The Lane Hotel an Ascend Collection hotel, Keene

We were uneasy about selecting this as we had seen the reviews! We went in, asked to see a room before deciding, which the courteous desk clerk, Terry, agreed to immediately. She showed us a very pleasant room, then brought us to the two-floor chairman suite with whirlpool and loft bedroom and gave us a free upgrade! Room was clean, attractive and quiet with comfortable bed. She helpfully gave us local coupons and told us of lthe restaurants. Downtown is a great place to walk and shop and stores stay open evenings. Don't bother with free breakfast; towels and carpeting could be replaced. Otherwise well exceeded expectations.

I have stayed at the EF Lane Hotel many times over the past 6 years. The last 2 years have not been good ones for them. The staff seems to change every time I check in, too many new faces that have no clue. They have changed their breakfast from one of pastries and bagels, to a hot breakfast. Only problem is they charge an extra $5 for this, and the service to order and actually get your breakfast takes longer than if i walked to lindy's diner and ate there. The rooms have not been updated since the day they opened. The rooms are generally clean, but i always find a hair in the tub or sink, and the towels are getting a bit worn and thin. There were reports of the EF Lane Hotel being sold at a foreclosure auction in July, but apparently they have until early September to get their mortgage current, or end up back in foreclosure. I would be nice if they could get their finances fixed, but maybe it's time for the current management to go, and some new people with fresh ideas and the money to run the place to take over and do good. As for me, I'll be staying at the new Marriott Courtyard just down block on Railroad Street.

What used to be a nice 5 star hotel is just a sad memory. They hired a new manager 2 years ago, and she proceeded to close the restaurant, fire off pretty much all the staff and replced them with her family members and friends. None of these people have the remotest idea what hospitality means. Now they have a bar that caters to the local drunkards, serve inedible bar food, and have loud music 3 days a week. it's impossible to get a decent nights sleep there anymore. I was terribly disapointed to hear that Michael, the former Fromt Desk manager was let go. He was the main reason people stayed there and kept coming back. Heidi, who ran the function side of things was also let go, she was responsible for my company having a very sucessful function there. The hotel is almost 10 years old now, and they haven't done anything in the way of renovations. they still have the same mattresses, blankets, threadbare sheets and out of date wallpaper that they had when the place opened. The staff is rude, inconsideate, and as another reviewer mentioned, it seems like they are just out to have "have fun here palying hotel". If the right person came along and bought the EF Lane Hotel and made a genuine effort to freshen it up and add some features and a real restaurant, they would have a real gem of a property. As it is now, they will either go bankrupt and close the doors, or they will end up like other downtown hotels and cater to drunks, prostitutes and derilects.

The only thing good about the Lane is the location and possibilities for new management in the future. Stayed a couple of times thinking, hoping that the last time was unique. It wasn't. One of the few good employees,Heidi,left to work at another eatery.The staff is rude, arrogant, clueless, if only they didn't have these annoying people everywhere. Talking to them is like talking to a statue- cold, lifeless. It seems that the guest is in their way of running this "upscale hotel". "We could have so much fun here playing hotel!" The entire hotel is dirty. Rooms & baths are filthy, torn wallpaper. The bedding and towels are thread bare, tattered and torn. Broken lights, lamps, windows, curtains, remotes. Breakfast is unedible, bad,bad food served cold in a cold room. Parking is very inconvienient across a parking lot, unsafe, dimly lit,somewhat like the staff,while I was struggling with my bags,the front desk person was watching through a monitor, amused I was told by another guest. One staff member said that the manager doesn't want to attract "those people" who feel they need a five star hotel to cater to their egos. And if you complain-you're black listed from coming back. OK with me! VERY LOUD country entertainment generally local mediocre groups rock the entire building until wee hours of the morning. They fill the place with "locals" who drink themselves silly and stand outside the entrance smoking. Ugh. Management said "We have to make money somehow" Did they consider steam cleaning and upgrading the hotel to meet the needs of travelers? It seems that they dislike people who aren't "their own" and resent the traveler who has come from other areas. The place is a joke. After the irritation goes, if it does, this place is rather funny(maybe not, because you're the guest)to watch these characters think they're doing a service to the community. They're doing a disservice to the entire Monadnock area. Some savy fellow will buy up this hotel, fire the staff, renovate and have a special gem- in a great location-in a sweet city with great people!! Right now the nicest thing I can say about the Lane is that it never fails to dissapoint!!

While the guy at the desk told me the hotel was only 8 years old, it seemed like the place had been around for much longer than that! Granted the building is over 100 years old, and was totally renovated before they opened, but there have been no recent renovations or improvements. For my $139 i expected a nice, clean room. What I got was a room that was dusty, the remote control for the Tv was held together with duct tape, and the free breakfast consisted of cereal, stale pastry and frozen bagles. The location on Main St, is convinent, but noisy. I was woken from a sound sleep 3 times by sirens blasting off. They guy at the desk expalined that the fire department and ambulance service was a block away, and he has tried to get the town to not set off the sirens at night. He was told tha they have to turn on teh sirens in order to clear the intersection down the street from the hotel. He also told me that he lived close to the hotel and has the same problem with the sirens going off and waking him up. When I complained about the cheap breakfast, he apologised and offered to buy my breakfast at the diner around the corner. He actually gave me money from his own pocket so I could have a decent breakfast. I refused to make him pay for my breakfast, but he insisted that i take his money and have a good breakfast on him. He also offered to reduce my rate because of all the problems, and was willing to give me an upgrade to a suite room on the side of the hotel. He said that he would probably get in trouble with the General manager for changing my rate, but he was willing to "take a beating from her" in order to make sure i had a better room and a much more pleasant stay for the next 2 nights i was there. Without htis nice man at the desk I probably would have packed up and headed to the Holiday Inn. I did enjoy the suite, but who wouldn't like a $300 a night suite if they were onyl paying $99 a night.

Our suite was in the basement which had a mold problem. I had mold allergies for the entire stay. The room wasn't anything special and did I mention it was IN THE BASEMENT? The sheets were institutional grade cotton and the lamp shades had tears and burn marks on them. The "jacuzzi" was a bathtube with jacuzzi jets and the service, while polite, was essentially non-existent. Paying $265 a night for this place is a CRIME.