Comfort Suites Boone - University Area — Hotel in Boone

I can see a vision of the time when Comfort Suites in Boone was an excellent hotel. Alas, that time appears to be in the past. We stayed five nights, March 12-March 16, 2024. Although our stay was, for the most part, pleasant, some nagging frustrations and observations put a big damper on it.||On our first evening, I stepped into the tub for a shower, only to discover the large shampoo bottle mounted on the end wall of the tub surround was completely empty. I subsequently took the empty bottle to the front desk and asked for another. "I don't even know why this bottle was there," exclaimed the gentleman staffing the front. He went into the back room and promptly returned with three minuscule bottles of cheap shampoo--hardly enough for thick-haired guests anticipating almost a week's stay. ||Also on our first evening, I discovered the sink faucet lacked an aerator, resulting, of course, in a wild, unrestricted splattering of water. I immediately put my pants back on and strolled down to the front desk to report the problem. The friendly front desk gentleman immediately reached for a work order and promised he would submit it to maintenance right away. After we returned to the hotel on March 13 from our day's activities, the first thing I did was check the faucet. I was met with a wild, unrestricted splattering of water, prompting me to return to the front desk to check the status of the work order. The friendly young lady shuffled through some paper, found the work order, and reported that the maintenance man wasn't there that day. "Well, let's get this taken care of as soon as possible," I urged. March 14 dawned, and we once again set off for a long day of activity. When we returned to the hotel late that evening, I washed my hands in wild, unrestricted, splattering water. This time, the front desk lady reported that the maintenance man was, in fact, on vacation all week. "I can insert the aerator myself if you happen to have one," I pleaded. She disappeared down the hall and returned some minutes later empty-handed. Apparently, she tried in vain to remove an aerator from a vacant room's faucet. To her credit, she offered to move us to a different room, but we were completely unpacked with our clothes in the closet and in drawers, our espresso machine and Waterpik hooked up, our drinks and restaurant leftovers in the fridge, etc. We were entrenched. Moving was not an option. I gave up. One of the last things I did on our stay on the morning of March 17 (day 6) was to rinse out our espresso equipment in a wild, unrestricted splattering of water.||I suppose maintenance issues can be problematic in an aging facility. Moving in with the luggage cart was a big challenge with front glass doors that didn't automatically open. I had to back through and move with vigor to keep the doors from closing on the packed cart. When I reported the problem, front desk personnel indicated they hoped to have the doors fixed soon. Surely enough, the problem seemed to be corrected on day two, but on day three, they once again did not work. Fortunately, this was only a minor inconvenience.||A bigger inconvenience was the non-working ice machine on the first floor, which necessitated trudging up the nearby stairs to the second floor machine. I wanted a bit of ice only on the evening of day one and the morning of day six. Obviously, the machine was inoperable for the entire week.||These issues probably caused me to look more carefully at other small things than I otherwise would have, and I noticed the place, in general, looked a bit tired. I got the distinct impression that it is a hotel in decline. It's not bad, mind you, but the signs are there. To add insult to injury, and this really IS a minor thing, one evening a load of mulch was piled into my favorite parking place. SIGH But by the end of the next day, it was gone, and the landscaping looked fresh. Also on the positive side, the free breakfasts were generally quite good, and the selection of items changed just enough each day to prevent boredom in our multi-day visit.||We chose the Comfort Suites for two reasons: 1) Because of a promotion offering four nights for the price of three, it was a bit cheaper than other suite hotels in the area, and 2) I was accumulating points in my Choice Hotels loyalty account for a free night on our drive home. This was offset more than a bit by gouging the hell out of us when I extended our stay one night on a Saturday, when the nightly cost doubled. That was both unnecessary and rude because the demand obviously didn't really justify it.||On the whole, our stay was actually good. The location was excellent, and the one-room suite was spacious and well-appointed. But the problems were enough to warrant looking elsewhere on our next...

The trouble started as soon as I walked in. I asked for a late check out the young lady trying to help me was unsure and asked the other young lady who quickly told me an additional 30 minutes was all the hotel would allow anyone at any time. I tried to explain that I had stayed there many times a year over the last two years and a noon check out had never been a problem. She quickly became argumentative and implied I didn't know what I was talking about, so I thought it was worth the drama and went to my room.||I got to the first room I was assigned and found the door was slightly open. I walked in and was overwhelmed by mold and mildew's super strong sour smell. I walked in a little further and could see feces smeared around the inside of the toilet bowl without even entering the bathroom. I called the front and told them this would not do. ||My second room at least smelled slightly better, and I mean slightly. I first noticed the cover of the electrical outlet next to the bathroom sink was only partially connected and the outlet was partially exposed, creating a shock and maybe even a fire hazard. I then saw that the light switch to the bathroom, also beside the sink, had the cover in place but the switch itself was recessed into the wall leaving open space around the switch and a clear path to the wiring. (pictures of both below). I saw that at least one of the knobs to turn the water on and off was not clean with some white substance. The ceiling in the shower had years of water exposure and the pain was flaking cracking and hanging off. The wall behind and around the toilet also had pain cracking and flaking off. The shower floor was unclean and I'm not sure what was on it. I went into the room and found the carpet had several stains and trash in several corners of the room. It was very obvious that minimal if any cleaning had been done.||This terrible and unclean room cost me over $250 for one night ( that price includes the taxes and fees). I have stayed in this motel probably 8 to 10 times over the last two years and the price seems to keep going up while the quality, cleanliness, and pleasantness of the staff have...

Stay was okay. A little deep cleaning will make this place really shine! The entrance is very appealing with the humongous fireplace and open 2story staircase. Check-in was a breeze and got our free Choice rewards goody bag. Staff seemed very young. The complimentary coffee,tea and hot chocolate all day is really nice for guests on multiple floors. Elevators seems in need of a service but it's slow because cleaning crew uses the main Elevators as well. Now to our room. We booked a King suite as the double queens were booked. Ours friends got the same room but received a much larger space and had less people in their party. The room for the most part seemed clean but again that deep cleaning goes a long way. Mold was in the shower around the caulking areas. A big red stain in front of the bed which I'm hoping was a cup of juice. Stains on the curtains. We booked for 2 nights but received no room service after our first night so I called the desk and then they told us we were to fill out a room service request card with was to be mentioned to us at check-in which was obviously missed. So folks would put dirty towels and trash in the hallway because of this and it would sit for over a day and makes the hallways look horrible as you can see in the pictures. They can't continue to use covid as an excuse if the food service workers are making and serving food not using any gloves but the maids are not allowed in guests rooms? Does not make any sense. The breakfast is hit or miss. One day it was we still needed to go get food elsewhere and our last day it was fine. Powder eggs, sausage, waffles, stale pastries, parents letting gets grab food with with their hands and not using plates at all. People coming to breakfast with no shoes or socks. Come on folks. Let's try and keep it half way clean for other guest enjoying breakfast. Pool was very run down and lots of rust in the pool area. The temperature could have been warmer especially for the adults since no hot tub is offered. Only kids were in the pool as the water was still a bit chilly for an indoor pool. Not sure if we...