Fawlty Towers redux!
Three nights' stay at ExtStay Atlanta Perimeter ranks among our least satisfactory lodging experiences. Some of the more noteworthy events:
1. At check-in, the desk clerk hollered out, "You're in Room 203!" so loudly that everyone in the lobby now knew where we would be sleeping.
2. When I drew back the bedspread, the underside displayed several bloodstains and other body fluid markings. The bonus was the three black hairs on the holey blanket. My wife and I are both gray-haired codgers.
3. The drinking glasses in the cupboard were dirty--fingerprints and lipstick on the rims. Thankfully, we carry a small bottle of dish detergent with us. ExtStay kitchenettes provide dinnerware place settings for two and we are expected to wash up anything that we use. So, we wonder, why did they provide two dishrags and a dish towel in the kitchenette but no dish detergent?
4. While taking my shower, the water came up to my ankles due to the slow tub drain.
5. When we checked in, the desk clerk bragged about the Deluxe Breakfast that was served on weekday mornings from 7 to 9:30. Friday morning at 8:30, I went downstairs. Except for two pots of coffee, the breakfast room was bare. I flagged a passing housekeeper to ask and was told, "Well, we ran out of bagels!" So much for the Deluxe Breakfast.
6. ExtStay appears to have a remarkably acquisitive housekeeping staff. When we checked out, we forgot to take with us the two jars of Lingonberry preserves from IKEA and the canvas bag with most of a box of wine that we had placed in the compartment under the sink. We called the property when we returned home. The desk clerk told us to call her back after she checked the room to see if our items were still there.
I called back (no 800-number was offered; I paid for the calls) and she told me that the room had been made up and there was nothing under the sink. And that I should call back the next day to see if the housekeepers had placed our things in the lost and found.
Monday, I called back. The desk clerk offered to check and this time actually called me back on her dime to report that there was no trace on the premises of my belongings.
Our "missing" items were of nominal value, which adds to the mystery of their "disappearance." Unless someone on the staff there has a taste for Lingonberry preserves and cheap red wine.
We'd been loyal ExtStay Road Warriors for nearly 20 years. Don't know if there is a connection, but some years ago the ExtStay corporate was acquired by an investment company after which we began to note a general decline in housekeeping and maintenance. But never an experience like this one. Sad that our mutual association ends this way.