Red Roof Inn Charlotte - University — Hotel in Charlotte

I booked this hotel for a night so two family members and I could enjoy a two-day mini-vacation in Charlotte. We have already had a few of these trips and enjoyed our stays at the price-comparable "Econolodge" and "Extended Stay", but I have to say that this Red Roof had been the worst of the three.

There wasn't anything single-handedly that made it a bad experience, but the sum total of numerous small but notable things that added up to a subpar experience. The first sign was when we checked in. The desk clerk was very difficult to understand and clearly didn't understand what I was saying.

As we walked down the hallway although we were in a non-smoking room, I could smell the heavy scent of smoke throughout the hallway. I have to say that room was fully stocked, the furniture and decor in the room was a beautiful style and we also had a mini fridge, microwaves and a dresser to put our clothes in. The beds nicely made, and the LCD TV was a nice touch. The first downside of the room was that although the decor was pleasant, the plaster on the walls was so poorly done that you could still see where the tools were wiped along them when constructing them. The next thing is that on some of the walls you could see hand prints in the dust that was on them. When I went to use the restroom, I noticed the toilet was pulled a little bit away from the wall and when I washed my hands afterwards, I noticed that the stopper for the sink was pulled completely out and left by the sink handles, looking disgustingly unsanitary.

When I went to take a shower in the morning, the shower head made such a loud squeaking sound that the everyone in the hotel room could hear it and didn't seem to be able to be stopped by adjusting the nozzle. I knew the check out time was 11 o'clock, but as usual, we were running a bit late, which has never a problem at any hotel I've stayed at, but just as I was about to leave the room to tell the front desk that we would be a little bit longer at exactly 11 o'clock, I heard a rapping at the door, and to my surprise, the cleaning lady as well as a man were standing outside waiting for me. I explained that we would be a little bit and that we were just finishing up packing, but the only response was a one-sentence, stern "the check out time is 11 o'clock". I opened the door a bit more and gestured to my fellow guests packing their things inside the room and said that we would just be a bit more. He didn't use any polite words or smile, just saying "fine, okay" and walked away. It felt very rude and disrespectful.

I can say in conclusion that I will avoid this particular hotel in the future. It never felt relaxing or homey and we were never treated like "welcome guests". I suspect that this might be a family-run franchise, and all the employees I encountered were related, which might explain the complete lack of skills in customer service, which you would think would be the first lesson in any new-employee...

André is an exceptionally, awesome front desk clerk. UPDATE: I regretfully have to take away a few stars from my previous 4 star post...the front desk clerk Haillie (probably misspelled) was exceptionally rude to my children and I. She always looked at our family with a disgusted look as if she hated to see us. To elaborate more she was rude to our children whenever they had breakfast in the morning she'd watch them, tell them to move their plates out of her way as she wiped the counters in such a harsh manner, and told one daughter that it was too much orange juice to take to our room and if someone in our room wanted to eat then they needed to eat in the lobby. My daughter brought me my breakfast because my feet were swollen as well as my knee...plus I could not bring my ESA puppy in the breakfast area. She along with one of the housekeepers were absolutely rude. For whatever reason our keys did not work and we had several bags in our arms and asked the housekeeper to let us in and she looked at us and kept walking. We had to continue asking to be let in and when she did open the door it was with an attitude. When I asked why didn't she want to open the door she snapped at me and said "Go to the front desk!" Which we had several bags meaning we would have had to go around the entire building. She knew we were guests yet acted in such way. Last but not least I'd suggest that management concentrate on the pest problems e.g. the roaches were in our bathroom and we had to kill one walking on the ceiling. Once again Andre' is friendly and makes guests feel welcomed but the female clerk has made our stay uncomfortable and I no longer recommend this location to any person of color. She was rather offensive and called me a racist when I asked about why she told my daughter that it was too much orange juice to bring to me while another gentleman filled up a water bottle with oj. Of all my 47 years that indeed is a first. I'll never return. I value good customer service skills and she definitely needs to work on hers...especially as the first person you see when you walk in. Not a good look. Perhaps there's no worry about this complaint since it seems our family's stay was not valued...but I am an avid reviewer who loves giving credit to those deserving of it but in this case...Red Roof Inn-University has now struck out officially with me. This is the 3rd and final time.

Update: The owner Mr. Alay Patel is an exceptional young man and went above to make things right; He apologized profusely for his staff's behavior and THIS is the kind of professionalism I always give and love to receive. Thanks Mr. Patel for your immediate attention to this matter. Stars gained...

As I have said in previous reviews, my frugal husband has a strange loyalty to Red Roof Inns, and they are often clean and comfortable and most importantly, dog friendly. This one was neither clean nor comfortable and despite the name, it is also not in the University area. It is in a sketchy industrial area amidst a bunch of trucking companies. When we checked in, I went to use the restroom and noticed that the floor looked dirty. I wiped the floor with a damp washcloth and it not only came away brown, but also wiped up actual chunks of dirt. I mentioned this to the gentleman on duty (it was evening), who was very apologetic, and said that the cleaning people were gone for the day but would definitely make sure it was clean in the morning. Long story short, that did not happen, and the floor remained disgusting. Please see my photos which show the dirty floor, the nasty old shower seat, the light switch and refrigerator which have clearly not been cleaned in a very long time, much less sanitized. The hallway had a stronger smell of weed than my son’s high school car, and in the evenings it would seep into our room. The TV is very small and very old. The deadbolt in our room did not work at all. The air conditioning system was approximately as loud as a jet engine, but it did block any noise from the hall.||I am a wheelchair user and booked an accessible room, so I will describe the accessibility features in case anyone makes the ill-advised choice to book here. The “accessible“ entrance is up a small ramp which ends directly at the door which has to be opened outward. A wheelchair user must be able to simultaneously avoid rolling backwards down the hill while pulling the heavy door open. Inside that door is a key card access door to the lobby. There was plenty of space in the room itself to maneuver, and the floors are laminate. Beds are an appropriate height for manual wheelchair users. Lighting above the bed is impossible to reach without standing beside the bed or kneeling on the bed. The bathroom sink is a little high, but I was able to see in the mirror and to brush my teeth. There are rails behind and to the right of the toilet, but it is not possible to maneuver a wheelchair parallel to the toilet. There is a shower over the tub and a low built-in seat on the far end of the tub, BUT the bathroom door opens inward, and once my wheelchair was in the bathroom it was not possible to close the door so that I could get into the shower/tub. ||Seriously, give...