Seeing as we were in New England this fall, we figured it was the perfect opportunity to experience Salem during Halloween. There was only one problem with that idea though – hotels in Salem over Halloween are super expensive!
An alternative was to stay outside of Salem and drive in, but we’d heard nightmare stories of long lines driving into the city and there not being any parking, so we weren’t keen on doing that. Thankfully we still had an option that wouldn’t cost us $750+ per night if we wanted to stay downtown. Shae and I had a couple of Hilton free night certificates and a good stash of Hilton points, so we booked three nights at the Hampton Inn Salem.
That ended up being a fantastic place to stay for the experience as it’s within walking distance of all the festivities downtown. While it was a little painful redeeming a couple of free night certificates and 70,000 points for a Hampton Inn rather than one of Hilton’s luxury brands like Conrad, it was nonetheless a good choice for us due to its location and the fact that there aren’t many other chain hotels in downtown Salem where you can use points.
Here’s a review of our stay at the Hampton Inn Salem, MA.
Check-In
We arrived at the hotel at 4pm, figuring check-in might be busy seeing as it was the day before Halloween. Despite that though, there wasn’t any wait and so we were able to get checked in quickly and were soon on our way up to room 609.
Bedroom
When entering our room the bathroom was on the left and the bedroom straight ahead.
The bedroom wasn’t very big, but it was an OK size considering we were only there for a few days and would be out and about for much of the time.
The king bed was comfortable and the room’s blackout blinds worked well to keep the bedroom dark.
Opposite the bed was a desk and office chair. Next to that were a few dresser drawers and cupboard containing a mini fridge. Between the two was a microwave and coffee maker, with a wall-mounted TV above that.
Back towards the bathroom there was a small closet that only contained an iron and ironing board. There was no extra bedding as the room didn’t have any kind of couch, nor even an armchair.
Bathroom
The bathroom had a good-sized walk-in shower, while the sink had a decent amount of countertop space on either side.
The shower had large bottles of wall-mounted toiletries.
Breakfast
Hampton Inn is one of Hilton’s brands that offers complimentary breakfast for all guests. There were a few hot options each morning, along with bagels, bread, muffins, fruit, waffles, cereal, etc.
There was a tea and coffee station in the breakfast area. I think this was moved to the lobby after breakfast was over so that it was available throughout the day.
Amenities
Seeing as it’s a downtown limited-service hotel, the Hampton Inn Salem doesn’t have a ton of amenities like you might get at an extended stay brand or extensive dining options like you’ll get at a full-service property.
They did have a spacious fitness room with quite a few pieces of cardio equipment (including a Peloton bike) and weights.
There was a business center with a computer and printer for guests to use.
The breakfast area had a lot of seating options, some of which were semi-private alcoves that had TVs, while some of the other tables had power outlets built into them which was useful for me as it made working down there at night much easier.
Pet Policy
The Hampton Inn Salem is a pet-friendly hotel and they allow up to two pets with a combined weight of 75 lbs per room. The hotel’s pet fee is $75 for stays of 1-4 nights and $125 for stays of 5+ nights.
There isn’t any grass immediately outside the hotel, but there are grassy areas for your pup within a block or two. Salem is also a very walkable city, so we were able to take Truffles on a couple of longer walks while we were there.
Service
Service at the hotel was good, although our interactions with their staff were minimal. We declined housekeeping seeing as we were only there for three nights and I think the only time we needed to stop by the front desk was when checking in and out.
Wi-Fi
The hotel’s Wi-Fi was good – the speed was solid and we never had any connectivity issues.
Check-In & Check-Out Times
You can check in from 3pm, while check-out is at 11am.
Location
The Hampton Inn Salem is in a fantastic location. It’s just a few steps off Washington St which runs north to south downtown and is only a 10 minute walk to all attractions downtown.
Parking
A downside to staying at this hotel is that parking isn’t free. There’s a $22 per day fee but it does come with in/out privileges. The hotel’s covered parking garage also has a couple of EV charging stations where they charge $1 per hour cost of energy.
Cost
We redeemed two Hilton free night certificates for two of our nights and 70,000 points for the other night. Hilton free night certificates can be earned in a number of ways; you get one each year with the Hilton Aspire credit card, you can earn one when spending $15,000 on the Hilton Surpass and Business credit cards, as well as another one with higher amounts of spend on most of their credit cards.
The cash rate for our dates was $782.05 per night including tax which is why we used those certificates and points! Cash rates at other times of the year are much more reasonable – depending on when you visit, cash rates can be less than $150 per night, while points rates can be less than 40,000 points per night.
Final Thoughts
If you’re planning a trip to Salem, MA, the Hampton Inn Salem is a great place to stay. It’s clean, comfortable and centrally located for everything you might want to visit during your time there.
Truffles Approval Rating
Truffles gives this hotel four paws out of four – pawfect! The pet fee was reasonable enough, our room was very quiet (especially considering it being the city’s busiest time of the year) and the property is in a very walkable area.
Our Rating
Room = 3.8 / 5
Hotel Amenities = 3.7 / 5
Food = 4.2 / 5
Location = 4.9 / 5
Service = 3.9 / 5
Overall Value = 3.6 / 5
Total = 4.02 / 5
Address
Hampton Inn, 11 Dodge St, Salem, MA 01970
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