Staybridge Suites Princeton, Princeton

First we noticed the cobwebs, then the painful, itchy red bumps began to appear on our necks and faces. We soon realized the Staybridge Inn-Princeton was infested with spiders. When we complained, we received a note stating that “the spider” had been removed. Unfortunately, there is never just one spider. During our 2-month stay, I used an entire 17.5 ounce bottle of Raid. Another guest called her own exterminator. Spiders were not the only wildlife. A dead squirrel rotted for weeks outside our room. Housekeeping ranged from non-existent to indifferent. As a test, we left a dead spider in one of our two tubs to see how long it would remain. It was still there when we left. When the toilet developed a black moustache of crud, I complained to the manager. That resulted in the room being thoroughly cleaned for the first and only time during our visit. The management was full of excuses. I was told maids were afraid to clean the tables and countertops in our suite because we had left “money” (about 30 cents in change) and “medicine” (multi-vitamins) out and they’d been accused of stealing these things in the past. We hid this “contraband.” The surfaces remained uncleaned. Another time, the maids did not do their scheduled “deep clean” on a Friday. I complained because even though housekeeping was supposed to be available by request on weekends, I was always told they were too busy. The head housekeeper responded by claiming my husband had sent the maid away. Too bad my husband was 2,000 miles away that day! Later, the head housekeeper barged ahead of me in line for the evening snacks (one of the hotel’s few highlights). This was typical. The maintenance man did his personal laundry on Saturday mornings as guests queued up to use the one consistently-functioning drier. When blankets I had brought from home “mysteriously” disappeared from the laundry room, another hotel employee assured me it was still safe to leave one’s clothes unattended because she did her laundry there all the time! Fortunately, the blankets “mysteriously” reappeared a short while later. I wouldn’t even have noticed or cared that employees were taking advantage of the guest services if they had also been doing their jobs. They were not. I’m not really sure what the maintenance man did with his time (besides laundry and looking at photos of vintage cars online in the business center.) Water gushed from my refrigerator each time I opened the door. Inside, it sleeted and hailed onto my takeout containers. Each time I turned on the kitchen sink, a geyser spurted upwards from the faucet and down into the cabinet, where it pooled and attracted bugs. In the workout room, two of the three machines remained broken throughout my stay. I complained about all these things, and more than once. I was told they would be fixed. They were not. The inmates were definitely running this asylum. This is the only hotel I have ever stayed in where I requested a wakeup call and it was not delivered! This happened not once, but twice. It could take upwards of 20 minutes to check in or check out a single person! One desk clerk glared at me each time I informed her that my card key had yet again ceased to function. “Why isn’t it working!” she would demand as I stood before her, weary from a long day at work. If I had the audacity to admit that I did not have the old, non-functioning card key with me, she would bark, “Well, where is it?” The only people who seemed to be trying to do their jobs were the maids. They were great athletes. They didn’t have much time to spend on each room because the two-story hotel had no elevators. When they cleaned the second floor, they had to run up and down, fetching supplies from carts parked at the foot of the splintered stairs. I have never seen anyone push a vacuum cleaner so quickly. The best experience I had at this hotel was checking out and going home!

We stayed here on our way to Martha's Vineyard from Atlanta, and also on our way back. We did the same last year. We love this place because it is so comfortable, with a spacious 2 bedroom suite, a well furnished kitchen, etc. Our dogs were welcomed and able to stay for a reasonable fee. The beds were very comfortable, with wonderful pillows and clean crisp sheets. The manager on duty, Irene, was so pleasant and accomodating. We'll be back next year!