Union Street Guest House

11/21/2013 Updated review

The management of this hotel had the gall to email us twice to threaten us financially about the negative review! Here is an excerpt from their first email:

"please note that your recent on-line review of our Inn will cost the wedding party that left us a deposit $500.  This money be charged via  the deposit they have left us unless/until it is removed.  Any other or future reviews will also be charged to the wedding party (bride & groom) from the guarantee they have provided us. "

Disgusting! Instead of taking responsibility and striving to improve their customer service, they instead resort to intimidation!

1/2/2012

• 1 check-in

My wife and I decided to go on a little trip last minute (within 2 hours of the decision, we packed up and went) on New Years Day. We found Union Street Guest House using a combination of Yelp and Google and saw they had a vacancy and we were able to book a room on line. Union Street is located one  block away from the shops on Warren Street. It is Hudson's Main street where there are numerous antique and boutique shops.

The only suite available was there "Gallery Suite' aka "The Presidential Suite". Chris at the front desk said, "You'll know why when you get up there." The price was fair being $200/night. But this was for three rooms. All other places to stay in Hudson that night were A) more expensive and B) only one room, so we went with it.

This place consists of two buildings. The house to the right serves as the check in lobby and above it is a beautifully decorated lounge area. Antique furniture centers the lounge with the far side having a small library along with a ladder. Exposed brick and aged wood decorated the walls and ceilings nicely. The other side had a mini honor bar with various liqours. If you want beer downstairs there is a fridge with beer in it. Just leave some money in a metal box to help restock the bar. Parking is street parking. Make sure you leave your car across the street and not on the side of the guest house cause there is no parking there almost all the way down Union St.

The guest house is to the left. As you enter, you will see two doors and you'll follow the one to the left. It is mostly all hardwood floor with the occasional area rug so the place does creek in some areas. We were able to hear walking or closing of doors of other guests in the house. A downside. The Gallery suite was upstairs and the only suite on the second floor. When you step inside you walk into a large living area with two vintage chairs and paintings. To the left is the study that is full of pictures of past presidents along with a library that is mostly about our US presidents. To the right of entering is the kitchen. No stove here, but there's a microwave and large fridge. Coffee maker and water heater for brewing up a cup. The bathroom was beautifully lit with a ivory tub and wrap around curtain. The three rooms weren't as decorated as the rest of the suite. One was pretty small and looked like a walk in closet. There is another small room similar to a doll room. Nice to sit and chat with friends.

Overall, beautifully decorated and most important, clean. There is free wifi but doesn't seem fast (used to Verizon Fios) and sometimes had some connection problems Not a bed and breakfast place because there is no breakfast being served. Creeky floors and thin walls may be an issue if you're looking peace and privacy but It definitely gives you a feeling of home.

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  "U" Lounge

  "U" Lounge
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  Gallery suite

  Gallery suite
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  Honor bar

  Honor bar
• See all photos from Joseph Z. for Union Street Guest House

12/5/2015

I knew that this place has a reputation for poor service when I booked a stay here for a wedding, and like some of the five star reviews below say, that is exactly what I was looking for. So i couldn't have been more pleased when I called to change my reservation, and was promptly berated over the phone for asking to checkout a day earlier. The management, to my delight, even charged me a bonus fee for the inconvenience.

I should mention that I am REALLY into hospitality masochism, and found out about USGH on a site for people like me called sadisticservice.com. Unikn Street has become known as a mecca for self-abusive people like me seeking a perfect place to get away, pay a fortune, and suffer abuse both verbally and physically.

I knew I was in for a (mis)treat(ment) when I first arrived. Instead of finding convenient parking, i circled the potholed and poorly lit lot until settling for a spot on the street a few blocks away. First impressions can be deceiving, so I didn't let this get my hopes up. But prospects only got better (worse) after i shlepped my luggage back over to the lobby. I was greeted at the door by the the foulest smelling dog turd I have had the pleasure to step in since my stay at the El Paso Motel 6 (which I also highly recommend). One of the owner's adorably odious dogs had deposited the feces ON the threshold, in an ingenious location, so that the action of the door smeared the dog's noxious refuse across the taupe doormat, making an unavoidable obstacle of odor.

At the front desk, the manager demonstrated that he was no less skilled than the dog in the art of misanthropy. He was engaged in a heated argument with a guest about the bill, so he waved me off, giving me the opportunity to admire the lobby's decor. Taxidermy animal heads, abstract art with thick paint brush smears (all for sale!), big vases filled with dessicated reeds, and small, wobbly tables to sit and sip burnt coffee.

Once the fracas with the other guest reached its bitter conclusion, I introduced myself to the manager: a short, monobrowed, igor of a man with a stained butler vest and permanent scowl. He promptly informed me that Union House had no record of my reservation. I showed him the email confirmation, which elicited an indignant huff of consternation.  He grudgingly inspected his ledger again and found my room had been rented to another couple. He informed me, with a note of feindish delight, that there was NO room for me, and that I would have to leave or else be defenestrated manually. Naturally I chose the latter option.

I give the USGH a one star review because, after roiling me up in sick anticipation of a grueling three night confinement in service hell, I was sent away and forced to endure cloying hospitality at the insufferably pleasant Croff House a few blocks away.

Fortunately, USGH did keep all my money, as a consolation for failing to provide the gulagesque internment I had been guaranteed. And of course I was still able to take advantage of their offer to charge me $500 to review them poorly on Yelp.

8/1/2016

Hahahaha FINALLY!!! this business has been closed!!! After ripping off so many people, and their horrible attitudes, this is what happens! Good riddance!

10/10/2015

This is not about the $500 fee for a negative review.

I got to Hudson a little late, traffic can get prickly. I was exhausted and wanted to just hit the hay. The kind woman at the front gave me my room, no problem.

I got to my room, and someone had defecated next to the toilet. Not on, not in - next to. My fiancé thought this was done by a horse, but a horse could not fit in the small room to begin with. Upon further examination, the feces were left by a human.

I inquired the manager, if this is normal. He did not believe me and said that "I was responsible for this" and that "I was the "poopertrator". I am incredibly frustrated and angry at this establishment. That do not take their guests seriously or even seem to care.

I would give this place 2 stars because I wanted to give it a chance, thinking some circle jerk redditors sunk the review base here. But for once they are right. This is just a bad business.

8/24/2015

This "business" is ridiculous. You have to book two nights if you go to ANYONE wedding in the area?!? What the heck kind of rule is that?

These owners should not be in this hospitality business as they haven't been educated on how hospitality works.

It's dirty and ill taken care of. The "honor" bar has OPEN bottles of booze where anyone could contaminate or drug because there's nobody safeguarding the bottles. What would happen if a freaking roofie was put into the whiskey???

Don't go here. Go anywhere else. These guys think they are too legit to quit. They are fools and don't deserve a dime of your hard earned money.

And then threatening guests for negative reviews?? How is that not sleazy and or ineffective? Perhaps one should question why they want to run a hotel if they are misanthropists?!?!

My IDEA  would be that they run some kind of illegal business. Of course that's just a guess on my part due to their actions and I have zero proof. It's just a feeling not a statement and not slander.

This place is like those restaurants where the staff is "mean" to you but you know ahead of time and it's more of a performance. This place is full of wannabe thugs with no self respect.

Having a wedding here in my opinion would be just asking for bad luck. I'm sure that some sorcery has cursed this place!

8/12/2014

I stayed here for a wedding in May. Let's just say this was the worst experience I've ever had at a "hotel". The whole place smelled old and damp which I later found out was mold.  The staff rubbed both myself and my gf the wrong way with their unhelpful, rude and inhospitable manor. The bed felt lumpy and the rooms were way to hipster for my tastes. I ultimately had to sleep in a sleeping bag to avoid the lumps. Heck I would have had a better experience if I just camped out on the lawn outside.

The worst part, however, was the "hotel" policy about reviews. So in an effort to ensure that the bride and groom (whom are two of my best friends) don't get charged I felt it best to whip out my rarely used 2nd yelp account. I challenge this place to now figure out which wedding that I attended should receive your policy wrath. HAHAHAHA!!!!!!

2/2/2015

If I could rate this place less than 1 star, I would.  It isn't because the accommodations were bad...it is because they owe me $952.00.  Here is the story:

I stayed here for my good friend's wedding in May 2014.  Due to a room change at the last minute (not Union's fault- my friend the bride, had to rearrange rooms to better accommodate her guests), I was told by Union that  I needed to pay for the second room in full and then I would be refunded for the first room.  I paid $952.00 for the first room and $728.00 for the second room so I should have been refunded for the $952.00 for the first room (my other friends ended up staying in the first room and I know for a fact that they paid the full amount for their stay up front).

Long story short, I have yet to see the $952.00 in my bank account.  Yep, they never refunded me.  The last communication of any kind from them is an email reply dated 7/16/14 after I asked them to please confirm that I was credited because I didn't see it on my cc statement.  The reply states: "Yes, you were credited."  After that, I emailed again asking for the date of the refund and last four digits of the credit card they supposedly refunded (because, again, I couldn't find the refund on my statement).  The reply?  RADIO SILENCE.

Since that time I have written 5 POLITE emails (I would copy and paste them all here, but trust me they were very polite- I assume the best of people) and left numerous polite voicemails (including one where I pleaded with them to find it within themselves not to take my hard earned money.)  The reply?  RADIO SILENCE.

I am still in disbelief that I was taken advantage of in this way.  Though, I have come to understand through my friend (the bride)'s experience (they owe her $2500 from her deposit), as well as others on here (and the whole "joke" about their policy of keeping $500 if you write a bad review- google it if you haven't yet and see how shady/not funny it is)- that these people are shady and this is a shady business.  My next step is reporting them to the better business bureau and then letting go of hopes that I will ever get my refund.  

Please stay elsewhere (there are a bunch of great places in the town where other people stayed) and don't support this dishonesty.  

Thank you for reading!

2/22/2015

Poor management and staff.
My overall experience was not good and it was directly related to the staff being very rude and unorganized. After reading other reviews on here I am not surprised. Also  FYI apparently they charge hidden fees to wedding parties.
On side note, I did find the decor interesting and not as bad as some people said.

9/27/2015

Please remember when you read the negative reviews about this place that most of them were written by the same disgruntled party,  and much of what they have to say is false.  

We stayed in the Liberty Suite On September 25th and 26th.  We were a group  of five, and were thrilled with the spaciousness of the suite.  It's huge.   It was fun staying in in a house that dates back to 1830.

It has the smell and feel of an older home, but I found that pleasant, and it was definitely clean.  I would love to go back there again.  I liked the hotel, and we had a great time in Hudson - what a wonderful  place to visit!

5/26/2015

Terrible! We stayed 3 nights here, and couldn't believe how run down, shoddy and downright disgusting this place is. There was literally dog feces EVERYWHERE! They don't have a cleaning crew, or they were taking the day off. not sure which. They try to suck EVERY single penny out of you in any way possible, even for new sheets! I couldn't believe how money hungry these guys are. AVOID!

11/30/2014

I gave this place a neutral (2 star) review after having my wedding here, and they told me that it was negative feedback and that they're going to kept $500 from my deposit after the wedding to cover the damages to their image.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU WANT THEM TO STEAL YOUR DEPOSIT.

4/21/2015

Have an upcoming reservation -- have made MULTIPLE attempts to contact them to cancel via email and phone and have received NO REPLY.  

Union Street Guest House: PLEASE, PLEASE CONTACT TO CONFIRM MY CANCELLATION for 4/24 & 4/25.  I am the person who has been leaving voicemails and sending emails for the past three weeks.  THANK YOU.

5/3/2015

Unfortunately a one star review must be had for said review. Like another reviewer posted, homeless people EVERYWHERE! I'm not against the homeless, just when they're literally taking their bowel movements in my room. Took over an hour for staff to rid of them. Gave a few schillings for him tho cuz I felt bad. Constant bird noise, birds in hallways in lobby and not the beautiful atrium birds you see in fancy zoos, we're talking the dirty birds from the red light district, setting up shop, selling "goods" and "services" if you know what I mean. Unbelievable.

9/4/2014

We stayed three nights in the Union Street Guest House's Bainbridge Suite, after pre-paying for four. Due to a medical emergency we had to leave before the last night. We released the room at 9:30am. Leaving aside the owner's refusal to refund any portion of the final night's $250 charge due to our forced departure, here is what we found during our three days:

-- Two dogs, belonging to either the owner or the owner's renter in an apartment next door, barked and woke us up and kept us awake.
-- Clearly heard the owner or his tenant, yelling and yawning, through the wall. Owner later told us: "Some of the guests came into the back kitchen & laundry area to watch a game."
-- -- A neighbor in an adjoining apartment speaking loudly or shouting.
-- Doors slamming.
-- A tenant having very loud phone conversations, (punctuated with lots of loud, "No, he didn't!"s) on the other side of a thin wall.
-- A rumbling washing machine on the other side of said wall, in adjoining apartment.

Upon arrival on a Thursday afternoon, we found:
-- A McDonald's sack, a Kraft Cream Cheese carton and other trash lining the walk, from Union Street to the Bainbridge Suite entrance.
-- Peeling paint on the master bedroom's radiator.
-- Poor quality pillows.
-- One-ply toilet paper.
-- Heat cycling off during the night, leaving the rooms cold.
-- A view of a half dozen dog feces on the grass behind each bedroom window.
-- One of four lamps not working.
-- One of four venetian blinds missing equipment.
-- Our "light snack en suite," consisting of a bag of mini-Oreo's, a bag of Goldfish and four Keebler crackers.

Do yourself a favor, and look elsewhere for accommodation in the Hudson area.  If you expect a quiet, problem-free stay, our warning is: Don't.

The owner believes peace and quiet are guaranteed only at higher price points i.e. a more expensive suite. Regarding our discomfort, he said: "Please remember that even though we do work hard to create complete privacy for our guests, we are pretty much full all the time and this is a public place...If you ever decide to stay with us again, I highly recommend the Gallery Suite. It is a little bit more but for that many nights, especially with children, you have much more space and you are above the fray as it were."

For $150-$250 a night, we don't expect to find ourselves in the midst of any "fray." Nor do we expect guests coming over to "watch a game" next to a room that is far from soundproofed.

The duplicitous, dishonest, disingenuous owner told the world after our stay: "We are so sorry these guests did not like our cancellation policy. if there's any way to make it up we would have but it wasn't to be...."

"We would have"? They could have made a $250 refund or they could have offered another night's stay. No offer of any kind was ever made.

Although the property is "pretty much full all the time," the owner feels no compunction charging you for a room you have released to him at 9:30 a.m., and charging someone else the same rate for the same evening, grossing $500.

Avoid this establishment with every fiber in your body.

8/6/2014

It would be an amazing place to stay if the staff and management wasn't so unhelpful, rude, and apathetic towards the most basic of requests.  

Save your money and frustration. I'm sure there is somewhere else you'd like to stay.

3/18/2015

Stayed here 2/13/15 and had the worst experience. Management is horrible to deal with and not accomodating at all. Will not stay here again.

8/6/2014

Stayed here a few years ago - this place looks like my first apartment, except that I could get a full month for what I paid for two days here.
Find yourself a cardboard box and choose the urine-stained street instead!

1/31/2015

Payed my online reservation like requested but when I got to the hotel they had lost my reservation and wanted me to pay again. Thieves and crooks

8/11/2014

I've never even stayed here, but read about all this on Reddit.  Probably like many of you.

My rating's the same, though:  Don't go here.  Don't reward them for trying to keep human beings from voicing their discontent.  Pretty disgusting that rather than try and better their service, this place tries to intimidate people to shut their mouths.  Like the mob.  

Congrats on your suicide, Union Street Guest House.

12/27/2014

This was the worst hotel experience of my life.

I am not exaggerating and I have never even written a review before.... when I looked up this disgusting place, that's when I saw that this place has other horrible reviews.

STAY AWAY!

- Dogs and dog crap everywhere.
- LOUD drunk guests that are friends of the owners.
- toilet paper so cheap we bought our own.
- peeling paint and things that don't work.
- RUDE STAFF!

Honestly the list goes on and on....

Also, everything is cheap.The furniture. Fake plants. Everything....like it's from the 70s.

TAKE A CLOSE look at the pictures and you can actually tell....and then remind yourself that these are the BEST pics that this place could muster.

STAY AWAY.