Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Bellevue — Hotel in Bellevue

Only a few months back in February 2023, the front desk staff at the Embassy Suites Bellevue was welcoming, warm, pleasant, and cheerful, and a not-so-early check-in before 1PM was not an issue even though I booked through a third-party website back then. Forward to November 2023, the front desk staff is cold, nonchalant, and lacking communication skills, and they charge $25 + tax for early check-in despite direct booking on the Hilton website.||||When I arrived for check-in at 12:30PM, Rosa did not waste time to point out that the hotel's check-in time is 4PM and an early check in fee of $25 applies (which she failed to disclose is also taxable and is not on the list of check-in/check-out charges on the hotel's website). After telling Rosa a short story of the stellar experience I had at the same hotel just a few months ago and the best practices of other hotels in the area, I thought I had convinced her to let me check in early without a fee especially considering, also according to Rosa, that early complimentary check in starts at 2PM anyway and that the same early check-in fee of $25 applies for check ins as early as 10AM (so I thought who in their right mind will pay or expect to be paid $25 for a relatively minimal wait). As soon as Rosa gave me the keys, off I went, without any explanation from her of the incidentals charge or hold on my credit card. If one cannot communicate effectively, one should not be in customer service, much more be a so-called front desk manager. Only after checking the pending charges on my credit card and checking later that night with Neil, another unhelpful front desk staff, did I realize that Rosa charged me an early check in fee without my express consent. Is this fraud or simply lack of effective communication by Rosa? I will certainly dispute this charge even with my credit card company if need be.||||And on to another entitled staff. Neil, the night front desk staff, kept claiming I was rude because I complained to him about the charge, insisted that email of managerial level personnel should be readily available to guests, and that he should try printing my folio first before reasoning out that he might not be able to print the folio because he is still on training. Neil even refused to print the folio for me at one point because, according to him, I was being rude and that I should not tell him how to do his job because he never told me how I should do my job. What Neil failed to realize is that I am the paying guest who expects a certain level of deliverables. Clearly I was upset about the whole situation, but I was not rude to him. He took my venting about Rosa too pesonal! Thank God, I started recording. If you have to record hotel staff just so we know who is telling the truth, it's really bad times we're living in.||||And to you dear GM, I have seen you respond to complaints about the early check-in fee and rudeness of your staff on this forum, how about try to rectify the situation rather than claiming to simply have an understanding of your guests' complaints?||||Ladies and gentlemen reading this, I am in Bellevue every couple of months and it's a shame that the Silver Cloud next door changed brands but the Hyatt House down the street is a very good bet - free parking ($15 at Embassy), staff strives to give you a wonderful experience all-around, and they won't nickel-and-dime you there for an early check-in. The Marriott brands are great also if they aren't so expensive.||||At Embassy Suites Bellevue, they would rather have guests waiting and snoozing at the lobby before the management's red line check-in time rather than let them have a relaxing time checked in their rooms after many of these guests had a long day of travel. Where is the hospitality? The Hilton in Downtown Bellevue has the same bad customer service mantra as Embassy Suites, both of them being Hilton brands. After learning of the $25 early check in fee at the Hilton, I never reconsidered staying there again. No wonder why the Hilton consistently sells their rooms at a deep discount on Priceline and Hotwire. I hope Embassy Suites suffer the same fate until management is treated to a rude awakening.||||I hope many of you guys who feel being shortchanged by these hotels and staff despite skyrocketing room rates alongside service cuts will continue to speak up. We are not rude, we are just fed up of being taken...

I have always stay at Marriott brands and since I am an Amex Platinum member and was upgraded to Gold at The Hilton so I thought let's give this a shot.

As mentioned, I am am Amex member so I typically book all my travels through Amex travel or concierge - And for those you don't know, Amex travel partners eith Expedia so when you book through Amex travel, it shows in their system as Expedia. When you book through Amex, it asks you all the guests names including infants. I also wrote a note that I will be bringing my small dogs with me therefor we need pet friendly room and we are aware of the fees etc.

I opted in for digital key that was sent to my hilton app earlier in the day.. when we arrived, I went to front desk to ask about parking whether I am going to need a Pass.. then the Gentleman asked me what my name was etc.. and there was a Lady that saw my dogs with my wife and seemed so surprised.. she was like, oH, you have dogs, there will be extra charges and etc. And my wife told her that yes we are aware of them. Why was she seem so surprised? Maybe next time you need to read notes so maybe you won't be so surprised?

When we enter the room, my toddler immediately took off her shoes and started running around in the room.. about 30 mins later, we noticed that her feet were dirty.. ( mind you, we were driving all day and we had not been anywhere except the car and a gas station and my wife and her were in the car all the time ). Then my wife checked hers and hers were also dirty then I checked mine, mine were also dirty. So took paper towel from the car and I wiped the floor/tile by the kitchen and bathroom and boom.. dirty. Not filthy but dirty. It tells me that either this room havent been occupied in a while or theg just never mop. Our suite has a balcony and the balcony is filthy.. absolutely filthy. I don't know what the point of a balcony when I cant even enjoy being there when it is sooo dirty.

As a Gold member, I was supposed to get Free Bottled Water and Snacks.. that is what the app says.. but i could not find them anywhere. I messaged the hotel via app.. no one answered. So I called.. the Gentleman told me that since I booked my stay with "expedia" i will not be getting free bottled water and snacks. I asked why? Because you did not book it directly. I then told him I don't think I have to book directly because that is my benefits/perks as being a gold and I also ask where does it say that I have to book directly to get the free water? He then said It should say somewhere there. Where?? At rhat point i just did not want to argue over 2 bottled water but it bother me so much so I had to find out. I read the fine prints and everywhere I could find and i still could not find any prints says I MUST book my room directly not through 3rd party. I sometimes don't understand why people hate 3rd party so much? When you book through 3rd party, it's always like you are an alien or something.

I am here with my wife, my toddler, infant and 2 dogs until Thursday. I booked thd 1 king suite with sofa bed. I normally sleep in the sofa bed because my wife loves king size bed and when we stay at hotels, kids are with her. So no room for me. And this sofa bed is horrible. The most uncomfortable bed I have ever sleeping on. I mean normally sofa beds are uncomfortable but this is just beyond bed. No words for it. I folded it back and I now am sleeping on it. I am seriously thinking of calling my concierge tomorrow to see if i can get out of here before my original check out date on Thur aug 31. Only good thing about this hotel is the look of the common area. Look gorgeous and has the welcoming feel to it. Oh and maybe the pool.. small but good enough for my toddler. Pool is one of the reasons why we booked this hotel.

I can tell you this.. i do not give a dang if I have gold membership with Hilton or not but I am NOT coming back to any Hilton ever. Just as simple as giving out 2 dang bottled water you can't even honor that.

Oh they do not even tell you what time and where breakfast is...

Update as of 8/5: still haven’t heard directly from the hotel management. Still have not received a refund for any nights. Called Hilton Care and Kelsha couldn’t help us because the Bellevue mgr was not in until 9am and said to call back. A friend of mine received 50k points for the hassle but no refund yet. Hoping to get this resolved today.

Update as of 7/29: still haven’t heard directly from the hotel. I called Monday morn to confirm that we would be refunded for the entire 3 nights that I had prepaid for and spoke to Pamela. Stated that I would only be refunded 2 nights since the water was fixed by Sunday. Did they think that I would come back to their hotel when the issue was fixed after it took me 3 hours to find another hotel? She said she would fix it and refund me but all I received was my $75 incidental charge. She was not very nice and was reluctant to help. I then called today 7/29 to confirm I would receive my full refund and apparently because I purchased an “Advanced Purchase” I had to connect with them and retell my story for the 4th or 5th time for them to tell me it was in the hands of the Embassy Suites since they were already paid. Long story short, I still have no resolution or confirmation that I will be refunded for all 3 nights. (I was told the hotel was going to refund me for 2 nights but not the 3rd night because the water issue was resolved on Sunday and so I had to open a case and the operator had to add notes for an add’l refund for my 3rd night. I am really hoping they will rectify this situation soon and compensate me and my friends for all of the stress and wasted time we are still gong through.

Checked in on Friday, 7/25 for a 3 night stay which was booked months ago. Come to find out there was no working water in the entire hotel. Front desk implied it will be fixed some time that day. So we went about our day and left the hotel to explore. We arrive back to our hotel around 5pm and the water is still not back. Trying to be patient we freshen up with what we had and went to dinner. When we got back around 11pm the water is still not working. At this point we are stressed out and trying to find another hotel. The weekend is booked because of concerts happening in the area. We are going on 8+ hours from a flight without any running water. We are having to wash hands, brush teeth, wash face with bottles of water. Some supplied at front desk and some we purchased. Using the toilet to go #1 without flushing over and over. Pretty disgusting but didn’t have any other choice. In the morning we discovered there were porta potties but no one told us. A few signs were posted but not very visible and why weren’t they delivered the previous evening when there wasn’t any working toilets to be found. No breakfast, no manager reception, nothing. Again went to speak with the front desk and again they couldn’t really give us any definitive answers. I felt really bad for Ives and Cathy who were trying to take care of the complaining guests with no signs of management/leadership to be found. (Jennifer is the General Mgr) You would think with this big of a problem, management would be visible and would address their guests personally. But I saw no accountability and still waiting to hear back on how we will be compensated for this mess. We were lucky to have found another hotel to accommodate 4 rooms for my friends and I so we left. I hope to hear from Embassy Suites soon and hope to see my refund and additional compensation for the inconvenience and stress we had to deal with. I am so disappointed on how this was dealt with the hotel and mgmt. I hope they are better equipped to handle these types of situations in the future and really show empathy to their guests. I am really hoping for a response and resolution very soon. This could have ended very badly if a fire would have broke out and the fire sprinklers were not up to code. Another thing to think about is were we placed in a knowingly unsafe situation??? Should we have been allowed to check in...