Red Roof Inn Branson — Hotel in Branson

Originally a two star review. I dropped them to one after they filed a complaint to retaliate for an honest review. :P

Pros: Full HBO package, pool, on site vending for snacks and drinks, 24 hour front desk, microwave breakfast and powdered eggs, Ice cold ac. Pet friendly hotel, no pet fees.

Cons: There were earwigs and roaches in our room. The mattresses in our room had heavy damage on the side flipped down towards the box springs from being chewed on by large dogs. We kept sneezing from allergens of some kind, probably pet dander they failed to shampoo our of mattresses and pillows. One of the pillows was very worn out and flat. We did not use it. The sheets would not stay on the beds. The full time front desk lady that lives on site got after us about taking food to our room after we ate breakfast. She did not want us taking leftovers and told us so one morning before breakfast instead of saying good morning or anything. This place is not used to extended stay tourists. The eggs caused us recurring diarrhea throughout our stay and on one occasion the yogurt had gone bad. The toilet would rock back and forth when we used it. We kept having to get replacement keys at the front desk because the keys would often de-magnetize. The toilet became clogged during our stay. We bought our own plunger so we would not have to call management. There was a fight of some kind between a man and woman during our stay. Management had to ask the man to leave. Without fail, management or office staff would come out and swarm when we went to the pool. They are very aggressive about enforcing pool rules. A storm struck during the stay and somehow despite high wind we didn't lose power. The back window on the rear stairwell leaked and there was water damage over the 1st floor entry. Many of the rooms on the wind facing side of the building flooded due to intense wind driven rain into the ac units horizontally. Some guests had gallons of water flood their rooms. There was water damage on the ceiling in the first floor hallway and mold on some of the hallway ceiling tiles and drywall at the rear stairwell near the leak on the first story rear door access. A brick wall collapsed by the pool during the storm. A contractor was out the next day to replace the wall. They dumped the old cinder blocks by the dumpster and left them in a pile next to a grocery cart from Price Chopper. We were more than mildly irritated with the onsite lady who works the desk. She and the owner conversed about us once in a foreign language instead of resetting my keys immediately when I asked. That was frustrating. I was angry about the pettiness of staff at breakfast. The lady had glared at the kids for returning from the room to get syrup for waffles they brought back from breakfast. She thought we would not notice, but we did. When it was time to go, we left without stopping at the front desk and left our dresser drawers filled with laundry in our haste to leave. It was the most expensive place we had ever stayed. For a resort town, the service could've been much better. I would like to note that the hotel filed an official complaint with the third party booking service we used for this stay in order to try to get revenge on my family and I for our honest review. I took pictures and I have witnesses as to our experience. It was not a terrible stay but considering the price it left a lot to be desired. This is not the first time a hotel or business has tried to get even with me for an honest, unbiased review. I won't be swayed from telling the truth simply because you do not want to rectify conditions for your guests and provide a better experience. I leave the reviews I do to help other travelers avoid similar situations which they would find undesirable. If someone does not like the truth being out there, they should change the narrative by rectifying these situations in a way that provides a better guest experience. I am respectful, upstanding, and honest regardless of whether people like the truth or not....

Shannon and Mandy were very helpful, friendly, and committed to making things work out for the best. I say this up front because this review could have easily been a bad one without them taking care of the guest.

I made reservations through another company and was assured that everything would be in order. As luck would have it, while on the highway headed to Branson, the hotel called to let me know that the pool was down and if we still wanted to stay. Obviously, since we were on the road and had show tickets, we could not cancel out. I called the other company to see if they could find us a place with a functioning pool since it was important to my teen. After an hour, they said there were no rooms available and to make the best of it. That was my intention at this point, and we continued.

Our reservation paperwork and email clearly stated that we were getting two rooms both double queens with one being handicapped. I treated my mother-in-law for vacation, and she is wheelchair-bound. They did not have adjoining rooms but that was not a deal-breaker. When we got to the rooms, we did not have the double beds that I paid for. I spoke to Mandy at the front, and she assured me that the booking company had made the mistake because the hotel did not have handicapped rooms with double beds at all. She called the booking company, and it was suggested that since they also did not have rollaway beds to go to Walmart and grab an air mattress.

Sorry, I was not paying for a room that was going to use an air mattress and I suggested that we receive a third room, so everyone had a bed. I had paid for this and made my reservations 90 days out. After a pause, the booking company agreed to allow this, and Mandy expressed that it was the right thing to do. She apologized multiple times for the issues and hoped it would not spoil our stay. She was genuinely interested in making sure that despite no pool and room issues that we were happy. I felt like she had pride in her job, and it was important to satisfy the guests.

I saw Shannon the following morning working with her housekeeper on rooms. She told me she was sorry about the issues we had dealt with and hoped all was acceptable. Again, I found someone who cared about her job and the guests. She told me that she was shorthanded in housekeeping and needed to help clean rooms for the guests. Every time I saw Shannon over the next several days, she was working with a smile and sweat coming off her brow. Being a manager for over 30 years, I know how important it is for your team to see you leading by example and willing to get your hands dirty.

The rooms were smaller than I imagined but the condition was very good. I could tell that proper maintenance and repairs were a priority and they were clean. The shower was deceptively large, and I would enjoy having it at home. Great water pressure and ample hot water made showering awesome. This is not a luxury hotel and does not try to be, but I found it a place I would gladly stay again and recommend. We slept in each morning, so I have no input on the breakfast to share. I will say that this is a pet-friendly location and after seeing tons of dogs, there was not one dirty pile found anywhere.

Our vacation stay at the Red Roof Inn could have been a disaster and bad review, but the commitment of the staff made it enjoyable. In a day when people just go to work and fake it through the shift, I found people that were more interested in making the best of it. We need more experiences like this. Thanks, Shannon and Mandy for doing...

We have stayed at the hotel in the past and loved it. Apparently the new owners have ran this place into the ground.

Where do I begin...

When we checked in there was a lady sitting behind the counter who did not speak to us but called someone who eventually came out to check us in. The lobby was just as unbearably hot as is what it was outside. We were early and asked to wait about 30 min before entering the room to ensure the floor was dry. (Completely understandable.) At this point we had high hopes for a clean and fresh smelling room; however, when we get to our room (after allowing floors to dry) we walked into a disgusting almost wet dog smelling room. We had to buy air freshener to make the room bearable. The AC in the room would only blow on medium which made the room slightly warmer than we would have liked. When we went to the bathroom there were long curly black hairs all over the floor, mold on the walls, and the pocket door didn't lock. We went to put our drinks in the fridge and found it completely frozen over. We checked with other members of our family who also had rooms here and found that to be true of their fridges as well. When we went to get ice an employee stood guard by the ice machine but we wouldn't of needed ice if the fridge wasn't froze over. The next day the ice machine was empty and you were instructed to go to the lobby and request ice from their pantry area. Again, we normally wouldn't have needed ice but when we can't cool our drinks with the fridge a family of 5 is going to use a lot of ice. When it came time to get ready for bed we pulled the sheets back on both beds in the room and there were long black curly hairs all over the sheets along with large yellow pee stains. I had to go and request new sheets and when asked why they questioned whether the sheets had been like that when we arrived 3 hours earlier. And let's not even talk about the fact the hotel soap and shampoos had expired in February of this year. Probably not a huge deal except it speaks to the lack of attention to detail those running this place have. You couldn't even wash your face with the wash cloths provide as they were covered in red stains and you had to question if they were ever even washed. And in the past when we stayed here they had conjoining rooms...when we called and asked about getting those for our stay this time we were told they did not have them. When informed we knew for a fact they did have them they changed the story to "oh well we can try to make that happen." Also the back door used to be secured and access only granted with a key card. This time it was duck taped open and any one could just waltz in. The property also had scattered beer cans and trash cans outside over flowing. This was by far the worst hotel stay we have ever had and it's a shame because this used to be a great hotel to stay at.

The 1 star is simply because the building was there.

And for Red Roof Inn: I'm not interested in your standard automatic "oh I'm so sorry you didn't enjoy your stay" message. Instead of sending that and wasting all our time let's focus on bringing this hotel back to what it used to be. If you truly care about our lack of enjoyment DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! I can assure you a little bleach and elbow grease will go along way. Even in roach infested hotels--Noone ever complained of large pee stains on their sheets.

And to the owners of this hotel: I have pictures of the filth and I have pictures of the way the room was when we left. So don't come attacking me for my...