home… left a day early. Never got I our money back, just $ 50 worth of «Groupon Credit». Oh btw, the heat in our room did not work at all, so yeah could barely sleep due to being freezing. Sorry Unilocalers, I will definitely listen to the reviews next time! To anyone considering staying here, please listen to us, I wish I had! Do not go, you are bound to be dissapointed in one way or another.

Never again!
We’ve stayed here on three different occasions durning Presidents weekend and it gets worse each year.
The concept of it is brilliant with all the activities they plan for Kids Week in February but the hotel it’s self is awful! I’ve read other reviews where they’ve mentioned that the hotel could use some updating but I would certainly say it could use some major renovations. The pool is freezing, dirty, dilapidated and just DISGUSTING! My daughter and I put our feet in the spa to warm up and I made the huge mistake of sitting into it. I kept feeling something stuck in my bathing suit and it was making feel uncomfortable so we went back to our mediocre room to shower and my skin started burning from whatever chemical was floating around that cesspool.
I’m a sensitive sleeper. You know, the type that travels with a fan. So I don’t do well in hotels at night anyway. This is a party hotel. It’s an excuse for some parents to let their rambunctious tweens run a muck while they socialize and drink. (So naturally this hotel does work for them. That’s where you’ll see your 4 star reviews. Either from them or staff that was urged to pad the reviews.) And for those that don’t have or bring children… ugh, no boundaries. People have just lost all decency and have no hotel etiquette. The noise at night is loud and obnoxious.
The staff for the most part are young and not as experienced in the hospitality business. Some were more attentive than others. The food from the bar was decent and the drinks were overpriced and under delivered. The breakfast buffet was what you would expect from any buffet. We did order pancakes off the menu and they were pretty tasty. (About the only other positive thing I can say from our weekend here.)

I stayed here recently. I think it’s time to tear the place down and rebuild. It is so dated and dingy. Pool wasn’t clean either.
While staying there I noticed the picture on our room wall looked suspicious. Upon closer examination I could see mold growing on it!
We tried the restaurant by the pool for breakfast. Nothing good to say and the coffee was horrible (I ended up walking over to McDonalds for coffee).

I was hesitant on staying here because of the reviews but now I’m glad I did. The room was nice. It had an updated bathroom (even though we were suppose to get a shower with bars and didn’t). It had a separate seating area with a couch. I really liked the restaurant. It was in an antique house next door with a large real wood fireplace and views of the lake. The hotel had a sports bar and a breakfast restaurant. There was indoor gazebos with tables where people ate. Very quaint place. Very reasonably priced.

Place is definitely dated, but not that bad. Stayed for New Yeas Eve and had a good time. Great for families with kids in New Years.
The bar Is fun also, met some great people doing karaōke. Very welcoming

Horrible at breakfast my daughter and 3 children walked out after her order was not taken in 45 minutes. My son had his order taken after 45 for him and his 2 children. My order was taken after 30 minutes then I got my food after 1 hour. The wait staff was rude and not organized. I only gave 1 start because it wouldn’t let me give 0.

First time at a weekender and in MA It was a BLAST!!! Can not wait till next year’s!!! lake walking distance from room, cozy!

Despite the reviews, we had booked a night there, which was supposed to be tonight. We were going to the dog grooming show that was in the convention center. So upon arriving, the water spot was nice, and the hotel looks really nice. We checked in and the staff was nice and we went to our rooms. With any place we check it out before we put our bags on the floor or beds, we thought all was well… Until one of the people in our party spotted a bug, she took a photo and we left the rooms immediately. We finally made our way back to registration lobby and spoke to Doug A., I told him we had a problem and he said he could help. I told him we were checking the rooms out and found the bug and he didn’t act surprised by it, he looked at the photo and confirmed it was a bed bug, and he said he was sorry and that he’d find us another room, at which I told him that no, we didn’t want to stay there at all. He didn’t give any hassle and he refunded us (as far as I know at this time). He offered to find us another room, but we chose to come back home instead.
The hotel itself isn’t horrible. It absolutely does need some updates, and they should get rid of all the carpet., especially since they allow pets. The pool is nasty, I wouldn’t use it regardless, but it looks so dirty and gross. The rooms that have a patio inside, was a bit stuffy, and when we turned on the AC it smelled smoky, we figured it was because just down the hallway was the smoking section of the hotel.
Personally think if they’re going to host such things they should make sure their hotel is up to par. I give it less than 1 star, but the staff was nice. I can’t give more stars just because of that. A bed bug means the hotel isn’t clean and it needs to be attended to.

Ugh! I should have researched better before I chose this hotel on priceline, but I thought 3 stars would be something decent. Nope! I stayed here last night and was so extremely disappointed. If I had been staying longer/​was given a refund I would have left immediately.
My room smells disgusting. Like mildew. The a/​c didn’t work. The walls and ceilings and cracked and peeling. I took a shower and the bathroom light flickered and the tub wouldn’t drain. The bathroom floor was soaked, and squeaked if you stepped even after the water was gone. As if the whole under layer of the tile was completely water soaked and mildewed.
When I went to ask for a new room, I was told there were none available. That was bullshit. I asked for a refund. They refused and I was told the manager wasn’t available. They offered to send maintenance, and I told them it was nothing to be fixed. Flash forward 10 minutes, there are too men at my door with a plunger.
This place was absolutely terrible and I will make sure that I let it be known everywhere possible.

This should come under the heading of ‘Read the other reviews first.’ They would have clued me in to what this hotel was really like. Something out of a Captain Obvious Priceline commercial.
We booked a stay for Thursday night in the Sturbridge Host Hotel and Conference Center through Priceline Express Deals. We had been at a conference at the University of Hartford, traveled up to visit friends in Needham and were planning to stay the night and go to Old Sturbridge Village on Friday. My wife called to confirm that we would be arriving late on Thursday and was told it was fine. When we arrived at the hotel, a woman who neither smiled nor welcomed us came to check us in. She seemed irritated that she had to do so. She gave us vague directions to our room and tersely stated something about not parking to unload for more than 30 minutes because the hotel is on a lake (keep in mind that it was nearly midnight and both the car and boat traffic were non-​existent). When we mentioned that it was late and asked if we could check out at noon, rather than at 11:00am, she informed us that the housekeeping staff did not allow it. When we asked about breakfast hours, she made a point of saying, «It’s not included. You have to pay for it.» This should have clued me in that this was not going to be an enjoyable stay.
The room she had assigned us, 131, was on the pool level. When we walked into it, the overwhelming smell of perfume, chemicals and mildew hit us. As my wife and daughter have asthma and my daughter has a heart condition, we rolled the luggage cart back to the front desk. I told her about the smell and our asthma. In what was clearly a huff, she then went in the back, brought out some papers and proceeded to go through them. She then gave us another room, 216, this time on the second floor. There is ONE elevator in this hotel, which smelled of urine, about as far away from the lobby and front desk as you can get. While she clearly saw us with the loaded luggage cart, despite the lateness of the hour, and our first bad experience, she felt it necessary to put us in a room about as far away from the elevator as you can get. Along the way, we saw one of the two ice machines out of order, a candy wrapper and a piece of candy on the floor of the dark and dingy hallway, missing ceiling tiles with exposed wiring, and a dirty white rag on the floor as we got out of the elevator on the second floor. This should have been another clue to me about this hotel.
When we got to our room, my daughter immediately noticed that the top sheet of the bed nearest the window had a prominent yellowish/​brownish stain on it and the beds looked oddly lumpy. When I took the bed runner off, there was copious red dust underneath it (it looked like eraser shavings) from the disintegrating runner. There was a large red stain on the carpet that looked like red wine. There was a smaller one that looked like blood. There was dust and crumbs around the bottom of the beds and against the dresser. Both the chairs were stained. There was a long black hair in one of the drawers, as well as dust thick enough to draw with on the television. The toilet had what looked like black mold around the bottom and the tub had clearly not been cleaned any time recently. The hairdryer had dust bunnies coming out of the vents. Housekeeping may be strict about check-​out time, but it is certainly not because they are in any rush to clean.
The manager could not be bothered to come up. I suspect that because she has no authority over the housekeeping staff she simply didn’t care that the room was dirty. Scott, the security person, came up to inspect the room and authorized a refund to Priceline due to the filthy conditions. Since we could not get the Wifi to work in the room or in the lobby, we were left to drive around to find another hotel at 12:45am. No one at this hotel offered to help us and the manager never apologized or even appeared again. It seems she had more important things to do.
If Sturbridge Host Hotel and Conference Center had the least interest in customer service, or even in public health, they would close the hotel until it could be thoroughly disinfected, cleaned, repaired, and brought up to code. I have read this hotel’s responses to similar experiences as mine on Trip Advisor, and they are clearly clueless as to what ‘customer service’ means, as they keep writing the same thing, but have made no effort to rectify the problems.
I am told the sunrise and sunsets on the lake are beautiful and I am sure they are. Just see them from some other hotel.

I would not waste your money on this hotel!
I had read all of the bad reviews and was really hoping that it wasn’t that bad. Unfortunately, it was pretty bad!
Upon first arrival, it looks pretty cute. The side near the lake was nice and the lobby was really nice as well. I had purchased a 2 night stay through Groupon to have a little «mini vacation» with my boyfriend over the long 4^th of July weekend.
When we arrived, we were told to drive around the back of the building to the entrance near our room. We pull up and go into the hallway and we immediately smell a musty, moldy smell. As we walk down the hallway, we notice that right in front of our room is a ceiling tile that is completely covered in mold.
Our room itself wasn’t all that bad. Definitely outdated, with 2 tube tv’s and the bathroom door was broken, but overall it wasn’t the dirtiest of rooms. The bed was a worn spring mattress.
The first thing we decided to do was take a walk around the grounds to check out the place. The first stop was the pool. The pool was the absolute worst part of the place. The edges of the pool were gross and looked dirty, the bottom of the pool had big holes of missing liner, I wouldn’t even set foot in it. The hot tub’s water was at least 2 feet too low and there was a couple in there when we went to take a peek. They ended up taking a hose that was nearby and filling the hot tub themselves and later in the evening it looked like it was a little more full.
The next place we went to see was the beach. The beach itself was actually pretty nice. The only downside was there is the Oxhead Tavern patio right next to the beach so sitting there in your bathing suit while people are eating within earshot is pretty awkward. There were cute ducks though that we brought some bread for. that made me happy!
We then took a walk around the edge of the property, which was completely covered in goose poop so you could barely walk along the water. The paddle boats looked to be in pretty rough condition and they charged $ 9 for an hour to rent them so we skipped that.
Since we had nothing to really do after seeing the condition of the pool, we decided to just go to dinner at the Oxhead Tavern. We sat out on the patio overlooking the lake which was pretty nice but the food was pretty crappy. The couple next to us cancelled their 2^nd drink order and left without finishing their meals (and by finishing I mean taking more than 2 bites) and the family on the other side of us complained about something that they got taken off their bill.
After dinner we went back to our room and thought that we at least had the fire pit to sit around once it got dark, something we were most looking forward to. Well, we were wrong. Apparently they don’t turn on the fire pits (why would you even advertise the fire pits if they are off?!) unless you pay $ 100 for the first hour and $ 40 for each additional hour. Why would I pay more for an hour by the fire pit than I did for my room for the night?! We seriously thought the lady at the front desk was joking with us!
So we just went to bed early and hoped the next day would be better. We sat by the lake for awhile, then played a round of mini golf at the horribly unkept mini golf course where the little houses on the course doubled as trash bins. By 3pm I was wishing I was back at home, to my flatscreen TV, firepit that actually works, my comfy bed and my mold-​less ceilings. We just decided to pack up and leave, even if we would lose out on the night we paid for. This was the first vacation that I wished would be over and I could go back home!
Listen to the bad reviews on here! I wish I had!

We stayed for July 4^th weekend. Contrary to other reviews, I found this place very cozy and quiant. Yes the hotel is dated, but I found the theme beautiful. Nothing inside our hotel room was dated except for the television which I didn’t care much for. The view we had was cute as we overlooked the mini golf course. Other views that had balconies would even be better as they over looked the lake or the indoorpool. We also had the breakfast buffet. It was worth it.
Surrounding the hotel was the lake which had a small «beach» and paddle boat rentals. Very cute and romantic esp at night. I loved that they had a band outside that played beautiful music.
The staff were excellent. Great hospitality.
The reason why I gave it 4 stars is bc of everything I stated above. HOWEVER, I would have given it 1 star for… bug bites. No, it’s not from mosquitoes. I was covered from head to toe that night as it was cold when we watched the fireworks in Boston. This was Def from the bed. I’m a bit sensitive so when I woke up I had 5 big swollen bites. I’m not sure it was bed bugs since I know the severity my skin goes through w bed bugs bites, but I’m sure it was from other mites.
I’m not brutal so no I will not give this place 1 star. Overall, it was beautiful, so consider it. Very romantic and quaint… and family oriented environment. But keep in mind about bites. Again, my skin is also sensitive, so I feel bites x3 compared to regular ppl. The rest of my family didn’t get any bites… or at least they ever feel it lol

Nothing too exciting here. The room was blah and outdated. The slider to the balcony did not lock, but had a pole to lock it. No screen on slider = no fresh air. The free wifi barely worked. Lucky if one person in our room could get on. The Ice machine was out of order on my floor. No refrigerator unless I paid for one. Bathroom was tiny. The kids enjoyed the pool, but they were always out of towels. Some weird smells in different parts of the hotel. Would have loved good coffee and bagels/​muffins in the morning, but went to Dunkin Donuts each morning instead
Attended a convention. That space was decent. The meal at the convention was less not worth what we paid. The kids chicken fingers were tough and cold. Probably made several hours earlier. The cheesecake had a weird consistency. The ice tea was super sweet. The chicken piccata was tasteless.

So no problems with staff as others have reported, but this hotel is dirty. Shower didn’t drain and backed up to my ankles; bugs everywhere so as I showered in ankle — deep filth there were dead mosquitos floating around. Shower lined with black mold. Headboard on bed dusty except for head outlines of previous guests.
Outdated TVs, no exhaust fan in bathroom, deck absolutely worn and in need of painting. No luggage rack, microwave or fridge. Made me feel uneasy and dirty sitting in the room.
I called down for a luggage dolly and the front desk said they didn’t know where any of them went, and to look for one myself. I wend down to the lobby and there was one in the doorway 6 feet from the front desk. And they were also grabbing one for another guest who asked.
The best part is the outside of the hotel, which admittedly is very beautiful including the fire pit.
Not worth the stay. This hotel was probably pretty sweet in 1992 but not much has changed (or been cleaned) since then.

I will start by saying the only reason I have it two stars is cause I didn’t run out of there. But I came close, and knowing what I know now I would have.
Found this place thru a deal on Amazon local. Figured I’ll give it a try.
When we checked in there were two people at the desk, one started to help a customer waiting to check in, then the phone rang and she answered it, ignoring the customer she offered to help. The second person a moment later decided to help the customer.
We made it to our room, the hallway had a slight smell, the room had a bigger smell. chalked it up to hotel smell. later in the evening my husband noticed a wet spot on the floor kinda strange. I noticed the towel I had used and thrown on the bathroom floor was soaked. I didn’t see any water near by, but did noticed another wet spot on the carpet.
Well the next morning we realized why, while hearing the shower run above us, sounding like it was ours. A puddle started to form from the floor. Seaping thru the carpet and the bathroom floor, and from around the toilet. We decided it was time to get out of there. After the upstairs shower was done the water started to seap back thru the floor. guess that smell was probably mold/​wet flooring. GROSS!
Go to check out let them know at the desk, the man won’t make eye contact with me for the first few moments, and the woman shakes her head (in a this is happening again kinda way) aka they knew about this and still rented the room to us. anyway he apologized, offered breakfast (I just wanted out of that gross place) then told me, that how I paid for my room there was nothing he could do. which I get, I wasn’t looking for anything free. then told me if I ever wanted to try them again to contact him and he would give me the best rate possible. but he knew I never would, and it didn’t seem to bother him that much, cause I really think this is nothing new to them. also while he was checking me out the phone rang and he answered it. I find this so rude, focus on who is in front of you, or at least say excuse me before answereing, and put them on hold.
BEWARE BEFORE YOU STAY HERE!
I will say, the breakfast place is decent, and there is the bar /​sandwich place, but service at VIP was awful, the only person helping customers was the manager, as two employees chatted.

Strange how things work out and this time It did for us. Sure the place is a bit dated and could be cleaner in the nooks and crannies, but overall for the price and location (on our way home) we think we made out big. Chris checked us in quickly and gave us a perfect room with a balcony facing the frozen lake and near the pool. It was so peaceful and quiet that we slept till almost 10 the next morning! When do my kids ever do that?! We did not eat at the restaurant but many of the other guests (we thought we were the only ones staying here) were having breakfast. Once all the snow melts and the grounds are swept, it would probably be a nice place to come with your family and enjoy the pool, hot tub and maybe sit around one of the fire pits at night.

Yes, the Sturbridge host hotel and conference center is offering a great groupon deal right now. Yes, there are some really great reviews on Unilocal that are making you question whether you should trust the negative reviews.
Run away and do not look back. It’s bad. And it’s bad in a way that’s not even funny or entertaining, just mediocre and sad. Like everyone who works here knows the place is dying and is just waiting for the ship to go down.
You’ve been warned. I wish I had listened.