Comfort Inn Blacksburg University Area — Hotel in Blacksburg

Beware of strangers in your assigned room!

We arrived on July 27 about 1.5 hours before normal check in time and asked if our room happened to be ready. Happily, the gal at the front desk said it was, so we got the keys to a 4th floor room, loaded up a cart with our luggage and headed up to our assigned room. I opened the door to find a man sitting in the chair, with feet propped up, watching TV, and some slippers or sandals sitting on the floor in front of the TV. He was as surprised to see me as I was to see him. After we stared at each other in shock for a few seconds, he started to get up and give me a "just a minute" gesture, and I quickly apologized and told him we had been given keys to his room, then quickly closed the door. We went back down to the front desk & told the gal there what happened. She looked concerned, then got us keys to a different room on the 1st floor. After taking our things into the new room, my husband returned the luggage cart and the gal at the desk told him that she and someone else had gone up to check the room and no one was there. She came across to my husband like she didn't believe us that anyone had been in there, and she said we could go back to our originally assigned room if we preferred that one. He reiterated to her that someone was, indeed, in the room when we opened the door. She then told him perhaps we had opened the wrong door. Just think about that comment: Wouldn't it be concerning if a guest's room key could open the doors to multiple rooms?! My husband assured her we had opened the door for our assigned room listed on the electronic key card sleeve. She kept telling him there couldn't possibly be a person in there because they would have to have a key to get into it (ummmm, yeah, and that's why we were concerned). She again told him we could go back to our originally assigned 4th floor room if we wanted it, and my husband told her it would need to be cleaned, first (how do we know the bathroom had not been used by this person?). She stated that when they went up and checked the room and said it was clean, and kept insisting it was empty and no one had been in there. My husband rightfully declined the offer for us to go back to that room, as someone else clearly had access to it. As we went out after getting our things in our new room organized, I stopped at the desk and again reiterated to the gal who checked us in that there absolutely, positively was someone in the room and offered a more detailed description of the man. She seemed at that point to accept that we did see someone in there, but there appeared to be no concern about someone other than us having access to it, much less that person using heavens knows what inside of the room after it had supposedly been cleaned. Thankfully we had no further issues during our stay, but the cavalier attitude of the desk clerk towards people occupying rooms they were not supposed to be in was quite concerning. In hindsight, I suspect the man knew an employee at the hotel, such as a maid, and was given the room to wait in while the employee finished work since I did not see any personal belongings in the room beyond the man's shoes. There is no way we would ever stay at this...

We arrived on July 27 about 1.5 hours before normal check in time and asked if our room happened to be ready. Happily, the gal at the front desk said it was, so we got the keys to a 4th floor room, loaded up a cart with our luggage and headed up to our assigned room. I opened the door to find a man sitting in the chair, with feet propped up, watching TV, and some slippers or sandals sitting on the floor in front of the TV. He was as surprised to see me as I was to see him. After we stared at each other in shock for a few seconds, he started to get up and give me a "just a minute" gesture, and I quickly apologized and told him we had been given keys to his room, then quickly closed the door. We went back down to the front desk & told the gal there what happened. She looked concerned, then got us keys to a different room on the 1st floor. After taking our things into the new room, my husband returned the luggage cart and the gal at the desk told him that she and someone else had gone up to check the room and no one was there. She came across to my husband like she didn't believe us that anyone had been in there, and she said we could go back to our originally assigned room if we preferred that one. He reiterated to her that someone was, indeed, in the room when we opened the door. She then told him perhaps we had opened the wrong door. Just think about that comment: Wouldn't it be concerning if a guest's room key could open the doors to multiple rooms?! My husband assured her we had opened the door for our assigned room listed on the electronic key card sleeve. She kept telling him there couldn't possibly be a person in there because they would have to have a key to get into it (ummmm, yeah, and that's why we were concerned). She again told him we could go back to our originally assigned 4th floor room if we wanted it, and my husband told her it would need to be cleaned, first (how do we know the bathroom had not been used by this person?). She stated that when they went up and checked the room and said it was clean, and kept insisting it was empty and no one had been in there. My husband rightfully declined the offer for us to go back to that room, as someone else clearly had access to it. As we went out after getting our things in our new room organized, I stopped at the desk and again reiterated to the gal who checked us in that there absolutely, positively was someone in the room and offered a more detailed description of the man. She seemed at that point to accept that we did see someone in there, but there appeared to be no concern about someone other than us having access to it, much less that person using heavens knows what inside of the room after it had supposedly been cleaned. Thankfully we had no further issues during our stay, but the cavalier attitude of the desk clerk towards people occupying rooms they were not supposed to be in was quite concerning. In hindsight, I suspect the man knew an employee at the hotel, such as a maid, and was given the room to wait in while the employee finished work since I did not see any personal belongings in the room beyond the man's shoes. There is no way we would ever stay at this...

We were in town because I was going to tour Tech the following morning. We were traveling from Richmond so we'd much rather get some sleep rather than traveling overnight. We chose this hotel because of the proximity to Tech, and decent ratings, and a decent price ($100 a night, tax included). When we checked in, we were greeted with a smile and great hospitality. When we walked into our room... it was very neat and clean. Everything looked brand spanking new. Bathrooms were spotless, and we had a great view of the highway (460 below) and the mountains. Loved the location in regards to several restaurants nearby, and the exit to the 460 expressway to Tech. Bonus: Extra soft pillows! The AC/Heat was excellent and easy to control, and made our room very comfortable. Wifi was blazing fast, and even loved that they provided a coffee brewer in our room. The only sour part was that the coffee that they offered inside our room was rather bitter, but glad that we had the continental breakfast the next morning! We had no disruptions in our sleep and woke up fresh and ready to start the day, Loved that they had a heating lamp, as you stepped out of the shower to keep warm! Heck they even provided soap and shampoo/conditioner! We walked downstairs and the continental breakfast we had was quite delicious with a wide variety of drinks and food provided. We packed up and checkout went without a hitch. We will definitely choose this hotel again should I visit Tech again.

The only downside is that I wished that they offered vending machines on every floor, not just the 1st and 3rd (we were on the 2nd), but we only used it once... so it wasn't something that we absolutely needed.. but it would have certainly been nice.

Overall though this place far exceeded my expectations and I will definitely...