We used to love the Kennedy School. Old and quirky, classroom chalkboards and wonky spaces, it was an interesting and playful place to be.

They've since added a new wing which is, well, NEW. It sounds and smells new. It is a highly manufacttured effort at charm. Some new rooms are TINY. Not a chalkboard to be found.

With the added rooms has come crowding. It's gone from feeling like a happy find to just another business herding people through. You don't really get to enjoy the old building with the cost of your stay, just go stand in another line.

That said, the staff is top notch. They seem well versed in dealing with the disappointment of long-time. customers. Sadly, they just can't make the place what it used to be.

For a comfy bed and a parking space, there are plenty of other options.

We've stayed at many McMenamin's properties over the years, solo, coupled, and with kids.
Everything was up to expectations except the pool situation. We had chosen Kennedy School specifically to take advantage of the soaking pool. This is nothing like the Edgefield pool.
Hotel guests only from 8-10 in the morning? Really? The rest of the time it was overpacked with people. It's a great premise to give back to the neighborhood (neighbors can use the pool free by showing id)
Exploring the grounds, the movie theater, restaurant, bars are typical McMenamins....fun.

I stayed at McMenamins during a workshop and was terribly disappointed. The rooms do not have televisions and have odd artwork and light fixtures. The halls are dimly lit with upside lighting that is creepy and casts foreboding shadows. Maybe the decorators thought it would be clever or even eclectic, but unless you have a head full of dreadlocks or drive a Volkswagon van from the 60's it is neither. I thought the food was edible until the last evening when I ordered a pastrami sanwich on a pretzel roll with fries and I developed food poisoning. Great way to end my stay.

I love that this "hotel" is an old elementary school. It's fun walking around the building and visiting the bars and restaurant in it, and they've done a great job making it look nice. Our room was neat--an old classroom with high ceilings and walls covered in chalkboard. The bed was comfy and the bathroom was clean, and the soaking pool outside was pretty and relaxing. I feel like the price was a little steep--guess you pay extra for the novelty factor.

My main issue with our stay here was the noise level. Perhaps it's the big, echo-y hallways and rooms, but we could hear practically everything in the hall outside our room and in our neighbors room. Our next-door neighbors appeared to be a group of boys who were part of a wedding party that rented out part of the hotel, and they were up until about 4am, which meant that we, too, were up until about 4am, listening to them be drunk, rowdy, and throw up. Not cute. We notified the hotel staff who said they would ask the neighbors to quiet down, but we didn't notice a difference.

So, yeah, novel place to stay, and perhaps some of the rooms are in quieter locations than ours was, but I definitely wished I'd gotten a good night's sleep!