I feel compelled to express my overwhelming dissatisfaction at my recent stay in this hotel. I pride myself in sending letters of regard for services well done, but in this case I sadly have to write about a much different experience.
I travel and stay in hotels weekly as part of my employment as the national training and consultant manager for a reputable company. Recently my travels brought me to Colorado Springs for four nights in July 2006.
As a Choice Privileges member with multiple stays at other hotels in this chain, I chose the Clarion in Colorado, expecting something far different than what I experienced.
What a miserable series of experiences all packed into one night's stay.
I arrived very late (midnight) and exhausted from my flight. I checked in, but the clerk must have been new and did not seem to know the hotel and how to direct me to my room or whether an elevator existed. He did at least give me a map of the layout. He was kind, just not able to provide normal or expected service due to his newness.
I found myself climbing three flights of stairs with luggage in this strangely laid out hotel (a tri-level type with a half-submerged basement/1st floor). It was very frustrating.
The hallways were very tired looking, a shabby carpet, the seams on most of the wallpaper are splitting and separating very badly and very consistently throughout the building. The t-molds in the floor are ripped off in the hallways leading to the restaurant and rooms, leaving bare materials exposed from the sub floors. The entire building appears much like something leftover from the early 80's without any thought to renovation, maintenance, or paint, aside from the lobby which looked teasingly nice.
When I entered my room (about 12:15 am) and attempted to use the bathroom, there was a wet and filthy washcloth on the rack, quite obviously there from the previous guest. There were only two towels in the room and the bathroom had obviously not yet been completely cleaned or stocked with new linens. It was as if the maid started and then never finished. It was disgusting.
I phoned the front desk and explained my dilemma. The night clerk said, "Well, do you want me to just let housekeeping know about it in the morning?"
Seriously? I could not believe what I heard. There is no way I wished to stay in an unclean room with dirty linens for the night! So I ultimately, and gently, asked if I could just be reassigned to a clean room. He gave one to me, thankfully. This time, however, it was three floors away, more climbing again with all of my things. It's now nearly 1am. (I had to be at a business meeting at 7 am.) The gentleman ultimately returned to me and offered to help me carry my things, which was kind.
I went to my new room in what felt like the basement of this hotel. (The first floor was half underground/half above ground, so the window to my room was at ground level--though it was on the upper part of the wall.)
I tried to lock the door once inside, but the deadbolt was broken and would not align, with the hole in the jamb, no matter how many ways I tried to get it to work. I was left with the swing-bar latch that allows the door to be cracked open as the lock. It was better than nothing, but given that this hotel was in a marginal area of town already (I had no idea until I got here), I really didn't like the idea that I only had the swing-arm security lock as protection, given that I am a female traveling alone.
At this point was so late and I was so tired I just "called it good" and went to bed. I got up the next morning to get ready, but the hair dryer was broken. I phoned for maintenance and thankfully another was brought to me, but even so, these appliances should be checked regularly for functionality. I was on tight timelines and it just added to my increasing frustration with this hotel. The quarter-sized spider on the wall that morning did not sit well with me, either.
I left the hotel and returned at 4 pm and headed to my room, but my door key no longer worked. I lugged all my belongings up the stairs again (the elevator does not stop on the lobby floor when you're on the first floor). I asked for a new key and headed back to my room. As I passed by the vending machine, a very frightening-looking man in about his late 40's appeared from within the tucked away vending area (about 15' from my room). He approached me as I passed by, he looked like bad news, and did not seem like he was a guest in the hotel.
He began to talk to me in an odd and unsettling way as I passed by him, I tried to ignore him during this disturbing experience. I continued to head toward my room, but it was only a short distance further and he began following me close behind. I did not want him to know the location of my room, so I quickly turned around and headed back down the long hallway and up the stairs in the direction of the lobby. The hallway is about 75-100' in length, but as I turned around to glance back once I reached the top of the stairway, I noticed he had stopped squarely in the middle of the hallway and was watching me the entire time I walked away. When I glanced at him, he stared right back at me and stood there. Chilling.
Needless to say I was afraid to go back down that hallway in what felt like a basement, let alone into my room that will not lock! I waited a very long time before I went back to my room to retrieve my belongings, hoping he was not in sight.
So I gathered my things and went back to the desk to request a checkout, as this experience was horrendous and now seemed unsafe, too. I was then told that I may be charged for another night because I did not check out on time (it was 4 pm when I requested checkout, given this new creepy development.)
I explained my multiple frustrating experiences to the clerk, but that did not seem to override the fact that I was checking out after normal hours. I hadn't even touched my room following maid service that day, as I couldn't get to it due to the disturbing man lurking downstairs!
After many moments and my reiteration of the faulty door lock, the dirty room, the broken drier, the key issue, the creepy man, and the fact I hadn't even been there 24 hours yet, the clerk finally said that I did not have to pay for the second night.
I was thankful, but could not believe this was even an issue, given that they were considering charging me for a room that was unused and untouched from maid service earlier in the day. I was also very disappointed that, given my multiple frustrating and unsafe experiences, that my original night was not refunded as well. I barely even got an apology, but did get a half-hearted one (at best) in the end.
There was no sense of customer service, understanding, or good faith in this experience. I cannot understand how this company can build a positive reputation based upon this entire paradigm of miserable service, lodging, and interactions with customers. As a national manager, I take customer services seriously and would shutter to think of how this would affect my clients and customers if I were to operate in the same manner.
I checked out early and left for the Hilton hotel nearby. For Choice Hotels, I feel I had no other choice but to leave.