Herbert Grand Hotel

Having had to miss a reservation due to a family emergency (my father’s hospitalization), no refund was issued (I understand cancellation policies, no big deal). Follow-​up call to request a rain check for a future stay and was told that they «don’t do anything like that». Very disappointing.

One star is generous. The lobby is welcoming and comfy, with the only TV in the Hotel. Rooms and bathrooms are old, old, old and outdated. When was the last time you saw a single bulb ceiling light in a Hotel? The Mattress was hard as a rock and at least 15 years old — maybe older 25. If you want safe and secure in a small town 15 miles from Sugarloaf USA, I still would not recommend the Herbert, sadly. Sorry but this placce needs to clean up or reduce it’s rates by 50%.

The quaint New England town of Kingfield, ME is one to be experienced. The same can be said about staying at the Herbert Grand. I came in the summer, when the scenery was green and when there were fewer out-​of-​towners, but I hear that the place gets quite busy in the winter with skiers.
The Herbert Grand really is a diamond in the rough, or as people have called it «The Ritz in the Woods» when it opened in 1918. Given the small-​town feel of Kingfield, the Herbert stands out as an important and curious stopping point.
The interior of the place is impressive, filled with original classical woodwork and design. It needs to be kept in mind that the hotel once served as a private residence for the affluent and honored Herbert S. Wing, the King of Kingfield. So there is definitely a lot of history in the place. They even have history exhibits of the town and of the property, portrayed inside three old-​time phone booths in the lobby. Some of the original furniture is still in the building. I thought it was neat that my room had one of those old-​fashioned telephones hanging on the wall.
The rooms are modest and serviceable. The bathroom is my favorite part because the hotel uses the same freshwater spring aquifer used by a water bottling company just down the road. And you could really taste the difference. Imagine also showering in bottled water. It was that good.
It is true that there is limited to no internet access in the hotel. But it is also true that phone signals in Kingfield naturally suck. Given the location, it’s understandable, if not preferable, in my desire to get away from it all.
The food is pretty good too! For dinner I had Polish beer bread for the first time — crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Delicious! I had vegetable barley soup, with assorted sandwiches, wraps, and salads. And the next morning I had a healthy breakfast of oatmeal with toppings, bagels, pastries, juices, and assorted bread for toasting. The place has a bigger and more appetizing menu. This is just what I ate with the group I was with.
Also, this place is ripe with GHOSTS! A lot of weird stuff happened during my investigation of the place with the Maine Ghost Hunters. So the Herbert definitely holds a layer of mystical appeal. Check it out! It’ll make you a believer…
So if you want to get away from it all, if you want to experience a New England town, if you want to experience something paranormal, or if you just want a place to eat and stay, I highly recommend the Herbert Grand in Kingfield. It’s super!

Although I think the other reviews pretty much summed it up for the most part, I wanted to make sure I gave this place a review after the experience I had there. Perhaps even knock down the 1.5 star rating of this place.
Ya know your Aunt Sally’s house, the one that you visit from time to time because you have to? You don’t even really like that side of the family but ya kinda have to go visit because you never see them and they never get out of the house. The house was built in 1932 and old Aunt Sally doesn’t have the money to fix it up so she makes do with what she has and puts doilies on every table, some fake flowers on the dresser, and tapes up some wallpaper in the bathroom. Essentially… that’s the Herbert GRAND Hotel. Sure is grand. I’m not sure if anyone else was even staying there during my stay. The main lobby looks kinda cool actually with the fireplace and big red couches. DO NOT be fooled. That’s probably the nicest thing you’ll see during a stay here.
I went up to Kingfield this past weekend to go skiing at Sugarloaf. My cousin booked 2 nights for our group at this place. Let me just run through some noteworthy points about this place…
— No, none of the rooms have a TV. At least not the two that I had the pleasure of staying in.
— Yes, they have wifi (HUGE SURPRISE).
— Yes, said wifi is horribly intermittent.
— No, they do NOT serve a complimentary breakfast. $ 8.95/person. Yah! Let me get right on that!
— Yes, they heat the place with old steam radiators. No, you cannot control the temperature of your room.
— Yes, they’ve taped up wallpaper in some cases. Our closet had wallpaper literally taped up with packing tape. Very strange.
— Yes, it’s probably the cheapest place you can stay at in the area. That being said, my advice is to pony up the dough and go for a nicer, more reputable hotel or inn. You’d be doing yourself a favor.
And that’s about all I have to say about this place. Why didn’t I comment on the service? Well… let me just say I have no comment.

My wife called to check on a «gift certificate» it said it was valid from Oct. 14^th, 2012 to Sept. 30^th, 2013. We didn’t «need» this «gift certificate», but figured we would check to see what the situation was since it said it had expired. The male who answered (claiming to be the owner) was literally the rudess person my wife has ever spoke to. He told her to learn to read and hung up on her. I called and asked him if he had just spoken to my wife. He said «yes I just hung up on her.» I told him I was super excited he was such a jerk (not exactly in those words). Anyway, don’t give this out of state jerk a dime. His mommy apparently owns the place, and he doesn’t exactly understand how to do business in Maine…

Going into the Herbert Grand Hotel was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in my life. Walking into this hotel, it looked very antique and cute. When we walked up the stairs into our room, our minds changed completely. The beds were very dirty and dusty, the shower had hair on the bottom and the walls. The room was extremely small, congested, creepy and overpriced. We have asthma, so clearly this room would not accommodate our needs. We decided to leave, and try to get our money back. The staff did not accommodate our needs and we got no money back. If you are staying in Kingfield, Maine, do yourself a favor and steer clear of this hotel.

The Herbert Grand Hotel can best be described as a diamond in the rough. Having recently come under new management, the hotel is undergoing some work and while the room my girlfriend and I stayed in was basic and definitely in need of work, our stay was comfortable and met our needs. We would stay there again in the future to see how the place improves.
Free parking and simple continental breakfast is included.

The Herbert Grand is on par with many of the hotels I stayed at in undeveloped Tibet. The night I spent there was one of the worst lodging experiences of my life.
Our room had a queen bed. The bed took up about eighty percent of the room. The bed was at an angle so probably twenty percent of what was left could be found behind the headboard. There was no space in the room for our four bags.
I was pretty excited that our room was going to have a whirlpool. In the Herbert Grand a ‘whirlpool’ is a very small bathtub with jets and a rickety sliding door that reminded me of the metal shower stalls found in old motels.
I tried a shower in the ‘whirlpool’ and the Herbert Grand tried to do me injury. The water wouldn’t stay one temperature for more than thirty seconds. I had to keep grabbing the handle of the cheap-​o sliding door and jumping up onto the edges of the tub to keep from being burned.
Top it all off with a breakfast that a gas station might be proud to serve. Not the gas station across the street, they wouldn’t be caught dead serving what the Herbert serves, but some gas station somewhere, might be proud. If the pre-​packaged muffins and danishes had expiration dates, those dates were clearly decades in the future. [It was really depressing to look out the window at the aforementioned gas station across the street that obviously had better food while we consumed this breakfast.]
Needless to say we canceled our second night and found a wonderful room at the River Port Inn.