After reading recent reviews, I was very skeptical. I should have avoided this hotel at ALL costs! If you don’t have time to read my entire review, this is the most important thing to know: DO NOT STAY HERE!! DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER IT AS AN OPTION! YOU WILL BE EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED AND DISSATISFIED!! IT IS STRAIGHT TRASH!
My husband and I traveled to Houston from California on Monday, Feb 17, 2024, to visit a sick/dying family member who was recently put under Hospice Care. Our stay was for 7 nights. We chose this property so that we could be close to family and because it would allow us to cook in the room and avoid eating junk food everyday.
Upon check in (Monday, Feb 17, 2024) the receptionist (Martha) asked me “have you ever stayed here before?” I had not, but wondered why she asked me that? I can conclude (in hindsight) that it was because the hotel is in such disrepair and has odd business practices, that they probably rarely get repeat customers! But nonetheless, I continued with the check in. Martha told me that there would be an early check in fee because it was 2pm and I was checking in before the 3pm check in time. I asked what the fee was and she said between $10-$11. I asked which one is it? She rambled and eventually said “I think it is $10.80”. I agreed to pay the fee.
I had booked the reservation through Expedia, and when Martha noticed that, she told me “since you booked through a 3rd party, you will have to pay the entire amount up front”. I didn’t like this “policy”, but agreed to it.
She then explained ‘how their property operates’. (At this point, it became clearly obvious that either a prison warden manages this property or their clientele is very seedy and untrustworthy)! Some of the RULES were:
1. If you need pots, pans, plates, bowls, eating utensils etc., they are in a locked cabinet in the lobby. You must come to the lobby and be accompanied by a staff member who will unlock the cabinet and monitor what items you take to the room. (Can you imagine walking through the hotel with your arms full of pots & utensils).
2. If you need a change of towels, you must bring your dirty towels to the front desk, and whatever you bring is what they will exchange. You cannot get any new/extra towels if you don’t bring a towel to exchange.
3. If you need toilet paper, you must come to the front desk and get a roll of toilet paper.
After having “the rules” told to me, my husband and I went to our room. Upon entering, there was a strange smell and we noticed the badly frayed carpet with loose strings and stains all over it. We also noticed that the dishwasher was just sitting in the allotted space, not attached to the cabinetry. Upon further inspection, we noticed black mold around the window panes; the microwave door handle was broken & had to be opened very gingerly to avoid it coming off completely and the microwave being useless; and the “desk” was broken. We went down to the lobby to get some cooking utensils for the room, and in the locked cabinet were ONLY ONE very ugly & rusted fry pan that probably used to be ‘nonstick’ but is now useless, and a 2qt pot. No other selection! There were some old “Corell” brand plates, bowls (we could only take 2 of each), and some tiny glasses (6 oz). The eating utensils were mismatched and already in a tray with 2 of each (forks, knives, spoons). There was also 1 plastic spatula and spoon. Martha supervised our removal of these items and watched us carry them up to our room in our hands. So… with all of this said….. We realized that we were not at the Ritz… but come on!!!! We are also NOT in a 3rd world country! We got substandard treatment in a substandard, low grade, piece of trash hotel!!!
Since we were dealing with a dire family emergency, we chose to focus on our purpose for being there (our sick family member) and we put our bags in the room and left to go to the hospital. We returned late in the evening and slept there overnight. Upon waking up, there was loud music outside of our window and we looked and saw one of the other guests (he probably lives at the hotel) with 3 cars parked sideways in the parking spaces. He was circling his cars and then started his motorcycle. The motorcycle was VERY loud and he kept it on for atleast 20 minutes… revving it up over and over until he drove away. This was very intimidating and made us uncomfortable. In the meantime…
The previous night and morning of the next day. (Tuesday, Feb 18, 2024), we noticed that the toilet in the room had trouble flushing. My husband called the front desk and spoke to Martha again. He asked if someone could bring a plunger to the room or if we had to go get it from the front desk? She said “we do not keep any plungers in the hotel, a maintenance person will have to come assess and fix the problem and that he has a special tool that he uses on the toilets”. What? A hotel with 50-70 toilets does not have a plunger??? So… my husband got dressed, drove around and found a place that was open and purchased a $3 plunger, came back and cleared the toilet.
This was the last straw!! He went to the front desk and explained to Martha that we were not happy staying at the property. He asked to speak to a Manager. Martha told him “we are currently in a transition of ownership and we do not have ANY hotel management at this time”. This disaster was turning into a nightmare!
My husband told Martha that, “in view of all of the odd and disconcerting circumstances, we needed to leave. He stressed to her that there were some very obvious and strange issues going on at the property. Also, that we did not feel comfortable or safe staying there”. (Incidentally, there were some men - who looked ‘official’ -
in the lobby having a meeting with a man who we had seen in the office area of the hotel). Martha got very flippant, rude and angry with my husband and yelled “you can leave, but you won’t get your money back!” Very disgusted, he came back to the room to start packing and when he went back to the lobby, the men were gone and Martha had an “attitude change” and told my husband “you can receive a partial refund, but we will have to charge you for 2 nights because check out is 11am and it is now 1pm”. Honestly, we just wanted OUT of that “twilight zone” situation! When we left we asked for a receipt. Martha said that “she couldn’t print a receipt, that it would get emailed in the middle of the night after 1:00am and that she would call us the next day (Wednesday, Feb 19, 2024) at 8:00am to confirm receipt of the email”. The next day we waited for the email and the phone call. NOTHING! My husband called Martha on Thursday, Feb 20, 2024,
to ask about the receipt and refund to our credit card. She lied and told him that she had emailed the receipt. He told her that we were not far from the hotel and that he would pick up a copy of the receipt. He went to the hotel, and Martha angrily told him that we were “wrong for checking out of the hotel and for saying negative things about the property and that they did everything they could to accommodate us”. (The fact is… Martha did nothing to address or accommodate our concerns!). Martha ended her rant by telling my husband “just get out of here!” This was such a disgusting lack of professionalism! Disgusting!!! However… it was consistent with the condition of the hotel and the overall service provided. It seems as if Martha thinks that she is Division, Regional, and Local Manager… probably even the President and Owner!! Again…. DO NOT STAY HERE!! DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER IT AS AN OPTION! YOU WILL BE EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED AND DISSATISFIED!! THIS HOTEL IS STRAIGHT TRASH!!
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