Placemakr Downtown Austin — Hotel in Austin

I’m writing this as someone who tried in good faith to work directly with Placemakr Downtown Austin, only to experience one of the most disorganized, dismissive, and deeply distressing stays I’ve ever had—especially as a guest with a disability.

I was initially referred by Placemakr’s own front desk staff to their sales team for a long-term rate. I was offered a $2,150/month studio agreement by a representative named Crystal Kadilis, who confirmed the rate via email and told me to begin booking directly with the front desk while she prepared the agreement. I followed that guidance, paid nearly $1,000 over several days at the property, and made it clear that I was ready to finalize the long-term stay.

Despite this, the sales representative repeatedly delayed finalizing the agreement. Eventually, she reversed course entirely—refusing to honor previous communications, denying the ability to apply those payments toward the agreement, and insisting I pay an entirely new amount or leave.

To make matters worse, I was locked out of my unit despite confirmed payment. I’m autistic and was separated from my legally protected psychiatric service animal, who was trapped inside the room. I was left outside overnight, exhausted and disoriented, trying to show security and front desk staff that I had paid. Instead of helping, one staff member threatened to call the police on me. Only the next morning, with a shift change, was I finally allowed back inside.

I’ve filed formal complaints with the BBB and ADA representatives because what happened wasn’t just poor customer service—it was a failure in accessibility, transparency, and basic human decency.

I want to be clear: some individuals on staff were incredibly kind—Liz at the front desk, housekeeping, and one of the later security guards deserve recognition. But the breakdown in leadership, internal communication, and empathy—especially for vulnerable guests—is unacceptable.

If you’re considering staying here, particularly if you have accessibility needs, value transparency, or expect consistent and humane treatment: stay elsewhere. You deserve better. // This response is disappointingly canned and fails to acknowledge the severity of what actually occurred.

I was locked out of my room after being charged multiple times by your own front desk. These were charges I was explicitly told by your staff would be applied to a forthcoming long-term agreement. I was left outside overnight without access to my belongings or my emotional support animal, despite showing both receipts and real-time proof of payment. I made every attempt to de-escalate and resolve the situation professionally but was met with hostility and threats to call the police. This is not a misunderstanding or a matter of how it felt to me. It was a complete failure in accessibility, communication, and basic human decency.

Your internal disorganization and lack of consistency between the sales team and front desk staff directly led to me being displaced, humiliated, and put at risk. I was actively misled, dismissed, and penalized for trying to transition to a more stable and affordable stay. Your team encouraged that transition and then failed to follow through on it.

Also, your suggestion to “speak with me directly” is disingenuous. You’ve had access to my phone number and have exchanged more than a dozen emails with me over the course of this situation. If your team had any true intention of resolving this through dialogue, you’ve had every opportunity to do so.

What happened was inexcusable, especially for a hospitality company that claims to value inclusivity and accessibility. I have filed formal complaints with the Better Business Bureau, ADA advocates, and relevant housing protection agencies, and I will continue to do so until meaningful accountability is achieved. Your team has...

This is the most unclean place I’ve ever stayed at and to top that off, the management is dishonest and there doesn’t seem to be a corporate headquarters or place to voice concerns above the “hotel supervisor.”

On the first morning of our stay, we discovered a cockroach in the kitchen sink. While we thought it was gross, we washed it down the drain and figured things happened. The second morning, we found another bug crawling in the kitchen sink. We were leaving for a reservation so we washed it down the drain and decided to deal with it when we returned. When we returned, there was an entire colony of ants crawling around my open suitcase on the bedroom floor (they don’t give suitcase stands) and all around the closet, into the hallway and into the bathroom. I even filmed an ant with a crumb in its mouth running towards home base. GROSS!

Management told us that it was normal to have bugs in our room because there’s construction going on. She also told me all the other hotels in the area have the same problem with bug infestations and that they’ve been working with them to try and solve this problem. I called other hotels in the area and not only did they say that wasn’t true, they were appalled that they would ever say something like that.

They also blamed us for part of the issue. Stating if we told them about the first big encounter, the others wouldn’t have happened. We were trying to be understanding guests not making a big deal out of something. But we are at fault? Nice customer service, huh?

There wasn’t another room available for us to move to, so they said they would send someone in to spray the ants and clean after we packed and moved all of our stuff out. She also offered a one night refund to which she sent an email and said it was processed.

When we returned that evening, we found the room appeared to be cleaned, but the dead ants were still all over the floor. Along with this, they discarded all our refrigerated items, including closed beverages. The temperature was also set at 50 degrees so we couldn’t even go back into the room for hours or we’d freeze.

I contacted the main customer service asking to speak to someone about my experience. They responded that they were going to give me a refund which I thought was in addition to the first refund, but after a week, only one was credited back. I reached out to find out where the first refund was and they said that the second one was it and they processed it on the date I spoke with her, which was a lie. She didn’t process anything on the date I reported this issue and if I never contacted customer service, I wouldn’t have received a refund at all. I’ve sent emails back to both the site and customer service and never received another response.

Given the entirety of the situation, I shouldn’t have to pay for a single night. Bugs, uncleanliness, dishonesty is a very bad combo. I don’t usually leave reviews, but this experience is so bad, I had to in hopes to deter others from this same horrifying...

This is the most unclean place I’ve ever stayed at and to top that off, the management is dishonest and there doesn’t seem to be a corporate headquarters or place to voice concerns above the “hotel supervisor.” ||||On the first morning of our stay, we discovered a cockroach in the kitchen sink. While we thought it was gross, we washed it down the drain and figured things happened. The second morning, we found another bug crawling in the kitchen sink. We were leaving for a reservation so we washed it down the drain and decided to deal with it when we returned. When we returned, there was an entire colony of ants crawling around my open suitcase on the bedroom floor (they don’t give suitcase stands) and all around the closet, into the hallway and into the bathroom. I even filmed an ant with a crumb in its mouth running towards home base. GROSS! ||||Management told us that it was normal to have bugs in our room because there’s construction going on. She also told me all the other hotels in the area have the same problem with bug infestations and that they’ve been working with them to try and solve this problem. I called other hotels in the area and not only did they say that wasn’t true, they were appalled that they would ever say something like that. ||||There wasn’t another room available for us yo move to, so they said they would send someone in to spray the ants and clean after we packed and moved all of our stuff out. She also offered a one night refund to which she sent an email and said it was processed. ||||When we returned that evening, we found the room appeared to be cleaned, but the dead ants were still all over the floor. Along with this, they threw out all our refrigerated items, including closed beverages. The temperature was also set at 50 degrees so we couldn’t even go back into the room or we’d freeze. ||||I contacted the main customer service asking to speak to someone about my experience. They responded that they were going to give me a refund which I thought was in addition to the first refund, but after a week, only one was credited back. I reached out to find out where the first refund was and she said that was it and processed on the date I spoke with her, which was a lie. She didn’t process anything on the date I reported this issue and if I never contacted customer service, I wouldn’t have received a refund at all. I’ve sent emails back to both the site and customer service and never received a response. ||||Given the entirety of the situation, I shouldn’t have to pay for a single night. Bugs, uncleanliness, dishonesty is a very bad combo. I don’t usually leave reviews, but this experience is so bad, I had to in hopes to deter others from this same horrifying...