The Suites Hotel at Waterfront Plaza — Hotel in Duluth

My husband and I had stayed there before and had a great experience. Without knowing it’s under new management we booked another reservation . We are Canadian but was meeting our American friends in canal park for 2 nights back in May,.(they are from Minnesota - twin cities) I convinced them to book at the suites since I had always had a good experience. We booked as per usual with our Canadian rates .. verified the amount as per usual (in Canadian ) and were pleased. Upon arrival we learned the entire place was being renovated and it was all new management. As we checked out I confirmed the Canadian rate charged to my card and left. Shortly after I checked my card and noticed it was almost double what I was quoted. (280 cdn for 2 night - they billed me 510) I called the hotel and the front desk girl put me through to the manager Justin, after explaining my concern and that we were Canadian etc he BLEW up shouting they don’t deal in Canadian never have and never will and hung up on me. Shocked, I called back, the front desk girl apologized because she heard his outburst. As soon as he answered the phone was screaming that if I ever called that hotel again he was calling the cops and having me charged with harassment. Hung up again. I did call back and ask for the general manager as at this point I was almost in tears, a lady got on the phone and simply said they don’t deal with Canadians.

Upon our return that evening several hours later I called and was able to speak to a manger named Arnold. He was very kind and kept apologizing and agreed to resolve the issue and call me the next day. A week went by and no call, so I got ahold of him, he apologized again said he was still working on it and would call me the next day. It’s since been another week. Needles to say that management team clearly wants no part of Canadians or our business.

To top it off .. our American friends had similar issues… he is American law enforcement (in Minnesota) and had been honoured with a discount previously. Turns out under the new management they aren’t offering that anymore and it was cheaper for them to book on Expedia.

Needless to say neither of our parties will ever return to that hotel. It’s extremely sad, disgusting and beyond hateful and disrespectful to be targeted and threatened for being Canadian . We truly love our visits south of the border and our American friends .. but the lack of effort and professionalism from the management team only reflects that establishment.

Really...

If I could give this hotel zero stars, I would. The hotel is filthy, gross, and clearly lacks leadership and management. I booked a 2 room, 2 bath condo with jacuzzi that accommodates 8 people for $425 per night . This was a surprise for my wife's birthday, and we invited her family up from southern mn. to enjoy the night. The room was disgusting. The front door lock was broken. The carpet had not been vacuumed for days it appeared. There were stains in the toilet, hair in the shower. There were exactly 2 towels, and 2 wash cloths for the entire condo, for a place that sleeps 8. The furniture was old, worn, and outdated. The pull-out couch had a broken spring. The toss pillows were stained. There was a sticky substance on the bathroom floor. The bedroom curtains were broken. The return air vent on the wall was caked with dirt and dust. The jacuzzi had a ring around the tub, and sand on the floor. The 32" standard TV in the main area, did not work! You would think a place this size would at least have a 55" - 65" tv for entertaining 8 guests? I went down to the front desk and asked to speak to a manager. I was told managers were not working on the weekend. What? I asked the front desk to call the manager at home. I was told they did not answer, but would leave detailed notes in my account, so they could call me the next day, or the following day. It's been 5 days, and no one has called. I was offered a $50 room credit. I asked to be moved to a different condo, and there was none available. I called several other hotels in the area to see if I could get a room to accommodate 6 adults, and they were sold out. The front desk employee, Juan, offered to come up and clean the room, and fix the tv. I would give Juan 5 stars for his kindness and efforts to try and help! Bless my wife of 35 years, who still wanted to stay and spend the night with her brothers and sisters, 2 of which woke up at 6am and went home because it was such an uncomfortable room. The 4 of us remaining went to the Social House for breakfast where we enjoyed a great meal in a clean environment. We left the hotel by 9am. 2 guests riding down in the elevator with us said there were no sheets on their bed when they checked in, and the room was dirty as well. If the rooms are this disgusting, I cannot believe the kitchen that prepares the morning breakfast is any better. Maybe the hospitality board in the city of Duluth should pay this hotel a visit....

Let’s start with the positive, the location of this hotel is great (which is the only reason I gave it 2-stars). The king size beds were ok, a bit firmer than I like, but not so uncomfortable like some of the other reviews state. The pool area was ok, nice that they have a separate (but very small) kiddie pool. It is a pet friendly hotel! That said, everything else about the hotel was not good. The front desk staff were insolent at best, (which is one reason we did not bother to voice our concerns while we were there). Reading prior reviews dating back two+ years, the staff seems to be an ongoing theme, with management responses all stating they will work on that, but no change in two years worth of customer reviews so . . . First the key to our room did not work. We returned to the front desk and had the keys redone. The keys still did not work. Once the key did work, we have to physically and forcefully push the door open. Once we got it open it would not shut, latch or lock again without slamming it very hard (and loud). The carpet in the room appeared to not have been vacuumed. There was an Oreo cookie under the table, an open can of some kind of alcoholic beverage on the floor next one of the beds, a large plastic hair clip on the floor in the other bedroom, an almost empty bottle of Gatorade in the refrigerator and dishes in the dishwasher (which we presumed were dirty based on the aforementioned items). We had planned to use the pull out sofa bed, but there is no way anyone could sleep on it. The supporting slats were broken and mattress essentially non-existent so one would feel nothing but the metal frame. Other smaller items: There was very little water pressure in the shower, no exhaust fan in the bathroom, and a ceiling vent was full of black, sticky, fuzzy looking something. There looked to be two luggage carts for use for the entire hotel (we had two small children with us and lots of gear), the furniture layout in the main area of the room was very awkward so you can not sit on the couch and watch TV comfortably. One of the two windows in the unit was drafty so the temperature was hard to control. Although they have tried to market the hotel as ‘industrial’ and ‘quirky’, in reality the hotel is dated and run down. The breakfast buffet was average at best. Again, the location is great, but there are plenty of other hotels...