SureStay by Best Western Charlotte/Matthews — Hotel in Charlotte

On January 17th 2024, my wife and I checked in for the night. I had an early morning appointment across the street from the hotel, so that's why we decided to stay on that side of town. When I was looking for a hotel in that area, I saw a few and I narrowed it down to the 2 that were the closest. The BW and the Fair Field Inn. The BW had 3 stars and the FF had 2. I am not an avid traveler, but I have stayed at a FF before and it was decent. I had never stayed at a BW, but of course I had heard the jokes and negative comments about it before. . .it turns out they are all true.

I thought it was just for one night, and by the time we checked in at 11 p.m. it was only going to be until 8 a.m., so no harm no foul. . .so I had thought. I should have gone with the 2 star FF. I will admit that the customer service was excellent in house. The room seemed as old as the day BW went into business. The carpet was not one you wanted to walk on barefoot, the couch was horrible, and the bed was very uncomfortable. There were a few other things, like a very sticky tv remote for some reason, but they were not the real issues.

The real issues began when I was going to sleep. We had stopped on our way there and got some food to eat in the room. We had eaten and my wife had gone to sleep. I watched a little tv, and then when I was going to go to sleep, I decided to put the rest on the food that had been sitting in a bag on the counter with the tv, into the small fridge. Well, when I went to move the bag, 2 little german type roaches ran out from under it. The bag had only been sitting there 90 mins at most and we already have 2 roaches. I know that those are not the big scary ones that you can kill and not see another one. These are military minded roaches, they travel in units and platoons! I had killed one and had at least wounded the other. I tried to forget about it and focus my mind on being ready for my meeting the next morning.

I was so uncomfortable that I really could not sleep, but I would dose off for a few minutes and then wake up in pain and have to shift positions. One time I got up to go to the bathroom, and as I came back I saw 2 more roaches crawling along the wall near my luggage. I killed them and as I was sitting in the bed I saw at least one more on the wall on the other side of the room. I was so tired that I just let it be. If the circumstances had been different and we would have been there on vacation, I would have demanded another room, but like I said at that point we were checking out anyway in about 4 hours.

The next morning while getting ready, I was taking a shower in a tub that looked like a murder scene, when the hot water went out. I do not take long showers, maybe 10 minutes at most. How does the hot water run out? When checking out the front desk staff was very apologetic and they even gave me a discount as much as they could without having the manager there. I am giving them 5 stars. I took one away, because the manager never contacted me like they said he would, and I personally sent an email to the GM, and still a month later have not heard from them.

Please do yourself a favor and pay the extra 10-15 dollars more to stay at the FF or the Holiday Inn, just don't stay here under any circumstances!

Very Sincerely. Brian Tate(Very...

The room was great, the night shift staff was fantastic. I traveled to Charlotte for business and I keep very late hours with work, so when I checked in, I was given late check out. The young man noted it in his log book and told me I was good to go. However, the manager who worked the morning shift kept sending housekeeping to my room to wake me up and then she called me. I explained to her that I was exhausted and had late checkout. I asked her if she checked her log book and she just got defensive and aggravated then hung up on me. No apology for disturbing me or anything. The next day I noticed a $50 fee charged to my card. I called and had the misfortune of having to deal with this same young manager. She told me that the fee was from me smoking in my room. Now, I am a 22 year Air Force retiree, and I know how to follow rules. I am also very attached to my money, and smoking in the room is not a financially sound decision. I tried to get an explanation from the manager and she said she smelled smoke and so did the housekeeper that I turned away when she woke me up. I do smoke, and is possible that the smell was in my clothes because I went to my car to smoke before I went to sleep because it was super cold outside. Maybe the smell transferred to the sheets. Maybe I had a cigarette butt in the trash. I don't know. What I do know is that instead of dealing with me in a professional manner when I called her, she hung up on me. When I called back and asked to speak to her manager, she told me that there was no point because he was going to go along with whatever she said. I have never felt so disrespected and powerless. Especially with me being in Florida at the time that I had to deal with this spiteful woman. She has left a bad taste in my mouth as far as Best Western goes and I will never stay at another one. From a business standpoint, I hope that more senior management trains her or gets rid of her because she is not a good reflection of your brand. I was really pleased with my stay until my encounter with that woman, even after helping a woman who was being accosted by two drunk men in the elevator. (Night management handled that situation very well, by the way). I believe the manager's name was Candace, but don't quote me on that. The date of my stay was 9 January 2019. On a more positive note, breakfast was fantastic, the staff who worked breakfast went above and beyond and I was very pleased with them as well. It's a shame that one person in a leadership position can mar the reputation of an entire brand. My suggestion is to be more discerning in choosing the employees that your customers have to interact with because it really makes a difference. I don't want to leave a one star review, because like I said, everything else was on point. But my trip was really ruined by that girl. So I'll...

I’ve stayed at a lot of best westerns. This one is a plus. Meaning it’s supposed to be better than the normal best western? Upon checking in, the man at the counter told me the elevators were not working. He then told me I’d be on the third floor, and the steps were outside. I asked for the first floor, second if possible. I was then given room 218. When we were done, he told me he added 500 points to my rewards account. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. That’s what I ask for anyways. So I get in my room, and I notice a mildew smell. When I looked at the ceiling, I noticed 3 water leaks. 2 above the ax unit, and a 3rd on the ceiling above the bathroom. So I assume that’s the smell. Took a nice long hot shower. Got dressed, and walked over to turn the ac up a bit. About 4 foot in front of it I stepped down, and squish. The floor was absolutely soaked, and I just put on a fresh pair of socks. Next, I got thirsty. Walked down to my truck to get a $20. Went inside to exchange it for smaller bills, and went to the vending machine. It won’t take my bills. So then I go to the counter, and ask if there isn’t another one. He said no. I asked if he sold drinks. He said what? I pointed to a 12 oz coke, and a bag of lays he had under a plexiglass box on a table. He said no drinks of snacks. Then I remembered he never even offered the complimentary water/snacks. Just gave me the 500 points. After that, I’m a bit frustrated. So I said screw it, and walked next door to Chili’s. Google said it was open till 11, and it was 10:36. Got to the chili’s, and realized it was actually close. Not best westerns fault, but I definitely got madder at them lol. There are no stores within walking distance, and I really don’t feel like driving around my truck/trailer more than necessary. So I remembered the tea bags, and coffee pot in the bathroom. I damn near run up the stairs only to met with despair when my only option was coffee. Of course there was no tea. Defeated I marched to the ice machine with a cup, back to the sink to fill it, and sat down to type this. I have drank so much water today working, that my body really really wanted something else. I definitely don’t feel like the standard I expect from best western was met here. And to think staying at this hotel to night started with me telling my wife I wanted somewhere decent...