Hotel Zero Degrees Danbury — Hotel in Danbury

I stayed at Hotel Zero for over nine weeks while remaining close to my mother who was in the Regional Hospice across the street giving me more than adequate experience to fairly review Hotel Zero in Danbury, CT. In spite of my being there for unpleasant reasons, the staff at Hotel Zero made everything a bit brighter on a daily basis.

The most relevant first:

Pandemic Information for Hotel Zero Degrees

Ventilation: Although Covid-19 had only just begun, Hotel Zero has some features that make things relatively safe during these times. For starters, each room has its own climate control and venting. No air sharing once you make it through the stuffy hallways which could use serious ventilation.

Access: The staircases are on both ends of the building so one can avoid elevators. I don’t care if only one person is allowed on an elevator – the ventilation is inadequate and who wants to be sharing air in such close quarters anyway? And I never touch handrails, so get some exercise and use the stairs.

Gym: As for the gym, why would you during a pandemic? Go outside. Bring your spin bike.

Public Areas: The lobby has fairly high ceilings and with the front door opening repeatedly there must be a decent exchange of air. I would avoid touching smooth surfaces just like any other public place and hope that the staff has rearranged the seating for more distance.

Cleaning and Sanitation: Ultimately, I don’t trust that any hotel cleans the way they say, or that they keep rooms empty for several days. You have to think logically and take necessary precautions wherever you go. Don’t ever expect any hotel to clean as well as you would. As for room cleaning, I never like having my room cleaned. I’d rather do it myself and Hotel Zero Degrees in Danbury made this easy but I still tipped the staff. I made the bed comfortable by layering the mattress (the bedbug protectors get sweaty) with sheets and bringing my own pillows of course.

Breakfast: As for the breakfast fiasco, again, during these times it’s a huge risk. Personally, I don’t think breakfasts should ever return. It’s disgusting and unsanitary, no matter how elegant the intentions and sharing a dining area is even more repulsive.

Outdoor Options: They have one fire pit and maybe by now they have installed more, or added heaters since the outside area is sufficient. The setting is pretty even though it’s off the highway exit and behind a rest stop.

The best thing about Hotel Zero in Danbury were the staff who persevere in spite of terrible pay. The CEO Randy Salvatore should take note if Hotel Zero woners RMS and Greenwich Hospitality want to keep their reputation intact. Good people will last longer than Toll Brothers construction.

People at the front desk were always friendly and helpful. They worked with me to extend my stay several times without disruption, knew the area and gave me numerous recommendations on how to spend my free time. Laiba at the front desk was fantastic, as were Fiza, Geremy and Gary. Stellar people. Isamarie Rodriguez, the General Manager at the time, could not have been more empathic and helpful. I will always be grateful for everyone’s kindness and the many laughs we had. Never did I pass a front desk person who didn’t call me by name, say hello and smile. This goes a long way.

Of course, there was wall, ceiling and hallway noise. Come on, the Toll Brothers are famous for cheap construction. On top of that, ours is a selfish, self-absorbed country replete with idiots who never learned how to consider anyone’s experience past their own (I included myself in this sad state from time to time). I purchased a white noise machine that made things better, along with a humidifier. I found this was more effective than hurling shoes at the ceiling. If the noise was outrageous, I simply called the other room myself. Staff has to engage in good customer service practices so do it yourself. Hotel Zero Degrees houses many wedding...

I would give this hotel 2 1/2 stars.

Ok, let's start with the Pros:

Front desk reception - the employees are nice, warm, and helpful.

Cleanliness - I didn't notice any issues there

Complimentary internet, breakfast, and parking.

Cons:

When you are driving to the hotel in the evening, you can barely see the sign. It's just way too easy to miss.

When you get to your room floor, there is no direction for which way the rooms go, so it's a guessing game. No signs whatsoever.

Each floor has artwork that are in fact nails on a board. The problem with these nails sticking out even backwards is that it can seriously hurt someone. It's just not a smart or practical design for a hotel with various people (kids, disabled, elderly) coming in and out and can accidently bump into it, since it's sticking so far out from the wall, unlike a regular painting.

The rooms themselves are sufficient. The beds and pillows are not particularly comfortable. The bathrooms have basic toiletries, 1-ply tissue, a bar of soap that claims to reduce waste with the middle taken out, but what are they doing with the middle? Wasting it or donating it? Yeah, I was thinking about that. Oh and I forgot to mention, the bathroom doors not only don't lock, but they don't even slide closed all the way, leaving a few inches open, that's a problem.

The breakfast was inedible. The scrambled eggs were cold and hard. The bagel slicer was broken. My little one loves potatoes and spit his out. He couldn't eat the breakfast potatoes or hash browns, nor could any of us when we tasted it. The toaster was smoking and smelled like it was half on fire. There were no tongs for the bread. We looked all over. It was just bad.

So, there are just too many cons...and I didn't want to have to go out for breakfast on top of it all...but we do.

I would recommend staying at the Springhill Suites Marriott down the road for the same price point. It's a 3 star hotel that's a 5 star in comparison to this...

On arrival lovely looking hotel inside and out. If your staying for less than three days you don’t get your room cleaned . We stayed longer and requested our room to be cleaned every day . Most days we had to go to reception as housekeeping forgot to leave towels, or coffee !! One day they never cleaned it at all. There was only one lifting working . There was a sanitising pump by lift , we were there for 12 nights at at no point was there any sanitiser in it. As the rooms were not cleaned the rubbish from rooms was left outside till housekeeping decided to collect it. There is complimentary breakfast , which should consist of cereal, muffins, bagels, fruit. Coffee 24/7 . Most of the time items we not available . Nice to have the coffee. Coffee in the room was nice but not topped up daily. Nor we’re the toiletry's. Restaurant was nice but expensive. Most concerning of all was a late night fire alarm resulting in a chaotic evacuation with no communication from anyone in charge!! As we were moving towards the fire exit another guest was returning to the building assuming it was a false alarm with no intervention from Hotel Staff. It was however reassuring when the fire service and Police attended to check all was well. At no point did any member of staff communicate to us that the a hotel was now safe or offer an apology for the inconvenience of us standing outside in sub zero temperatures in our night wear unnecessarily. The car park gets very busy most nights and when they have a wedding . Also the walls are so thin you could hear everything from next door. We had a guy next to us whose alarm started at 4 in the morning and he pressed snooze every 5 mins till 5 ☹️ Would we stop there again? No . Not...