Sonesta Select Dallas Central Expressway — Hotel in Dallas

It was my first time visiting Dallas and just flew in and made it to the property. This property has left me with a horrid experience. This has by far been the worst property that I’ve ever been to in my life. I trusted all of the reviews and posted pictures and from that gave it a fair chance.

Upon checking into my room the first thing that I noticed was hair strands in almost every single corner of my room from the curtains to under the sheets and the pillows. I immediately addressed this issue with the front desk asking to change rooms or cancel my reservation and was told I could cancel but would not receive a refund for any of the nights that I’d booked with the property. I asked if I could get a different room and was told that the GM wasn’t in and I’d have to wait until the next day to see if he’d authorize a transfer to a new room. I was then told by the front desk associate that the only accommodations that they could provide me with was a garbage bag with new bed linens, towels (that I was instructed that I’d have to change myself) a commercial bottle of antibacterial spray and a microfiber cleaning towel. I was asked to return the cleaning spray so that housekeeping could use it to clean the next day.

I attempted to sleep on the pull out couch but it had a nasty brown mattress with no sheets and trash, rollers and cigarette wrappers from the guest before lodged with the folds of the bed. That night after sanitizing my room and changing my own linens in the bedroom I was greeted by roaches crawling out of the television that was screwed to the dresser. I recorded the infestation and at 7am the next day I visited the front desk again asking to speak with the General Manager. I showed him the pictures of the hair, explained to him what was discussed the night before and provided him the video of the roaches. He seemed apologetic at the time and spoke with the front desk manager to transfer me into a new room.

He explained that because this was a “long term stay” property the first room that I was issued was next to a guest who was a hoarder and the roach infestation may have traveled to the room that I was in. The front desk manager acted surprised to see the roaches. They transferred me to a room next to the infested room on the same floor only for the room to have even more roaches than the last room.

From my understanding this property actually has newly renovated rooms on the opposite side of the property but it seems as though those rooms are only given to a selected few… whomever the manager decides they want to put there.

It has literally been a stay of utter hell! I showed the Front Desk Manager the new footage of the roaches in the new room and he told me he’d take my phone number down and have the GM call me regarding this issue. I never received a call and after coming down to speak with the GM in person I was simply avoided. I had children with me and had to book a room at another hotel for the remaining nights while still paying for this roach infested property. Not only did I have to pay for a different hotel, this room at the Sonesta suites but also a hefty $175 incidental charge that I was told would not be refunded until 10 days after checkout. This place would receive zero stars if I had...

Looks Can Be Deceiving — Unsafe, Unclean, and Poor Management. I booked this hotel based on the positive reviews, but my experience was completely different — and honestly, incredibly disappointing. I’m convinced the reviews that have gotten that are good MUST be fake.

The lobby looked like something out of a 5-star hotel, which gave a good first impression. But the moment I walked into the room, it was a total contrast. It smelled strongly of cigarettes, felt dirty, and although the bed was made to look clean, you could feel it wasn’t. The room just felt grimy overall, like they tried to mask the condition instead of truly cleaning it.

To make matters worse, the parking lot clearly showed signs of frequent break-ins, and I did not feel safe — especially as a woman traveling alone. I had only booked the room a few hours before arriving, and I immediately wanted to cancel. I told the hotel I didn’t feel comfortable staying due to safety and cleanliness concerns, but was told it was too late to cancel.

When I spoke to the manager, he was defensive and unapologetic. I calmly explained how I felt, but instead of acknowledging or addressing my concerns, he dismissed them by saying these things happen at every hotel and said I’d have to go through Expedia for help. Well, I do understand it COULD — happen anywhere- The high amount of vehicles that were broken into specifically in this parking lot alone, show a much higher risk in this area. I ended up not staying in the room at all, meaning I paid for a service I never even used.

The only reason I’m giving this even one star is because of the young woman at the front desk. I don’t remember her name, but she had only been on the job about a week and was genuinely kind, understanding, and professional. She was the one bright spot in the entire experience. I was visibly upset after feeling completely bamboozled by what I had walked into, and she handled my emotions with real care and compassion. She deserves recognition — she did a better job than her supervisor by far.

Oh, and the $100 incidental hold? The highest I’ve ever been charged for a hotel like this. Outrageous, especially considering I didn’t even stay.

Bottom line: The online reviews and photos do not reflect what you’ll actually get. If you’re expecting a clean, safe, and professionally run hotel — keep looking. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone, especially not solo travelers.

Edit: in response to the owners response of my review, I appreciate you addressing the concerns, but it would do your business better if you actually fixed these concerns. I really appreciate it. However, your manager absolutely needs some work on...

We stayed here last week while my husband was having a medical procedure done. Making the reservation was easy and we got the room we wanted on the first floor. The best thing I can say about the hotel was that it was clean. However, that's about the only good thing I can say about it.

There wasn't a free breakfast. There wasn't even coffee in the lobby. You could buy Starbuck's coffee at the "Bistro" in the hotel. It was expensive and could have easily been used to strip paint. The Bistro was excessively overpriced for what you got. The staff was nice though.

Our room, while mostly clean, had numerous issues. The TV didn't work even when it wasn't raining. The screen was severely pixillated and wouldn't clear up - the hotel obviously had issues with the satellite. There was not a vent in the bathroom. You had to leave the door open to shower and if someone used the toilet, the whole room would smell like it. Not pleasant. The bed was horrible! It was lumpy and uncomfortable and had definite deep body impressions that made you sink in and feel like you were being swallowed up. You could easily hear the gentleman upstairs using the bathroom whenever he had to go. It sounded like someone running a garden house into a five-gallon bucket from 10 feet up. Maybe if our TV had worked, we would not have been able to hear this. This wasn't an issue for us and probably not for many people, but local phone calls from your room are .50 a piece. A bottle of water was left on the desk in the room with a note saying it was complimentary but if you consumed it your room would be charged $3.50 for it. We had a sofa bed in our room as well. Just out of curiosity I opened it up and immediately regretted that decision. It was dirty, dusty and had bugs and food all over in it. It grossed me out so much that I couldn't make myself sit on it again for the rest of our stay. On the night of my husband's procedure, I asked the front desk attendant if they had a list of local restaurants that delivered to the hotel as my husband wasn't able to venture out. The front desk attendant provided me with a big basket of menus but he didn't know which ones delivered and which didn't. He also had a list of a few restaurants in Dallas. Some weren't even close to the hotel and again he didn't know if they delivered. The attendant was very polite though and he did his best to assist me even though I ended up finding a place on my own.

Over all the stay wasn't horrible, but we would definitely not stay here again. There are much better hotels with much better amenities for the same...