Clarion Hotel & Suites BWI Airport North — Hotel in Brooklyn Park

THIS IS LONG BUT A MUST READ||Date: April 4th to April 5th |Clarion Hotel & Suites BWI Airport North (MD410)||Note: We had originally used this hotel for the “Park & Fly” capability (April 5 – April 8) but later reserved a room when the bridge collapse happened in Baltimore Harbor.||We checked in around 7:45 pm on Thursday April 4, 2024. I had reserved a King room (see attached confirmation) and we were given room 115 which was on the first floor and near the entry. When my wife went into the room she immediately came back out and asked me what I reserved. I told her I reserved a King room. She looked at me and stated that it was a Double room. I then went to see and sure enough it was a Double bed and not sufficient for us.||The desk clerk then gave us the keys to a “King room” on the 5th floor. When we got to the room on the 5th floor the TV didn’t have a signal. She contacted the front desk to have maintenance come to the room to see what the issue was. She was informed that maintenance had gone for the day and would be back tomorrow. She stated were leaving in the morning and then the clerk said she should come down for a key to another room.||My wife then went down to the front desk to get the key and was given 2 keys on the 6th floor. I stayed on the 5th floor until I heard from her. She called to say the clerk to let me know which room she chose. She stated the first room smelled of smoke (this is a no smoking hotel) the 2nd room appeared to be Ok. I then took all of our belonging from the 5th floor to the room on the 6th floor. My wife then had to return the unused key to the front desk. Another trip to the front desk.||After all that, we settled in and got to sleep between 11:00 to 11:30 pm. At 11:50 pm the fire alarm for the whole building went off. Not sure of what was going on, we looked in the hallway and it appeared everyone else on the floor was as confused as we were. There was not any type of communication from the hotel staff or even calls to the guest rooms as to the protocol. We even went to the front desk area and at no time did anyone inform us as to what to do. The fire company did arrive and search the building finding nothing to our knowledge.||The fire alarm eventually went off at 1:30 am, over 1-1/2 hours later. By that time our ears were literally ringing. Again, at no time was there communication from the staff as to what the issue was and no communication that we could return to our rooms. We literally returned on our own. We finally got to sleep the 2nd time between 2:00 – 2:30 am only to be awoken by our own alarms at 4:00 am to prepare for departure to the airport. ||We were gravely displeased with the safety protocol of this hotel and the lack SOP for emergencies. As far as we know the manager never arrived at the hotel during the situation, there was only one employee present, the overnight desk clerk.||When it came time to go to the lobby to check out we found that the elevators were no longer active. We then descended six flights of stairs carrying all of our luggage and belongings by hand. When we got to the front desk we asked about some sort of compensation for the previous night’s issues and were informed that we would need to contact the manager. At that point we left for the airport on the shuttle. It was after we arrived at the airport that I realized we were never given a receipt for our stay. (I was able to download a copy from the parent company’s website which is also attached)||When we returned from our vacation (April 8, 2024) we informed the front desk that we were picking up our car. We then asked about compensation for the issues we experienced on Thursday night. The front desk clerk had no knowledge of the fire alarm issue and stated we would need to speak to the manager.||I tried calling to speak with the manager and every time I called I was informed the manager was not in and to call at a certain time. When I would call at the recommended time they would say the manager would be in at a different time. On the 5th try the manager was in and I was transferred to the manager. It then went to the manager’s voice mail and I left a message that I would like to speak to them about the issue and left my phone number. As of this writing (May 6, 2024) I have yet to hear back from the manager.||The soul reason for booking this hotel was to get a good night’s sleep before out flight. Based on everything that happened we were only able to get around 3...

Hotel is now called Clarion Inn, not sure why the name hasn't been updated here. ||||I stayed here twice, on 3/18/24 and 3/25/24. Below is my review of both nights. .||||3/18 - I booked one night in a King sized accessible room. When I got to the hotel, the clerk asked me if I was ok with an accessible double instead. I was tired, it was only one night, so I said yes. I didn't think about the possibility that it could be cheaper than what I actually booked. I walked into the room, room #115, and the light switch didn't work. The lamps did work, however, so I turned on the lights. I settled in, ordered some door dash, and then picked up the phone to set a wake up call for 3am so I could make my flight. That's when I noticed that the phone didn't work. Then, I also noticed that I had coffee and sweeteners, but no coffee maker. I went out to the lobby to file a complaint. When I got out there, another guest was complaining that their shower didn't work. I waited and then I started out saying "First, I'm not sure why I didn't get the room I booked, and..." when the clerk cut me off and got nasty. He said "YOU said you were ok with a double!" - which is true, but he didn't let me finish my sentence. Then I told him about the issues in the room. He said he could put me in a king accessible room but it would "probably have the same problems"...... so naturally, my first question was "Why didn't you put me in the king room at first?" His response was that he didn't think I could "make it" to the room since it was on the second level..... I am LIVID about this. I am handicapped and that is why I booked the room I did. The hotel has elevators, and they were working! So he just ASSUMED that I couldn't make it to the second level based on my handicap? I went back to my room and called corporate and filed a complaint. The following morning I had to close out the complaint after I checked out, and corporate gave me enough points to get a free night elsewhere in the chain as an apology. I did have my next stay at the same hotel booked for my return flight, and I told them I did not want to stay here again. They said that they were unable to cancel due to the rate that I picked, and it was too late to cancel the 3/25 stay. ||||3/25 - I did not intend to stay anyway, but I was tired and there was a major issue on the road home due to the accident at the Key Bridge, so I decided to check in anyway, I just needed a bed. When I got to the lobby, I saw a dirty pair of womens panties laying in the entryway......! Again, my reservation was a King Accessible room, and AGAIN, they put me in the same double accessible room, #115. Nothing changed at all and the power, phone, and coffee maker all still had problems. They gave me a voucher for breakfast at the restaurant attached to the property when I checked in. The following morning, I went down to the restaurant and before I got there, another guest told me not to bother, he said it wasn't even a Continental breakfast, he said it was more like "third world". I shrugged, I just wanted some coffee anyway. I get down there, hand my voucher to the completely disinterested woman working at the front, and she said "There ain't much!" as she didn't even look up from scrolling on her phone. The restaurant had LITERAL stripper music playing complete with curse words. I looked at the display of food, there was a pitcher with coffee, a pitcher with hot water, very tiny rock hard cookies, bowls of cereal, little lukewarm bottles of milk, and warm cans of OJ. I picked up the pitcher to get coffee, and the pitcher was empty. I went to get cereal and OJ and saw a sign that said "ONLY TAKE ONE OF EACH ITEM" --- OH and I could also get a menu and order breakfast if I wanted it..... so why bother with the breakfast "voucher?" ||||If I had been able to cancel the 3/25 stay, I would have just found something else, but since I paid for it I decided to do it. I had low expectations based on the first stay, but somehow, some way, this hotel found a way to make it EVEN WORSE. ||||Stay away, stay far far away. I have a friend in Choice hotels corporate who I am going to reach out to, this place doesn't deserve to have...

I feel that the owners of this hotel are rather concerned with the all mighty dollar rather than hospitality. I would suggest this hotel on the basis of affordability only. Certain things I would expect from Choice, specifically Clarion, were not present here. The following things together formed my opinion. Only 1 very slow, of the 2 elevators was operating the entire time I was here. I also never saw a repairman come try to assess the problem. One time it took me 11 minutes to get from the 6th to the ground floor. Times I was in a hurry I had resorted to using the stairs. (Either UP or down) I have since changed to a 1st floor room. On the website a “grab and go breakfast” is offered. I have stayed with Choice in the past and I enjoy that option the few times that I do want to take advantage of the breakfast(Maybe 10% of my stay) however, at this hotel u have to eat it in their cold basement room where it is served and may not take anything with you. While I do understand that some people may take advantage of this by taking extra food back to their rooms to eat at other times of the day, I feel that that is just part of what they just need to accept as part of hospitality or try to monitor that and ask people not to do that to the extreme. My wanting to take a normal bowl of cereal back to my room should be denied. I like to either prepare my schedule for the day while I eat, not sit there in the cold on an uncomfortable, hard chair to finish my breakfast. The toilet paper is much thinner than you can pretty much expect from public bathrooms. I am not exaggerating when I say that you can read through it. I tried it. The luggage carts were both very dilapidated and hard to operate. The housekeeping and front desk staff did not seem at all focused on hospitality and seemed to at the very least, practice an attitude of indifference towards the guests. I for one, am always polite, friendly and non demanding as a rule, not expecting a lot, however a friendly attitude back goes a long way with me and how I generally feel about my stay. It also costs nothing if they are so focused on their bottom line as a rule. The first room I was in had a broken door and was very dirty around the edges of the room that would come up with a little effort. The walls were stained with smudges and streaks also that just generally were a turn off and I put extra effort into cleaning the main areas that I was using(Like the bathroom for example. It’s pretty gross to imagine what the streaks are and I tried not to think about it as I cleaned.) The second room was better but still had evidence that there might not be enough time allowed for housekeepers to be thorough in their work, or not enough oversight to ensure that these things are handled by doing a little deep cleaning every so often.

While a little disappointing, I still won’t hesitate to stay with Choice in the future. The price offered at this particular hotel is still comparable to others in the area and overall I am able to clean to my satisfaction myself. I can also bring my own toilet paper and breakfast items. However, it begs the question that aren’t those things that are covered by the price we pay for our rooms each night? (And a friendly attitude and smile costs nothing)...