Stayed for two nights while in town for business and I can only say that if this was the only hotel left and it was free, I'd choose stay in the train station down the road.
The train station would be quieter! The only reason I can imagine to put a hotel right next to an active rail line is because the land is cheap and that theme follows through to every other aspect of the hotel as well. The walls are so thin you can hear every neighbor, every merry reveler gallivanting up and down the hallway, and of course every train that passes your room window so conveniently close you can see the conductor's beautiful smile. Of course the manager loves to point out that the train "doesn't run overnight" but News Flash, some people are still asleep at 4:30 AM, 5:30 AM, 6 AM, 6:30 AM... Not me of course, Thomas made sure of that. If you are at all noise sensitive, I'd sooner stay at a hotel next to MIA, at least those developers know what sound proofing is.
Those developers also know that just because there is a minimum square footage of the room doesn't mean you have to make it that small! The king bed was shoved into the weird little corner so tightly that the only way I can see it coming back out is through the window. I'm rather slight of frame and even I had to suck it in to hang my clothes in the awkwardly placed closet. Which I wouldn't have needed to use except that the chest of drawers was conveniently missing, instead replaced with a second television, facing the side of the sofa, which didn't even work during my stay.
But of course, if it was just the noise, and the size of the room, and the broken secondary television I wouldn't be writing this review. No, I should have had the forethought to look at a map and check train schedules before booking this dorm room masquerading as a hotel. I'm writing this review because everything else that makes a hotel livable was also somehow just as bad. In reverse order, best to worst, Let me break it down by category:
Food...
When the discount breakfast with it's poorly re-hydrated eggs and breads so stale that England still had a queen when it popped out of the oven is the best thing about the hotel, something is seriously wrong. Your best bet for a good breakfast is to walk across the parking lot and pretend you're a guest at the Embassy suites.
Maintenance...
I have seen abandoned buildings with more dedicated maintenance staff than this hotel. The elevator looks as though it was built at a time when the light bulb was still a new and novel idea with the incandescent floor indicator lamps to prove it. They did put a sign up with a picture of the interior of a much nicer more expensive buildings elevator with the caption "coming soon" but if it's been that bad for long enough that they felt a sign is appropriate then "soon" to them must be cosmic in timescale.
The room, too, has seen better days. On top of a terribly located secondary television that didn't bother to work anyway, the corners of the furniture were chipped, the tub was stained, and one of the bedroom lights only worked if you asked it nicely.
Cleanliness...
To me the bare minimum that a hotel must offer is clean linens and towels, a clean mattress and bed area, and a clean bathroom with hot running water. I'm happy to report that the shower was nice, hot, and had lovely water pressure. Everything else though left much to be desired. If you're going to stay here despite my may warnings to the contrary, please, I beg you, ask for new towels before using the shower. The first towel I grabbed was still damp, as though the housekeeper in their haste to get the room cleaned had just refolded the towel and hung it back up on the rod to avoid washing it. I was disgusted.
Service...
Now to my surprise, the front desk staff was absolutely lovely. Everyone I spoke with was kind, understanding, and completely and entirely unable to assist to help with with getting any issue brought to their attention solved. Of course, most of the issues aren't things that can be solved by a front desk agent and while they were kind and understanding it's obvious they are aware of these issues and are being told they are not allowed to do anything to make it right for the guest as "call back in the morning and talk to my manager" seems to be their mantra.
I did take them up on their offer too and I have never been spoken to with such callous indifference in my life. I may have not have worked in a hotel but I have worked customer service before and that so called general manager should never have been allowed within 100 feet of a customer service role. Traveling for work I have stayed in hundreds of hotels and, with the accounting imposed budget of $150 a night, I've seen my fair share of less than savory hotels. I always approach the service staff with kindness and patience and 99 times out of 100 I'm met with an apology, an offer to send up/do whatever is necessary to fix any issues and to make my stay comfortable, and some minor compensation for the inconvenience such as bonus points to my loyalty account. What instead I received was a holier than thou manager who seems to think that if she didn't personally cause the issue it wasn't a problem and that we as guests who expect a clean, comfortable stay should just get over it. She seems to truly believe that a run down, unclean room next to noisy train tracks is the same as missing a flight due to an accident on the motorway and having to pay a change fee because it's not her fault the hotel was built next to a train track. This is an absurd leap in logic and I didn't believe believe the reviewer before me who mentioned a similar justification until I heard it first hand (and for the record, the one time I have missed a flight due to traffic, American was kind enough to rebook the flight free of charge.)
I you choose to stay here I pray that you have a different, a better experience than I did. But I know I will never be returning to this property and I urge anyone reading this to heed my warning as well.
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