No pool. No spa. No concierge. No room service. Not even a restaurant, unless you count the Burger King a few blocks away.
But the Swan Creek Inn and River Lodge at Aberdeen Proving Ground is the haute place to stay, anywhere on the planet, at least according to the Army.
Last summer, the hotel won the Army's highest hotel honor, Lodging Operation of the Year, beating military inns and lodges from Japan to Texas. Swan Creek has won in its category - large hotels - three times in the past decade, an impressive feat, given that military lodges are ineligible for the contest for two years after winning.
The hotel won for overall excellence, "from checking in to checking out," says Sheryl Cleland, director of Hospitality Programs for Army Lodging, which has its headquarters in Alexandria, Va. She oversees the Army's 78 hotels.
Swan Creek won its most recent honor in August, after a three-day visit from a team of two Army judges who conducted their assessment while staying at the hotel.
"It was very stressful," says Richard McClain, Swan Creek's manager. "They could roam at large."
The judging included a 400-question checklist that covers everything from the number of hangers in each closet to the wattage of bulbs in night lights.
But McClain and his staff had all their swans - and all 294 rooms - in a row. Each of the hotels' 82 employees got a $138 bonus, and the hotel received $7,500 for whatever improvement it chose. McClain decided to put together a guest lounge, complete with a 52-inch high-definition flat-panel TV.
A squat, two-story brick building set not far from a water tower and around the corner from a truck repair yard, Swan Creek is named after a nearby Susquehanna River inlet. It includes a second, smaller location in Edgewood.
Like the Taj or the Bellagio, Swan Creek is very exclusive. That's not because it's pricey - a single room runs a reasonable $54 a night - but because it is not open to the public. Like all Army hotels, it serves only soldiers who have come for training at the base, civilians doing business there and military retirees visiting the area or traveling through. If you want a room there, you'll have to get a base-related job, enlist or marry someone who has.
In many ways, Swan Creek resembles a typical midrange chain hotel, well-run but unremarkable. It offers clean rooms, friendly service, meticulously made beds and lots of off-white walls (more on that later). There are some differences: The complimentary continental breakfast begins at 0630 and ends at 0830, hours that fit the needs of early rising soldier-guests.
