For Love of the Best of All Books
4 years ago
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Our stay at Ramada Limited North Austin...
here is the letter I sent to Ramada... no reply as of yet...
To Ramada:
This hotel was absolutely unacceptible. When we arrived, the exterior condition of the hotel looked terrible. It looked as if it were under renovation, but I couldn't tell what part was supposed to be new/old... it all looked old, unsafe, and very uninviting. Upon entering the hotel, there was very loud music. Apparently, a local church was using one of the large rooms and having a service. No one in the hotel would have been able to relax due to the volume of this event. Then I made my way to the front desk. The attendant (Francis) could not find our reservation. After doing some research, she found the reservation thru hotels.com, but stated that no one moved it in to their local computer system. With very little explanation of what to expect or how the situation would be resolved, she went ahead and gave us a room key and proceeded to show me approximately where my room was on the hotel map. At this point, I had not been told what my room # was. When I asked, she said she couldn't tell me b/c it was a security violation. At the very least, she should have informed me of where I could *find* my room # so I would know which room I was looking for on the map. At this point, we drove around the hotel (seeing even more of the disgusting exterior). The "landmark" (green awning) that was supposed to be over our entry door was non-existent (proving the hotel staff is not knowledgeable). Also, there was a handicap ramp that would allow access up to the sidewalk; however, the ramp did not continue up to the door. Anyone who is handicap would have to go up 2-3 steps at this point. The entry door looked very unsecure; although it did require a key-card to enter. I would also like to point out that we had 2 keys; neither of which we new the function. After struggling w/ luggage and the keys, we made it inside only to be greeted once again by the loud music and a terrible smell. The hallways smelled like B.O. that someone tried to cover up w/ bad perfume/cleaner. Then we went to our room. The room was very small and did not have the amenities listed on the website (I realize this is the fault of the website, but it was all part of the inconvenience). The room had the same terrible smell as the hallway and the walls were not clean. I was very hesitant to set my belongings anywhere for fear of the room not being clean; and I also did not want to lay on the bed for the same reason. What really pushed the whole situation over the edge and was the worst of all was the bathroom. After turning on the light switch (which was upside down), we immediately noticed there was MOLD all over the bathroom walls. This is UNSAFE to be exposed to and I will NEVER subject my family to this type of environment. Especially when I am paying $70 for one night's stay. At this point we immediately went back to the front desk and demanded our money back. The attendant (same lady: Francis) didn't remember who we were and asked if we had checked in (reminder: we had just checked in no more than 10 minutes prior!!). At this, she went back to the computer where she had found our online reservation and proceeded to tell us that there was no payment information and that the room had not been paid for. This was NOT true, as we had been charged by the website soon after making the online reservation. I asked the attendant if she could provide me w/ a written statement showing we did not have to pay for the room based on her not showing any payment made. At this point she simply walked away w/out saying anything. She made a phone call to someone, then came back to the front desk. She pointed to the computer monitor where she had found the reservation, and proceeded to have me verify the information on the screen. Since it was to far away for me to see, she read the information aloud (name, address, etc). For a company that is SO concerned about privacy that they won't even tell their guests what room they are staying in, this TOTALLY violated all HIPAA regulations and is, again, absolutely UNACCEPTABLE!) The attendant also obviously had little (to no) experience w/ this system information. The address was not our home address. As it turns out (after a detailed explanation) it was the address of the processing center for the website; which is totally irrelevant and was a waste of our time to try and explain all the specifics of how the information was obtained. It only frustrated me even more. At this point, we were told we would just have to take up the matter of reimbursement w/ the website. Just FYI, I have already followed up w/ hotels.com and am waiting for a reply. However, I feel hotels.com should not be liable for this situation. I only contacted them so they can consider removing your location from their website; or at the very least, post a negative rating so others won't have to experience the same thing. Your hotel was unsafe and disgusting; and the staff was very unknowledgeable and unprofessional. No one should be subjected to this type of environment. Please contact me by any means necessary. I want to know what will be done to rectify this situation. If I do not have a reply w/in the week, I will escalate this further.
Thank You.
Daniel Julian
To Ramada:
This hotel was absolutely unacceptible. When we arrived, the exterior condition of the hotel looked terrible. It looked as if it were under renovation, but I couldn't tell what part was supposed to be new/old... it all looked old, unsafe, and very uninviting. Upon entering the hotel, there was very loud music. Apparently, a local church was using one of the large rooms and having a service. No one in the hotel would have been able to relax due to the volume of this event. Then I made my way to the front desk. The attendant (Francis) could not find our reservation. After doing some research, she found the reservation thru hotels.com, but stated that no one moved it in to their local computer system. With very little explanation of what to expect or how the situation would be resolved, she went ahead and gave us a room key and proceeded to show me approximately where my room was on the hotel map. At this point, I had not been told what my room # was. When I asked, she said she couldn't tell me b/c it was a security violation. At the very least, she should have informed me of where I could *find* my room # so I would know which room I was looking for on the map. At this point, we drove around the hotel (seeing even more of the disgusting exterior). The "landmark" (green awning) that was supposed to be over our entry door was non-existent (proving the hotel staff is not knowledgeable). Also, there was a handicap ramp that would allow access up to the sidewalk; however, the ramp did not continue up to the door. Anyone who is handicap would have to go up 2-3 steps at this point. The entry door looked very unsecure; although it did require a key-card to enter. I would also like to point out that we had 2 keys; neither of which we new the function. After struggling w/ luggage and the keys, we made it inside only to be greeted once again by the loud music and a terrible smell. The hallways smelled like B.O. that someone tried to cover up w/ bad perfume/cleaner. Then we went to our room. The room was very small and did not have the amenities listed on the website (I realize this is the fault of the website, but it was all part of the inconvenience). The room had the same terrible smell as the hallway and the walls were not clean. I was very hesitant to set my belongings anywhere for fear of the room not being clean; and I also did not want to lay on the bed for the same reason. What really pushed the whole situation over the edge and was the worst of all was the bathroom. After turning on the light switch (which was upside down), we immediately noticed there was MOLD all over the bathroom walls. This is UNSAFE to be exposed to and I will NEVER subject my family to this type of environment. Especially when I am paying $70 for one night's stay. At this point we immediately went back to the front desk and demanded our money back. The attendant (same lady: Francis) didn't remember who we were and asked if we had checked in (reminder: we had just checked in no more than 10 minutes prior!!). At this, she went back to the computer where she had found our online reservation and proceeded to tell us that there was no payment information and that the room had not been paid for. This was NOT true, as we had been charged by the website soon after making the online reservation. I asked the attendant if she could provide me w/ a written statement showing we did not have to pay for the room based on her not showing any payment made. At this point she simply walked away w/out saying anything. She made a phone call to someone, then came back to the front desk. She pointed to the computer monitor where she had found the reservation, and proceeded to have me verify the information on the screen. Since it was to far away for me to see, she read the information aloud (name, address, etc). For a company that is SO concerned about privacy that they won't even tell their guests what room they are staying in, this TOTALLY violated all HIPAA regulations and is, again, absolutely UNACCEPTABLE!) The attendant also obviously had little (to no) experience w/ this system information. The address was not our home address. As it turns out (after a detailed explanation) it was the address of the processing center for the website; which is totally irrelevant and was a waste of our time to try and explain all the specifics of how the information was obtained. It only frustrated me even more. At this point, we were told we would just have to take up the matter of reimbursement w/ the website. Just FYI, I have already followed up w/ hotels.com and am waiting for a reply. However, I feel hotels.com should not be liable for this situation. I only contacted them so they can consider removing your location from their website; or at the very least, post a negative rating so others won't have to experience the same thing. Your hotel was unsafe and disgusting; and the staff was very unknowledgeable and unprofessional. No one should be subjected to this type of environment. Please contact me by any means necessary. I want to know what will be done to rectify this situation. If I do not have a reply w/in the week, I will escalate this further.
Thank You.
Daniel Julian
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