Martins Fork Lake

The hotel is nice and well maintained, and the lounge and bar area are especially enjoyable. The live band was excellent and added to the overall atmosphere. However, our experience at the bar was disappointing. The server was quite pushy, rushing us to order drinks, food, and even dessert in quick succession, which didn’t allow us time to relax and enjoy the ambiance. Later, she asked us to close out our tab because her shift was ending, which felt unprofessional and rude. Additionally, the bartender prepared a drink for my wife that had far too much milk and not enough of the actual ingredients, and even shared part of her drink with another couple. The glass was also filled with an excessive amount of ice, leaving very little actual cocktail. Overall, while the hotel itself is very pleasant, the bar service significantly detracted from our experience.

Check-in was smooth and professional. The room was clean and the cleaning staff did an excellent job cleaning the room every day. However, the air conditioner system was quite a bit louder than expected. The hotel had a pool, but was smaller than the pictures made it look, was surprisingly quite cold, and there was no hot tub (note that hotel does not advertise having a hot tub). There was a coffee maker with a few coffee pods in the room, but there was no free access coffee in the lobby. For a higher volume coffee drinker like me, that was disappointing. I had to go to the restaurant to ask for coffee. The buffet breakfast was pretty basic, had less options than what I normally expect for this hotel chain. However, the breakfast staff were very professional and helpful. I decided not to try the hotel restaurant after looking at the online menu, noting the lack of kid friendly options. Perhaps they had kid friendly options not listed on the online menu, but I did not ask. The prices are high, but expected for location and hotel type. I did not utilize the valet parking. There is one parking garage on the same block as the hotel, and another parking garage across the street from the hotel. Prices were reasonable, but also somewhat frustrating that we had to pay for parking in addition to paying for the hotel. Shout out to Rosie’s Restaurant around the corner for the excellent and delicious food, and also to servers who were very accommodating of our small children.

Room was clean and comfortable. Breakfast was delicious and location was great for exploring both Covington and Cincinnati. Lots of nearby restaurants and bars. Despite a couple glitches in our stay, the night manager was quick to address our issues and resolve them more than satisfactorily