I have traveled all over the country and many parts of the world and have stayed in all varieties of lodging facilities. I am not a picky traveler. Give me a roof over my head, a decent bed, a clean/smoke-free room and I'm happy. I booked a room for a week while visiting family in the Brandon area. I had called the day before my arrival to find out about check in and check out times. Check in was quoted as 11 am, while check out was noon. I thought this was odd, but I figured being extended stay, they must have a lot of empty rooms.
When I arrived, I arrived just after noon. My room, I was told, would not be ready for several hours. The manager, Andrea, told us we could "simply" go to the mall just up the road, which would have been lovely had I had a car to use.
I received a phone call at nearly 3 pm from the hotel. They did not leave a message or try to call back. I called the number and was told that my room was now ready.
We arrived at roughly 4 pm (after inconveniencing someone to shuttle us back and forth to their home that was 15 miles away). I went up to the room and it smelled AWFUL. Smoke-free is definitely a misnomer, and it wasn't cigarette smoke I was smelling. I went back down to the office (there is no lobby here, by the way) and let them know that the room smelled horrible and she said she could "send someone up Monday to take a look". It was Saturday. My ride had to get back home, so I said fine and we unpacked. Then I noticed another issue.
Now, when I booked the room, the idea of an extended stay hotel was appealing because I planned to cook while there. First things first, do not come thinking you can cook unless you bring your OWN kitchenware! I have never heard of an extended stay facility that does not provide these items to their guests in the room. I arrived and there were no pots and pans...nothing I could use to make meals. The website specified that it was just a 2 burner stovetop, so I was prepared for that. I had to borrow cookware from the family I came to visit.
Monday came and a guy with a vacuum came to my room and said "I was told there was something wrong with your carpets". My room smells like a Cheech and Chong movie convention and I don't think a vacuum is going to help. We did, however, find out that there are no screens on the windows when airing out the room. Fun fact.
Fast forward to Thursday morning around 7 am. I left the room with my 7 year old to wait for a ride only to find out that our ride was running pretty late. I went back up to the room only to find that my key did not work. I called the after hours number posted at the office (office hours are 9 am - 7pm during the week - they are closed on Sunday so forget about any assistance on Sundays) and left a message. I never received a call back. We were locked out of the room. I got my key fixed (the magnet had become demagnetized, apparently) finally around 10 am after I left and came back.
Fast forward to check out time. Check out time is at noon. I was unloading items from my room into the car and went back up for the refrigerator contents at 11:50. My key again did not work. I went to the office and informed Andrea that the key again did not work. She said "well, it's noon now, so the keys are turned off at checkout time". The clock in their lobby said it was noon, however it was 5 minutes before noon and it had been 11:50 when I attempted to enter my room to get the remaining items. My ride was present with me at this time. Now, I work in customer service and I know that there is an appropriate, pleasant way to speak to customers when you are dealing with an "issue". Her response was neither polite nor professional. She said "well, it's noon NOW". I was thinking to myself about the inconvenience I had experienced at check in and that they technically "owed me" 3 hours, but I let it go. It was not worth the trouble of dealing with the rude staff for another minute. My ride commented when we left "this place obviously does not know the meaning of customer service", which could not have been more true.
Last but not least, the linens and pillows...the pillows are coated in some weird vinyl material and the cheap pillowcases used don't stay on the pillows as a result. The towels are an absolute joke. They are tiny, scratchy, and you can see right through them (not even kidding). They do not provide extra towels and you have to wash them during your stay. They only replace bedding. Our bedspread was littered with cigarette burns.
I have to say that of all of the places I have stayed in my 36 years on this earth, this place by far takes the cake for worst hotel experience. I once stayed in a hotel near Disneyland that was doing renovations in our room WHILE WE WERE THERE and it was still better than this. Do NOT stay at this place. There is definitely a reason the rooms are $299/week (and that's a pretty normal rate for a decent extended stay facility). The room was extremely small to boot!
Lastly, if you do not have a car, there is NOTHING within walking distance. No restaurants, no shopping, no nothing.