Better to sleep in a ditch!
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 09/17/08
I would never recommend this hotel to my worst enemy. I arrived at 2:15pm. Had a reservation for a King Size bed in a smoking room. Seems simple enough. The clerk was pleasant - later discovered that it was actually the shift manager. Got to my room and it looked like a scene from a horror movie. The walls & ceiling were water damaged, carpets and tile were filthy, and the bed looked like it was picked up at the local Goodwill. There was a tiny desk with a lamp that had been broken and glued back together. The window with the deafeningly loud A/C unit was covered with dust and spider webs. I attempted to call the front desk to complain...but the phone didn't work. Oh, and the bed was not a King size bed. So, I dragged my 2 suitcases up to the front desk and explained why Room #1 was not acceptable. I informed the clerk that I had reserved a King size bed in a smoking room. I was quickly given a less-than-sincere apology and a key to Room #2. I overheard the front desk staff mumbling about me under their breath as I walked toward the elevator. There were 4 members of staff standing behind the desk, no other customers, and not 1 of them offered to assist me with my bags. So, I arrived at Room #2. It was indeed a King size bed...in a non-smoking room. It only took a second for me to look around and discover that this room was no better than the first - Goodwill bed, spider webs, filthy floor, etc. So, I called the front desk - the phone actually worked, amazingly enough - and reported that I had just been moved to this room and, yet again, it did match my reservation. The clerk on the other end of the phone actually laughed and said, "Oh, you wanted a King size bed in a smoking room!" He proceeded to tell me that I was welcome to come back to the front desk (with 2 suitcases in tow) and pick up a key for Room #3. I informed him that I would wait outside of Room #2 for my key to be delivered. Approximately 5 minutes later, a member of the janitorial staff delivered my key. He was the most pleasant person that I encountered in this hotel. I arrived in Room #3, walked into the bathroom and immediately heard the sound of my shoes sticking to the floor. As I exited the bathroom, I noticed that I was in a room that adjoined to another. The door between the two was bowed and appeared to have been busted open (presumably by the cops) in very recent past. Additionally, the lock appeared to be one strong wiggle away from allowing the door to open again. Third strike, I had enough. I gathered my things and returned to the front desk. The clerk rolled her eyes and said, "and what's wrong with this room?" I am a calm and patient person, but I could have ripped her head from her shoulders. I told her the problems with Room #3 and that the hotel was not fit for the rodents that live there. I received a confirmation # for the cancelled charges fairly quickly at that point. I left, found another hotel, and showered immediately to wash off anything that might have attached itself to me in that nasty, rundown hotel. It would have been better to sleep in a ditch, in that terrible neighborhood, than to have spent the night in that hotel. It should be condemned.
