SpringHill Suites by Marriott Durham Chapel Hill — Hotel in Durham

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

To Springhill Suites by Marriott:

I think you have an excellent facility. However, housekeeping did not provide the room clean-up services I expected. My room was never made up or restocked with coffee, fresh towels, or soap. Of course, I was told at the beginning that there would be no "cleaning" unless asked, but I do not necessarily consider "cleaning" the same as restocking or just giving me a few extra towels.

I arrived on Friday, saw the notice, and was told at registration all I would have to do was make a call to the front desk. On Saturday, I tried to make the call, and the front desk person did not answer the telephone call after three tries. I hate to think how this would affect other residents or me if there were a fire or other emergency. Upon leaving Saturday afternoon, I waited in line to talk with the man working the front desk and asked for some towels, a refill of coffee, and soap. No cleaning was necessary. The person operating the front desk told me that he would take care of it. Upon return, early evening, about 1730 Hrs., no towels, soap, or coffee were delivered to my room. I called and once again was unable to get through.

On Sunday morning, I again called without success. The room was pleasant and well maintained. However, there was only one small bar of soap, no face towels. It worked out OK in the end, but the towels I used could never thoroughly dry hanging up, and Monday morning's shower meant drying with used towels and somewhat damp. That was unpleasant.

The breakfast buffet was excellent and well run. The overall cleanliness and attention to detail were exceptional. I would stay again. I think you have an excellent facility; however, I am very turned off because my room was never made up or restocked with things like coffee, fresh towels, or soap. Of course, I was told at the beginning that there would be no "cleaning" unless asked, but I do not necessarily consider "cleaning" the same as restocking or just giving me a few extra towels.

I arrived on Friday, saw the notice, and was told at registration that all I would have to do was call the front desk. On Saturday, I tried to make the call three times without success. I hate to think how this would affect other residents or me if there were a fire or other emergency.

Upon leaving Saturday afternoon, I waited in line to talk with the man working the front desk and asked for some towels, a refill of coffee,...

Thank you for the opportunity to give feedback--I was hoping I would be asked.

Interestingly, immediately prior to my stay in Anaheim, I spent spent four nights in a Springhill property in Durham/Raleigh, 9/20-24 (business) and then to the Anaheim property, 9/25-26 (pleasure). The experience was very different.

First the good: At the Anaheim Springhill the staff was professional, friendly and very responsive. The free coffee was great. The rooms and facility was exceptionally clean.

Areas of disappointment: 1. $5.00 to park? Maybe I missed it, but this was a surprise and a point of anger. Paid parking in an unsecured lot? It's not about the money; it was irritating to have this tacked on. 2. Fairly slow to remove trash guests had put in elevator receptacles. 3. No trash can liners in the room trash cans--never saw that before. 4. A sign posted that the rooms will not be cleaned daily due to Covid? Again, maybe I missed it, but this was not the case at my previous stay in NC--it just seems a cheap excuse to save money. 5. It may seem minor, but the coffee cup lids in my room did not fit the provided cups making a hot liquid spill likely. 6. I am used to website pictures making the pool look large and glamorous, but this was a joke. The pool was minuscule but so cool (I doubt it was heated) that it was unusable. 7. Most properties have a spa--this was a disappointment. Most of the other Springhill properties do. What a letdown. 8. While the rooms are nice, there are no towel hooks near the showers or anywhere. It is a small inconvenience, but having to drape my towel over the sink in order to have access did not make sense. 9. Limiting the thermostat to 68 degrees. Most hotels are much more flexible and accommodating. For some, 68 degrees is tepid and uncomfortable. 10. The main disappointment: I went to get my breakfast assuming it would be a full breakfast as it was in the NC Springhill property (the same week!) and was shocked and angered that it was a, "Grab and GO". Catchy name for an exceptionally weak offering! Overripe bananas? Seriously, Jimmy Dean Sausage/Egg/Cheese Biscuits with 490 calories and 1240 grams of sodium?? Awful taste and unhealthy. Not suitable for non-dairy people. This issue alone would deter me from staying at the Anaheim site again.

I know there are different owners/management companies throughout the chain, but the inconsistency between my two experiences was astoundingly...

This was a one night stay at this Springhill Suites. The reason for the stay was that my wife had an appointment the following morning at the Duke University Medical Center. We had reserved a small suite that offered two Queen sized beds along with a sofa bed. There was a small refrigerator and a microwave in the room along with a small desk top. In our party was myself, my wife and my wife’s best friend. The room had a separate toilet room with a small corner sink and the lighting was very low wattage. There was another separate room containing a shower and sink top. Both rooms had a barn door for privacy. The overall size of the room was very small even for two people let alone for three. It should be noted that the reservation was for three adults so it is not like I was trying to sneak an additional person into a room designed for two. But it all was good as it served the purpose of providing a place to put our heads down for one night. I can’t comment on the breakfast as I didn’t take advantage of it being available. The real problem was when we went down on the morning of checking out to get a baggage cart to load our baggage on and check out. Well there was not a baggage cart available. Evidently the hotel has only one baggage cart and it wasn’t available. The friend that was with us is the one that went down to get the cart. She asked the desk clerk if there was any others and was told no. The friend returned to the room and told us. We were a bit concerned as it was close to check out time so the same friend went back down to ask the clerk if there was any help available and was told nothing until after 11 AM. The desk clerk was not the least bit helpful and in fact she was irritable, lacked any compassion and frankly is in the wrong business if she can’t stand the stress of such a job. She was as unengaged in being a solution to a problem as possible. It isn’t as if it was very busy there was one other person in the lobby at the time. I solved the problem by using the desk chair to roll out the heaviest piece of our luggage. The reason this was a problem was that the appointment for my wife was to schedule open heart surgery. I am a disabled veteran that is not able to carry much weight for any distance. So the need for the luggage carrier was real. The hotel should have had more of the luggage carriers it is hard to understand why they didn’t. The attitude of the morning desk clerk was...