The Holiday Inn in Norton is less than a year old and is the best option while staying in Norton. I stayed at this hotel three times.
I received hospitality beyond the call of duty from two employees of this hotel. The banquet manager let me have a private room whenever I needed one to lay down vocal tracks for the Time Out podcasts. The head waiter at the restaurant was quite friendly also and knew me by name.
This last time I received a room-and-a-half with a refrigerator and a microwave; the other two times were just a standard room with no appliances. All the televisions in this hotel are flat-screen HDTV, and they do have some digital channels. HDTV channels included ESPN2 (but not ESPN), Food Network, ABCCBSNBC, Discovery, Animal Planet, and Palladia, which is a very cool concert channel by MTV/VH1. Standard cable included ESPN, SciFi, and Disney.
The bed was quite firm, and I did get two soft and two firm pillows. Still, some nights it wasn’t all that comfortable. Also, the hotel is near some active train tracks that can be heard late at night if you’re on the wrong side of the building.
Desks had good real estate, four AC outlets, and wired ethernet. Internet speed was very good, but the system can get a little confused as to whether you are a real hotel user. HAL people will have to disable their web proxies.
The bathrooms were standard-size even in the deluxe room, but the bathtub in the deluxe room had water jets. It took a little time for the water to warm up, but it stayed warm once it got there. Water pressure was a little weak. The mirror is easily foggable even with the fan.
The room’s heater functioned without any dust smell and was controlled by a digital thermostat on the other side of the room.
I used the laundry service on two days. The second day, the load was picked up late and had to be returned to the hotel the next day instead of normal same day service. All instructions were perfomed as specified.
The fitness room had one recombinant bike which didn’t work, two treadmills, and one elliptical. The elliptical clanked a little bit but was useable, and the treadmills worked fine. The exercise room also had an HDTV.
While I got good service from the restaurant’s majordomo, the younger waiters and waitresses were slow and sometimes overworked. The salads and dinners in the restaurant were good, but the desserts weren’t as good. Portions were all out of control — sometimes I could have just done with half the portion size. The restaurant is on the top floor of the hotel and provided a decent view.
There is no continental breakfast, but Priority Club members got a coupon for a free appetizer. Another bonus for Priority Club members: money spent in the restaurant also goes toward Priority Club points. Many hotels only use the amount spent on the room.
Room service was efficient and friendly. The rest of the hotel’s staff was professional.
Access to the hotel is very easy, just on the side of one of the streets in downtown Norton.
The HAL rate for this hotel is $75/night, which is quite reasonable. I will recommend this hotel to the other trainers who come into the area.
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