Holiday Inn Santee Hotel - Page 1

I love the this hotel. When i arrived at the hotel check in was very speedy. The desk clerk Jessica had tons of people arriving and the telephone was ring off the hook but she checked each guest speedy and treated everyone with respect. after i checked in i went into there lovely resturant and lounge and had me a drink as well as a full course dinner. the dinner was great my servers were celeste and nancy who made me feel like i was at home eatin at momma's house. eveyone made my stay very good. after i ate i went to my room it was also very nice clean and comfortable. i used my laptop and accessed the net and after that i went for a swim in the pool and spent two hours in the hot tub. it was all great. the next morning breakfast was great i had it delivered to the room and everything was right and on time. i loved this hotel and i will stay there anytime that i am near Santee, SC

Upon arrival I stood in the lobby for 15 minutes before anyone at the desk greeted me. I presented them a coupon for a room rate of $65.00 with an expiration date of 12/31/07. The front desk clerk told me that the manager of the hotel was no longer accepting these coupons. They did not have a reason for this decision, but I didn’t pursue the issue out of respect for the clerk. I had a military rate $95.50 but I had to pay an extra $10.00 for my wife. My mother-in-law, father-in-law, and sister-in-law met us at the hotel and they had a reservation at another hotel. Their reservation was somehow lost so they had to stay with me. I had to pay $10.00 extra for each of them and a total of $40.00 more for my two small dogs which are both less than 10 lbs. Once we checked into our room we discovered that it was a smoking room and we had requested a non-smoking room. My parents could not handle the smoke so that presented an immediate problem. Also, the toilet would not flush and the door would not lock and was almost impossible to even close. I complained to the front desk about these issues and they sent up a maintenance man to check it out. After inspecting the problems with the room he said they could not be fixed and we had to move all of our things to another room. Still, I took it all in stride and did not show my frustration. Later that afternoon my family went down to the indoor pool to swim. I followed, only a few moments behind. When I got to the pool my sister was crying and my mother was having some type of allergic reaction. My wife’s eyes were red and puffy and everyone was upset. The chlorine level in the pool was entirely too strong. After going in the water for only a few seconds, my wife and sister were in extreme pain. I went to investigate because I was skeptical of the situation. I thought that maybe the problems could be attributed to feminine sensitivity. When I entered the room I was overwhelmed by the scent of the chlorine. As a combat veteran of 3 tours in Iraq with the United States Marine Corps I am not susceptible to most things that other people find uncomfortable. I have been to the CS Gas chamber three times and I’ve been exposed to a lot of chemicals in my time in service. It is my personal and professional opinion that the level of chlorine in the pool and the fumes in the pool room were a danger to the public. Needless to say, we were unable to use the pool. Once again, I informed the front desk of the problem and they told me there was nothing they could do. Later that night my sister and I decided to relax a little in the hot tub located just outside the pool room on the patio since we could not use the pool. We spent about an hour in the hot tub and then went to bed. In the morning my $60.00 Tommy H. board shorts were completely bleached out. They were brand new blue shorts when I went in the hot tub and afterwards they were white! Still, I did not complain. Later that morning at breakfast, my wife spilled some food on her brand new blouse that I had just bought her for the trip. She wanted to go upstairs and spot wash it before we left. She went into the bathroom and put tap water on her blouse. Then she wiped it with a fresh hand towel from the hotel. When the spot dried, where the water had touched her blouse, it was bleached white. At this point I was extremely upset and my wife was in tears. As a Corporal of Marines, we do not make a lot of money. This hotel not only cost me $180.56 for the room, but also $100.00 for ruined clothing. When I complained to the desk and showed them the clothing that had been ruined they told me they could do nothing to compensate me for my losses. I requested to speak to a manager, but they told me one was not available and could not be reached by phone. I called the corporate guest services at 1-800-Holiday and made a complaint with them. The reference number for the complaint is 2094668. They said they would investigate and a manager or guest services representative would contact me in 15 to 30 minutes. I finally received a call from the hotel manager on the following Tuesday. The manager informed me that there was nothing wrong with the hotel or the water and that no other guest had made a complaint. She then suggested that I was lying and insinuated that I was stupid. I informed her that I was not a liar and that I was not an idiot. I assured her that I had led Marines in combat and been solely responsible for millions of dollars worth of government equipment and personnel and that she had no right to insult me or question my integrity. She further insulted me by saying that my military service to this great nation did not matter and was not pertinent to this situation. Once again, I contacted the corporate office and informed them of the manager’s comments to me. They told me they would forward my complaint to higher headquarters. One week later I finally got a call from the guest services supervisor and she informed me that it was the hotel’s word against mine and that they could not force the hotel to compensate me for my losses.

My advice is to be sure to ask for the floor the room is on.

The staff was quick to accommodate a special need for an in room refrigerator. They were friendly and helpful.