Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel Dezerland

Customer service does not exist at this hotel. What was promised to us when we booked the room and what they gave us were totally different. The staff were rude, their practices were shady and the service was unacceptable. They charged us a "resort fee" even though we had told them we would not be using any of the "resort" accommodations as we were getting in late and leaving early. They tack on charges in fine print when you sign in so be careful if you go here. The room was expensive ($220 for 2 people), yet uncomfortable and shabby.

The hotel rooms were completely unacceptable. There was plaster falling from the walls onto my personal items located on my desk. The bathrooms were outdated and very small. The lightening in the bathrooms were very dim. There was a stink of urine in the bathroom. We requested non-smoking rooms and were given smoking rooms that wrecked of stale cigarette smoke. It took them almost 2 hours to change our rooms to non-smoking and those rooms weren't too much better. There were little tiny bugs all over the floor, in the sink and on the desk. The breakfeast buffet was $9.00 and the food was very limiting and not very good. The best part of breakfeast was a bowl of ceral with bananas. The only nice thing about the hotel was the swimming pool area and the quick access to the beautiful beach area. I would NOT recommend anyone to stay at this hotel until they do some much needed renovations.

Jacuzzi was small but the beach and pool was so beautiful!!!!

This was supposed to be a 30th birthday celebration (March 6th through March 9th 2008) and it turned into a nightmare. We arrived and our room was given away earlier. I had a reservation and couldn't believe this. The clerk acted as if this was nothing new. Even though we were bumped up to a suite, it was a joke. It was facing the back of the hotel and the balconies were joined by a "jump over" mini wall which meant anyone could walk into your room if you left the balcony door open by mistake.

The foolishness continued when we tried to get towels and the house keepers didn't speak English...last time I checked we were in America. We had to walk down to the front desk and no one was there. It was only 8 p.m.!!

There were bugs in the bathroom, the bed was filthy, the closet hangers were rusty, you could hear through the walls, the television only had four channels, the elevator tooks days to come to your floor, the pool was full of sand, the parking lot was a joke (there were no parking spaces even when you paid $10 a night to park). The website said it was only $8. Then there was a "Resort Fee" of $8 a day which was stupid. This place is a dump and shouldn't even be considered a hotel let alone a resort.

I was glad to check out as I will never return to this location. The website and photos are very misleading. Please post the real photos. My suite looked nothing like the beautiful room showed on the website.

Save yourself the time and the money and book at a better hotel. You'll be glad you did.

The hotel was very nice and it had a very personable staff. It was close to the beach.