Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham Decatur — Hotel in Decatur

For reference, I stayed here from October 16th 2022 to October 21st for business.

One star is too good, and I wish I could rate this place lower. Not only did it take 20 minutes to get someone to the front desk to check me in, but calling didn't even lead to a voice mailbox. The phone just kept ringing, which was easy to hear since the office door was open, making it abundantly clear that there was no one there. It wasn't until an admittedly inebriated patron came and rang the bell several times that anyone came to the desk. So things didn't start off on the best foot, but I'm pretty flexible.

What was less tolerable was the state of the bathroom. I get into my room and notice that first the shower curtain is laying in the bottom of the tub, and the shower curtain rod has been yanked to the point where it is breaking from the wall. Based on what I just experienced at the front desk I don't expect anyone to be able to help me, so I plan to just take some pictures to prove I wasn't the one who did the damage, send the pictures to the management email, and hang the curtain back up to shower. Then, I notice the hair. All over the tub.

So I send the pictures to management and request that my room be cleaned the next day. No response. I don't see anyone at the desk the next morning either. I get back to my room and it hasn't been touched (which unfortunately did nothing to help my general sense of unease). I also start noticing the other small ways that the room is filthy. The coffee pot is disgusting (I managed to clean some dried on sludge off the outside of the pot, but removing the basket to make some hot water for my oatmeal produces very dark liquid... I use the microwave to make both my coffee and oatmeal the rest of the week). The only coffee available was decaf, which is odd, until I notice that one of the condiment packets (that contains sugar, creamer, stirrers, etc.) has been opened and used.

I escalated my issue to corporate, where I am told they will get in contact with the hotel front desk in a week. Basically, they're not going to do anything until it is tooo late. Unfortunately, my company's policy requires me to book through a specific third party website and I paid ahead, so there is not much I can do except find other methods of getting clean (i.e. washing my hair in the sink, etc.).

The email I got back from corporate, despite the fact that I gave specific details as to where I was staying and when and pictures to back up what I was saying, was that since I booked third party, they couldn't find my reservation details so I needed to reach out to the sit I booked through. I sent an email back explaining that it had nothing to do with my actual booking, and that all issues were from the hotel itself. I received no response.

Hotel management, as well, never responded to my email.

I travel alone and have even had my hotel room broken into while I was sleeping before, yet this was the most unsettling experience I have ever had. At least at the hotel where my room was broken into, there was hotel management I could talk to. If a similar scenario were to happen here, I'm not sure what I could have done.

In addition, there was no one to check me out. Instead, someone on the cleaning staff had to take my name and room number down so I could be checked out at a later time.

I want to be clear that I don't think that this is necessarily the staff that caused these issues, but rather poor and negligent management. If someone had taken care to make sure the hotel was properly staffed or even, hey, checked their email, this could have been avoided. If Wyndham as a company wasn't so incompetent, then I wouldn't be this upset either.

If you want my advice, stay at the Hampton Inn...

Strongly recommend not staying at this hotel. I do not know how they could even have a 3.6 rating. The front desk person at check in was polite, but that's where the good ended. We were moved rooms because the non-smart TV was not working, neither phone worked, multiple lights were out, fridge was not previously emptied, and there was still food in the sink. Brought the matters to their attention, and he provided me with a replacement remote (no fix for the phones for whatever reason). I went back to the room and the second remote did not work. He then came up with me with four different remote controls... and they did not work either. So, we packed up all of our things and moved to another room... which he checked out beforehand to ensure the tv worked.

We moved to the second room and were immediately hit with an odor. We would have requested a change immediately, but we could deal with it for just one night. Furniture is again dilapidated and needing replacement or full reupholstered. We unpacked and ate our dinner in the room. I realized that the items in the kitchen area were not cleaned and some items in the cabinet had stuck on food. I reminded myself... it is just one night. Finished dinner and kicked off my shoes to relax and I quickly realized that my feet were soaked. Something (either the AC or from the outside, since it began to rain) was leaking to our floor... and the whole corner of the room was soaked. We immediately packed up again tossed our items back into our car. I spoke with the front desk again and he offered to again move us to a third room. Fool me once, shame on me. I stated that we will be checking out and moving to a different hotel. He said, "Well, we won't refund your money". I thought that was a strange reaction to us checking out. He then said that we would have had to bring the issues to their attention within the first hour, to receive a refund... and we had been there for a few hours. I was not going to argue with the guy and requested documentation to confirm that I was checked out. He said that he couldn't provide me with any proof of checkout or email. (very weird). And this morning, I received a notification requesting that I check out from the hotel... so it appears that he never even did anything.

Oh and for what it is worth... the elevator's certificate expired the evening we were there. I have included a few of the pictures from a couple of the rooms... but I will just urge you to consider staying elsewhere. This is not the usual...

As someone who did commercial/industrial level cleaning (5 yrs @ international airport) I am sufficiently grossed out. And the reality is; EVERY hotel in the area is like this. Truly. Smeared, dirty glass. Filthy remote control, a microwave not properly secured. Dirty fridge, rust and mold in kitchen, bathroom, and around windows. Curtains torn, THICK dust in places while claiming to be 'pet friendly' Dead bugs all along the walls and under curtains. The ac unit needs service and cleaning. The carpets had thick clumps of pet hair from previous guests still in the corners. Smoke detector basically falling off the wall. When they tried to change our room, it wasn't any better. Then they said, we could find somewhere else to stay, no we can't. It's all the same. The whole industry seems to have given up, and so has the town and its people. If you can find it and afford it, go for the AirBnB's instead. We stayed in one of those and it was the best stay we've had during this journey... Also, window screens have holes in them and there are wasp nests in the bushes right outside the ground level windows. The breakfast was sad also, just some sausage links, pale and bland eggs and 2 cereals. They put out cream cheese but never saw any bagels...don't try the orange juice, it doesn't taste right. Oh and if you're traveling for work and wifi will be necessary, don't stay here. It doesnt work and staff is no help in correcting the problem. They just tell you its your device...😑 which is professional for...