ESA, Downtown Anch, AK.
Surprisingly, the place was much cleaner than the Midtown Anchorage ESA's. However, the front desk staff member Lia told me I had reserved a room without a kitchen. She was adamant that I chose the room without the kitchenette, which didn't make any sense since being able to cook for me is one of the reasons why I stay in ESA when I travel for my job. She refused to switch rooms by saying, "Just stay there (room 220) tonight, and we'll do it tomorrow."
The next day came. Soa, front desk person told me there's nothing she can do. I asked to speak with a manager. She said her manager would come in later. I asked for the time of her manager's arrival. She said around 10am.
I went down and over to the front desk to talk to manager Carol -Later, I learned she was an assistant manager, and Alice was the general manager. I asked Carol to switch the room with the Kitchen. To my surprise, she angrily said, "You need to pay $189 more!" I told her there shouldn't be any additional fees for switching rooms. She then angrily postured and lectured me, saying, "Well, when you made a reservation, you should have been more careful!" and still refused to switch rooms. Her behavior was appalling to me. I realized it was impossible to cross my message with her. She was hostile and combative, almost like she was showing off her power in front of her subordinate, Scarlet. I told Carol I would call the 800 number for help instead. She replied, "Go ahead!" I called the 800 number and requested to speak with the customer liaison. However, the operator told me it couldn't be done since "they don't work on the weekends." But I relate my problem with the operator. Just as I hung up the phone with the operator, I got a call from Carol at the front desk. She told me that she could switch the room without extra fees. I was happy, so I thanked her.
I move from 220 to 218. The room was okay, but the thermostat was broken, so I couldn't regulate the temperature. Also, heavy dust with a cheap perfume scent spewed out of the fan when I turned on the air conditioner to cool off the room- a common problem in all ESA rooms where I stayed.
On my fifth day of stay, I needed to extend the stay. I requested an extension at the front desk. They refused my request by telling me, "We are fully booked." However, I saw multiple rooms available online, so I made a reservation. All of the staff in Downtown ESA weren't happy about my extension. They all were rude and stone-faced when they saw me. I never missed payments, partied, had visitors, and did not cook food with a strong scent. I was a perfect tenant.
On May 5, the day of my checkout, I had another bad experience.
As you can see in the photo, they disabled the key system of excess to their parking lot. This was inconvenient since I had to haul my stuff through that door. I placed a small rock to keep the door crack open and loaded my things onto my parked truck near the door. However, the mean-faced Scarlet, monitoring me from her front desk camera, walked over and threw away the rock while I was loading without talking to me. After loading my stuff, I entered the building through the front door to put the Dolly back inside. I ran into a white couple with a child (about 10 years old). Surprisingly, Scarlet greeted them, "Hi, how are you guys doing this morning?" with a big smile.
I'm unsure why I was mistreated by these people, but I swore that I'd never stay in ESA again.
