Days Inn by Wyndham Altavista — Hotel in Altavista

I always try to find the good in a place where I stay. I have worked in many hotels so I know what many of the day to day problems are and what the staff have to deal with. Generally I understand what is in and out of their control and I feel bad complaining because I know what the person at the front desk feels like, having worked that position many times before. However the issues we experienced are obviously long term problems that have undoubtedly been brought to their attention many times just by the severity of them, they're not new issues I'm sure.

We stayed 3 nights. The first night we checked into a room that smelled musty, like a room full of wet towels or wet carpet that had been sitting a long time. That's exactly what the issue was. The AC/heater unit at the window was somehow dripping into the room instead of outside, and the carpet on that side of the room was damp, and actually soaking wet closer to the window. It stunk. I called the front desk to report this and simply ask if there was another room we could move to (same room type is fine, I'm not looking for an upgrade or compensation). The gentleman at the desk said that's normal because of the weather and gave us a bottle of Lysol to spray in the room to combat the smell. It didn't help. The carpet in this room had red stains blotched here and there, I wasn't sure if it was paint, juice or blood.

Through the second day the smell did not go away, it seemed to be getting worse, and the carpet was still very damp and wet. This time we insisted that we move rooms, and this time they allowed us to. The new room (the exact same type and layout) smelled better but had it's own issues. The bathroom had mould on the walls and ceiling, and the showerhead was very rusty and corroded.

Breakfast at this hotel is included with your stay but left a lot to be desired. I wasn't expecting much because I know it's only a continental breakfast, however when we arrived to eat there was still about an hour left of breakfast service and most of the items were gone and not refilled or replaced, and there were crumbs and scraps of food all over the counters. We didn't eat much, and didn't bother with breakfast the next 2 mornings. The coffee however (at breakfast), was quite good.

The hotel seems to be located in an area where cell phone signal is very bad. I was only able to make a few calls and data was very limited. Due to this fact, I was happy the hotel offered free WIFI, but the connection was so weak that if you managed to connect at all you couldn't browse to anything. It's 2018 and internet is an essential service. Hotels should be upgrading their infrastructure to offer reliable internet. It's not a perk anymore, it's just expected. Without this, this hotel really is in a dead zone.

At check-in I was not asked to sign anything and they did not confirm the rate or departure date with me. During my stay my key stopped working and I needed to get a new card programmed. I explained and told them the room number. The person at the desk made a new key for me right away without confirming any of my details, leading me to think it would be very easy for someone to get a key to any room if they simply asked. This process made me feel very uneasy.

I'm not sure I would...

BEWARE IF YOU BOOK THROUGH EXPEDIA!!!!

If I could give NEGATIVE stars, I absolutely would! Now as a disclaimer, I did not get a chance to stay at this hotel. This was due to their shady booking practices.

I booked several rooms through Expedia for family members so they can have a place to stay for graduation next week. When I made the initial booking A MONTH AGO, I chose the pay later option, because I knew I had to collect money from everyone so I could pay at checkout since it was under my name. According to Expedia's policy, no money would be charged to my card before checkout; the exception would be if I did not cancel the reservation in time, which is what I am typically used with many other reputable hotels.

About nine days prior to my stay there, I was charged the full amount of the reservation for all four rooms that I booked. After confirming my cancellation policy did not take affect until the evening prior, I immediately contracted the hotel. Raj, the representative, informed me that Expedia had changed their policy to allow hotels to charge guests 10 days in advance advance for the full amount prior to you getting there as confirmation that you will keeping your reservation (or insurance that you will not cancel at the last minute). So of course I called Expedia to confirm this, which...big shock...was a BIG FAT LIE!!!! It's Days Inn's policy, not Expedia, which I explained to them I was not aware of because it wasn't included in the booking information; had I have been aware of this, I would have absolutely NOT BOOKED THIS HOTEL.

What angers me the most is that we are talking about a Days Inn. Not a Hilton, not a Sheraton, Westin or Marriott....a 2-star Days ...Inn...Hotel.

Long story short, I am waiting for my refund from them, and have vowed to NEVER patron a days inn as long as I can help it. My advice to everyone is to double check the hotels policy as well so you don't run into this issue. Better yet, bypass these shady jerks and only deal with...

Worst hotel experience of my life. My wife and I reserved a room online the same day we were going to stay. We were at a wedding rehearsal, so we came in about 1:30 AM. Upon arrival, there was no one at the front desk. We called the phone number left on the front desk to get ahold of someone, and no one responded.

We kept calling, and it kept ringing. For almost thirty minutes.

There was a number for the general manager on the front desk, which we called about 20 minutes in. The phone number went to a guest's room. The guest was unhappy, understandably.

We finally left, weirded out and uncomfortable. There was a conference happening in town, so almost every hotel was booked up. We just so happened to get into another hotel someone hadn't shown up for a room at.

The story continues. I called the hotel the next morning to get a refund, and the gentleman, who I believe was the general manager himself, told me he could not reimburse me until he "investigated" the problem. I would have to wait 24 hours.

He lastly went on to tell me that there is "no way" that phone number could have gone to a guest's room, insinuating that I was lying.

I am still in the 24 hour waiting period, and have contacted corporate opening an account. My wife and I are still college students and have a very limited budget, so this whole thing has been a huge pain. We had to drive another 30 minutes and eventually got into a room at 2:30AM.

Again, worst experience ever.

UPDATE

The general manager got back to me within 2 hours of contacting them, had reviewed the security tapes, and apologized. He said it was very embarrassing for them and he had already processed my refund. He also offered us a jacuzzi sweet free of charge if I was still in town another night. My wife and I most likely won't use it, but the thought was nice. We changed this review from a one start to a three due to the...