Days Inn Niagara Falls Hotel - Page 1

We stayed at the Days Inn in June and were very happy with what we got for our money. The hotel is very clean and quiet, the staff is nice, and the breakfast is great for a family with two kids. Probably at this time of the season the hotel is only half-full, so this review may not be as helpful for someone who travels in July-August. It takes about 20-30 minutes to get to the falls, but that is true for most hotels on that street, because there are no hotels that close to the falls. We found it very convenient, because we parked our car at the hotel parking lot and walked around everywhere. We definitely recommend the hotel to budget visitors in early summer.

We called the Days Inn 800 number to book three rooms here for one night. We specifically asked if the rooms came with free wireless internet, and were told that they did. However, when we got to the hotel, all I could pull up on my laptop were two very weak signals from the surrounding hotels. It turns out that this hotel does not offer free wireless internet. But they do have an internet kiosk down near the lobby, which only costs $2/10 minutes. What a deal!

After much arguing with the desk guy, they offered to give us a whole toonie to use at the kiosk. After further arguing, he agreed to give us a whole 3 toonies to use, for a whopping 30 minutes of time for three groups of people to read and send email. Of course, it takes the first 10 minutes just to figure out how to navigate around on the idiot machine.

Also, unlike every other Days Inn we've ever stayed at, this hotel does not offer a free continental breakfast. Instead, they give you a coupon for a certain percent off of the buffet at the restaurant across the street, which doesn't open until 8am. Do people not eat breakfast earlier than this? What a rip.

This post is to let you know about the horrible experience we had at the Days Inn. I specifically booked with them because they are a national chain and I figured everything would be as specified, i.e., no problems at all. And because of that, I was willing to pay a bit more.

First of all, we are told this is a large king room with a desk and fridge. Well it was a king bed, but the bedroom was more like a closet and the bathroom was so small that the sink had to be in the bedroom. We are also told they have full cable television and high speed internet, we got about 10 channels, most of which were out by the time we wanted to watch TV (1 am or so) and the internet was wireless with a much slower than a dial-up random wireless unsecured connection.

When we arrived, we noticed a really loud dripping (heard over the TV and talking) but assumed it would stop when the rain did. Well, around 2 am, when I wanted to go to sleep, it was still dripping. I tried to tough it out, but it was so loud, and I had the TV cranked. That is not okay for a person not to be able to sleep in a hotel room that they have paid so much for. We contacted the front desk, who sent up security to confirm the drip and that it was coming from the floor above us. Thus, they could do nothing to fix it and had no empty rooms. They offered us $20 off our stay. Obviously, we did not accept. We were told the manager would be in at 10 am the next morning.

Well, I didn't sleep, so we went down first thing for breakfast. I was so exhausted I just wanted some kind of resolution so I went to the front desk. After a ton of yelling and making a bit of a scene they offered to clean another room for us, supposedly much bigger and definitely an upgrade. Well, it was only bigger because it had two queen's instead of a king, not what I booked and I consider it a lower grade room, based on other hotels pricing schedule it seems they do as well. We finally got into that room at 9:30 am. I thought I would be able to get some sleep, but then they vacuumed every room around us, above, beside, below. At this point I was so exhausted, but I did get about an hour of a nap.

At this time I really wanted to get most of my money back for the previous night. I figured I got 10-20% of a night of sleep so that is what I would pay from the normal rate. The front desk insisted they could do nothing beyond moving us rooms and possibly offering us an additional night stay, not useful since we do need to get back to work and we already paid for our next night’s stay. I forgot to mention that it was 11 am and the manager has decided not to come in for the day. I can't believe how this is being handled so I wanted all my money back and to check out today.

They finally agreed, again after getting loud, but say they can't refund us until Monday since we booked through Travelocity and it’s apparently closed. Well, our booking sheet says they are open 24/7 so I point this out the girl at the counter, not useful since we do need to get back to work and we already paid for our next night’s stay. But then she says it’s not true, they are definitely closed. She wouldn’t even try! We agree to leave within the hour and return to the room to call Travelocity and find out, they are open! And they can refund our money right now! At this point I am furious because I can only assume the hotel wanted us to leave the city and then never refund us the money. Why else would you lie to me when I have it in writing?

I am the first person to pass on recommendations for good products and services but this is the most horrible customer service I have ever received, especially from a hotel. I am fairly well traveled, having been to many provinces, states and countries in Europe, and I have never experienced anything similar during a hotel stay. As a result I would highly recommend that you never stay at any Days Inn hotel, but especially the one in Niagara Falls.