Sleep Inn & Suites at Concord Mills — Attraction in Concord

The reason for our stay was to temporarily escape the devastation caused by hurricane Helene in Asheville, NC, and to give my girlfriend who is nurse a break from working on the front lines. What was supposed to be a relaxing break, ended up being by far and away, the worst hotel experience I, and my girlfriend have ever had.

10/2/2024- Made reservation by calling # found on Google search. Talked to Ruban who was with Choice Hotels. Asked if FEMA vouchers were accepted and was told they were. I provided my voucher/FEMA #(633215298) and asked if the room would be covered at least 6 more times while making reservation and was repeatedly told FEMA was accepted at Sleep Inn at Concord Mills, and the room would be covered. Was asked for credit card # to hold room. Made reservation for 10/3/2024-10/7/2024.

10/3/2024- Checked in to hotel around 9:30PM. Carmella was at the front desk and when I mentioned that I had the reservation made through Ruban and that it was covered by FEMA, she said yes, and that the room was paid for, and that my reservation had my FEMA # noted in their system. She asked for me to swipe my credit card for the $100 security deposit. She then gave me a receipt which showed the $100.00 deposit charge, as well as $397.76 for the room charge. I noticed the $397.76 charge and asked why my card was charged. Carmella was extremely rude and said that she didn't know, but if she refunded the amount, we had to leave. I stated that it was communicated to me through Choice Hotels representative Ruban, that the FEMA vouchers was accepted and that the room should be paid for. Carmella said she didn't know, and when I asked of a manager was on duty, she said no, but one would be there the next morning. We decided to go to our room and talk to the front desk in the morning.

10/4/2024- At approximately 4:45AM the smoke alarm started beeping, disturbing our ESA, and waking us up to a panic. I tried to call down to the front desk, but our room phone wasn't plugged in, nor did it work when I did plug it in, so then I went down to the front desk to notify them of the issue. I was told someone would be up to fix it within 15 minutes. I waited to hear back, and after an hour of waiting I returned to the desk to ask why no one had come to the room yet. Was told they were on the way. Waited another 20 minutes, and asked the front desk again, and finally some one came up to address the issue. The person couldn't figure out the problem, so they ripped the detector off the ceiling to stop the beep, leaving the exposed wires. The alarm was never returned or replaced, therefore, the remainder of our stay was in a room without a smoke detector.

10/4/2024- Went to the front desk around 12:00PM to try and straighten out the FEMA voucher confusion with on-duty manager. Was told it's a Choice Hotels matter and to call them. Called Choice Hotels, and after being on hold multiple times, the representative said I'd have to talk to the front desk about it. Relayed this to the front desk, and was told the same thing again. After another conversation with Choice Hotels, the FEMA voucher and why it wasn't accepted on property but was approved during initial reservation issue was still not resolved, and no reimbursement for anything. Communicated this to management at front desk, and after about 3 hours of phone calls with Choice Hotels and the front desk, nothing had been figured out, and there was still no explanation of the error, and no reimbursement of any kind made.

10/5/2024- Woke up to a fire alarm going off around 9:00AM. Alarm went off for well over 15 minutes, and I couldn't call the front desk because the phone in the room didn't work, and also the smoke detector still hadn't been replaced, BREAKING A FEDERAL LAW, and putting us in potential danger. The alarm was never replaced during our stay, nor was there ever any communication about it.

10/5/2024- Left room for a few hours. Asked the front desk if we could have housekeeping come to our room while we were gone to change bed linens and clean the bathroom. When we returned to our room hours later, the bed linens had not been changed. There were fresh towels, but that was it, as far as what we requested. We also noticed that housekeeping took our soap that was being used, and didn't leave us any new soap. Went down to the front desk to ask about the bed linens, and Carmella said that she had had problems since she started her shift. She said housekeeping couldn't get to our floor because the elevator was...

“Nightmare after Hurricane Helene“ The reason for our stay was to temporarily escape the devastation caused by hurricane Helene in Asheville, NC, and to give my girlfriend who is a nurse a break from working on the front lines. What was supposed to be a relaxing break, ended up being by far and away, the worst hotel experience I, and my girlfriend have ever had.

•10/2/2024- Made reservation by calling # found on Google search. Talked to Ruben who was with Choice Hotels. Asked if FEMA vouchers were accepted and was told they were. I provided my voucher/FEMA # and asked if the room would be covered at least 6 more times while making the reservation and was repeatedly told FEMA was accepted at Sleep Inn at Concord Mills, and the room would be covered. Was asked for a credit card # to hold the room. Made a reservation for 10/3/2024-10/7/2024.

•10/3/2024- Checked in to hotel around 9:30PM. Carmella was at the front desk and when I mentioned that I had the reservation made through Ruben and that it was covered by FEMA, she said yes, and that the room was paid for, and that my reservation had my FEMA # noted in their system. She asked for me to swipe my credit card for the $100 security deposit. She then gave me a receipt which showed the $100.00 deposit charge, as well as $397.76 for the room charge. I noticed the $397.76 charge and asked why my card was charged. Carmella was extremely rude and said that she didn't know, but if she refunded the amount, we had to leave. I stated that it was communicated to me through Choice Hotels representative Ruben, that the FEMA voucher was accepted and that the room should be paid for. Carmella said she didn't know, and when I asked if a manager was on duty, she said no, but one would be there the next morning. We decided to go to our room and talk to the front desk in the morning.

•10/4/2024- At approximately 4:45AM the smoke alarm started beeping, disturbing our ESA, and waking us up to a panic. I tried to call down to the front desk, but our room phone wasn't plugged in, nor did it work when I did plug it in, so then I went down to the front desk to notify them of the issue. I was told someone would be up to fix it within 15 minutes. After an hour of waiting I returned to the desk to ask why no one had come to the room yet. Was told they were on the way. Waited another 20 minutes, and asked the front desk again, and finally some one came up to address the issue. The person couldn't figure out the problem, so they ripped the detector off the ceiling to stop the beep, leaving the exposed wires. The alarm was never returned or replaced.

•10/4/2024- Went to the front desk around 12:00PM to try and straighten out the FEMA voucher confusion with on-duty manager. Was told it's a Choice Hotels matter and to call them. Called Choice Hotels, and after being on hold multiple times, the representative said I'd have to talk to the front desk about it. Relayed this to the front desk, and was told the same thing again. After another conversation with Choice Hotels, the FEMA voucher and why it wasn't accepted on property but was approved during initial reservation issue was still not resolved, and no reimbursement for anything. Communicated this to management at front desk, and after about 3 hours of phone calls with Choice Hotels and the front desk, nothing had been figured out, and there was still no explanation of the error, and no reimbursement of any kind made.

•10/5/2024- Woke up to a fire alarm going off around 9:00AM. Alarm went off for well over 15 minutes, and I couldn't call the front desk because the phone in the room didn't work, and also the smoke detector still hadn't been replaced, BREAKING A FEDERAL LAW, and putting us in potential danger. The alarm was never replaced during our stay, nor was there ever any communication about it.

•10/5/2024- Left room for a few hours. Asked the front desk if we could have housekeeping come to our room while we were gone. Didn't happen. We checked out a day early the following morning because we just couldn't...

Room Condition: Our room seemed relatively clean minus walls and doors that hadn't been wiped down prior to our occupation of the room and stains on the furniture (we stayed in a 2Bd 2 Bth suite). The room also needed some minor repair to broken tile work at the base of the shower that had some mold growth due to exposure to moisture over time. The plastic "cold" top on the cold faucet consistently popped out when manipulating the faucet.

Staff Service: The staff member preparing and serving continental breakfast (I believe his name is Ra-king or Rakeem?), was excellent in his service (e.g., counters were kept clean, foods were kept plentifully stocked, the breakfast area, tables, and floors were kept free of trash, hot foods were hot and freshly stocked) and was warm and professional in appearance and demeanor.

The on-duty front desk attendant, Clarisse, displayed a warm smile and used a warm tone of voice. Even so, she left the front desk and sat outside with other individuals who were smoking (unsure if they were guests, friends or other employees-they were not uniformed) under the awning/overhang where guests arrive.

The lobby entrance and elevator frequently smelled like marijuana.

During a time when I left the hotel and attempted to call to let my daughter know I was running behind, I called six times, no one answered the phone. When I returned, I found the front desk attendant, Clarisse, sitting outside under the awning conversing with other individuals who were smoking. I had to ask her if there was an attendant on duty, she said that it was her, and I then made a request to checkout. I will acknowledge that though she displayed a lack of professionalism by neglecting her duty, she maintained a pleasant attitude.

Food quality: Some fresh fruits were served such as apples and bananas. Would've appreciated more healthier options (e.g., granola bars, whole grain bread options).

Hotel Maintenance: Regarding overall maintenance and upkeep of the hotel, the area behind the front desk to the right of the desk has a wall that is badly scraped and the paint/wooded is very damaged. I had a negative impression hotel management's care for the building as a result of this observation. The pool was also cloudy and green.

Effectiveness of Management: With regard to overall organization and efficiency with which the hotel is run by management/front desk staff, there was an incident that gave me the impression that there may be a lack of organization and efficiency. Upon check-in, I returned downstairs to go to my car for additional luggage and overheard guests that checked in after stating they checked in to a room that was already being occupied by other guests. I was walking by when they returned to the front desk to notify Clarisse, the front desk attendant.

Overall Impressions: Overall, our stay was pleasant: absent of excessive noise from other guests, generally clean and well-kept, great beds and a pleasant continental breakfast at an ok rate. I chose Sleep Inn due to having really great experiences with them (Choice Hotels) in the past; I've know these hotels to be very nice (i.e., clean, modern but not high-end amenity, decent continental breakfast options, very professional staff, and smoke-free environments). Unfortunately, my most recent stay at this particular location in Concord, NC wasn't the best and wasn't reflective of who I've know Choice Hotels to be. I will give it another try in the future as I hope that the experience will be...