Smithfield Station

If you like over cooked food and over priced drinks then sure I'd recommend this place to you, but honestly I wouldn't tell an enemy to eat here.

Having stayed at Smithfield Station a few times with family, I always look forward to the southern way of life..and a Station Bloody Mary on the porch.

Last time we stayed in the bottom suite of the lighthouse.  Adorable, but very little privacy and a murphy bed.  But, it was nice to have company over and entertain with a kitchen suite and those amenities.

This time we stayed in the old inn. The room itself wasn't bad. Great light and corner view of the Pagan river. The stay overall was o.k., but I do have some complaints to note:

1) Cleaning service wasn't great.  We informed the crew we were leaving at 10:30 am.  We came back at 2 and the room wasn't clean. Cleaning service knocked on our door at 2:30 and when I said we were napping, but would be gone at 3:30...the lady replied "Oh I won't be here."  So I guess because my room wasn't free for that brief period of one hour...we don't get clean sheets or towels?

2) The cleaning closet was across the hallway.  After the cleaning lady told me she wouldn't be here, she proceeded, with the rest of the crew, to have a very loud, boisterous gossip hour outside the closet.  There goes the above "nap."

3) There was no room safe. The New Yorker in me hesitated to leave my belongings behind for the day, but I had no choice.

4) My sister's room next door had a nice flat screen, but ours was an old school 19" tube TV.  Seems like a quick, cheap upgrade well worth the expense, if you ask me.

5) No control over the thermostat.  It was cold in our room.  I called downstairs to ask them how to adjust and they told me "oh the 3rd floor is kinda silly - i'll have to have someone come up to adjust."

6) Station restaurant is always fun, but on Sunday they had a group of cyclist who came in and literally took over the deck.  No regular patrons could get a table, let alone hotel guests.  When a bunch of the tables went vacant, my husband and I put our things down and went in to ask the front desk if we could take a seat.  The manager told me "there might be tables, but those tables need service which I don't have."  So we retreated elsewhere and didn't come back until that night at 9:15 when we were told the bar was closed for the night.  What do guests do after 9 pm on Memorial Day weekend!?

The hotel accommodations were decent but our balcony door would not lock. We called the front desk and were told that they could not do anything about it and that all the rooms might have the same problem even if we were moved to a different room. So we ended up moving two love seats in front of the door and hoped for the best. Also, we ordered a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries but the strawberries were old and subpar.

After leaving, I realized I had left a pair of earrings behind. It took me the better part of a day to get a hold of someone that wouldn't put me on hold for ten minutes or ask me to call back later. After finally giving my address to someone, they asked for a credit card number to charge the shipping to. They literally charged me $1 to put my earrings into two envelopes and pay for the $0.47 postage. The best part of the story is that my earrings were stolen and there was no way to get them reimbursed because the hotel didn't get delivery confirmation or insurance on them.

I would only recommend this place if your in a bind.