Hampton Inn Rehoboth Beach

This Hampton Inn primarily targets tourists looking to stay in a chain hotel that’s relatively close to the beach. The four-story, purpose-built property is surrounded by parking lots and fast food restaurants. Inside, there’s cozy generic decor, including dark-wood-paneled accent walls, a high front desk, and a mix of wooden flooring and dark patterned carpet. There’s plenty of available seating on floral-patterned sofas and armchairs in grays, browns, and blues. Relatively bright hallways sport cream wallpaper and blue-and-brown carpets.

Located right on the Delaware Route 1 highway, the Hampton Inn can be a little hard to spot at first, because the parking lot shelters the hotel from the road. The property is beyond walking distance from Rehoboth Beach, though there are restaurants and shops closer by. Local bus services stop right outside, but having a car provides a distinct advantage here.

• Seven-minute walk to Midway Speedway Park
• Eight-minute walk to Tanger Outlet Rehoboth Beach (eight minutes by public transportation)
• Eight minutes to Rehoboth Beach Convention Center by car (12 minutes by public transportation)
• Nine minutes to Jungle Jim’s Water Park by car (15 minutes by public transportation)
• Nine minutes to Rehoboth Bay Marina by car
• 11 minutes to Rehoboth Beach by car (12 minutes by public transportation)
• 12 minutes to Clear Space Theatre by car (17 minutes by public transport)
• 14 minutes to Cape Henlopen State Park by car
• 24 minutes to Delaware Coastal Airport by car (90 minutes by public transportation)
• 57 minutes to Salisbury-Wicomico County Regional Airport by car
• 109 minutes to Philadelphia International Airport by car

The Hampton Inn’s 85 rooms are bright and spacious, even if they are a tad on the generic side in terms of decor. They are also fairly modern, although dark-wood headboards, bedside tables and cabinets do add a mildly dated look. The design scheme includes cream walls and patterned brown-and-blue carpet. Pricier rooms also add armchairs or contemporary gray three-seater sofas. Amenities include air-conditioning and heating, 25- to 32-inch flat-screen TVs, phones, free Wi-Fi, mini-fridges, microwaves, coffeemakers, irons and ironing boards, and hairdryers -- but there are no safes (guests can use a safety deposit box at the front desk). Accessible rooms are available. 

Slightly old-fashioned patterned brown floor tiling features in the standard bathrooms. They have fairly attractive dark-wood freestanding vanities and marble-effect countertops. Most rooms include basic shower/tub combos with fixed showerheads. Some bathrooms feature the addition of whirlpool jets, and others swap the tubs out for walk-in showers with fixed showerheads. Miniature toiletries are by Neutrogena. Views -- mostly of the parking lot and highway -- are largely unimpressive across the board.

An attractive indoor pool, complete with a few sunbeds, leads the way of the Hampton Inn’s respectable list of features -- it's open until late evening, but closes in the winter. There’s also a modern gym with a decent range of Precor cardio equipment and free weights (but no weightlifting machines). The hotel’s free hot buffet breakfast gets good reviews, but no other meals or drinks are served. A full range of services is offered at the 24-hour business center in the lobby, and a fairly classically decorated but well-maintained meeting room can accommodate 50 guests. There are also coin-operated laundry facilities that are open until late. Wi-Fi is free throughout, and there’s plenty of free outdoor parking. Past guests have lamented the lack of a beach shuttle.