Crowne Plaza Edison, an IHG Hotel — Hotel in Edison

I had an incident with Melissa Espinal, the front office manager. It was a traumatic and hurtful experience. I stayed at this property for multiple times, with a total estimate of 2-3 months. I am 44 years old Asian woman. By looking you would not know that I have disabilities. An ignorant person would only judge that I might not need a service dog. I have a stage 4 cancer, PTSD, and other disabilities. I would like to JUDGE my impressions of Melissa Espinal since she judged my two dogs by their appearances. Every employees at this location is dressed in basic shirts and suits or pants. She stands out by being overly dressed compared to others. She wears a lot of makeup, fancy jewelries, short skirts, luxury brand accessories, and wears high heels when she can barely walk in them. I felt that she desperately wanted to show everyone that she is the manager. I have been to high-end hotels, and their managers dressed comfortably while looking classy. I would not have minded her choice of style if she had treated my dogs the same. She was more professional at looking fancy before being a professional at her job. She obviously does not know the laws of ADA , HUD, and also in New Jersey, a "one-party consent" law allows individuals to record conversations if they are a party to the conversation or have the consent of at least one other person involved.||I have been living in a hotel for past 10 months in the NJ area andI have NEVER received a complaint of my dogs in any hotels for their misbehavior or other guests suspecting our dogs as non-service dogs. After multiple check-ins at this location without any issues… last week, Melissa Espinal confronted me that multiple guests have complained that my dogs might not be service dogs because they are not wearing service animal vests. I was confused and told her that this issue cannot be resolved at my end and asked of her intentions of giving me this information. She replied that I should just be aware of the complaint. She also admitted that my dogs have never misbehaved and I did not do anything wrong as a handler of my dogs. My dogs and I did nothing wrong, but she wanted to make me uncomfortable and gave me a hint that I am no longer welcomed at this hotel. Being upset about her comments… a couple of days later, I confronted her. I asked her of her intentions of her comments days before and expressed my feelings that I was uncomfortable and felt that I was being discriminated against. I explained my physical and mental status to her and why I need to have a service dog. Melissa said I am no longer allowed to make a reservation at this location because I have escalated my complaint, other guests have made complaints, and that I am not cooperating with them. I recorded our conversation to protect myself, and when I let her know of it, she said I am not allowed to record her without her permission, and she walked out on me. If you did nothing wrong, you would not be offended someone recorded you. Also, as a “manager” of IHG, you should know the laws. Melissa, please study the basic laws as a hotel manager instead of spending your time shopping and putting on makeup. I had a long conversation with Eric, the general manager. He convinced me that they did nothing wrong, and I accepted it without any genuine apology from Melissa Espinal. I accepted his excuses because I was having a panic attack during the incident and was not fully capable of digesting his excuses. He said I am allowed to make future reservations here but asked if I can be discreet by using the back door to enter and exit. But after listening to the recordings, I realized that he was not truthful. They have violated the ADA and HUD laws. I believe that they have discriminated against their guests in the past, and no one stood up for their rights.I will be filing complaints to HUD and have sought a legal advice. Please stand up for your rights. Do not let these big companies get away with...

Upon checking in, we discovered that the room had not been cleaned. The sheets had multiple hairs and even a BLOOD STAIN, I immediately brought this to the attention of Josh at the front desk and requested to be moved to a different room. I specifically asked him to ensure that the new room was thoroughly checked and cleaned before we returned from dinner to avoid encountering the same problem.

When we returned, we found that the second room also had hairs in the sheets. Over the course of the evening, we were moved through FIVE DIFFERENT ROOMS each presenting "UNSANITARY"and unacceptable conditions. One room still had "BODY FLUID STAINS" on the fitted sheet. Another room's bathtub was full of hair. One bathroom had fake eyelashes left behind. It is abundantly clear that your housekeeping team is NOT CLEANING the rooms and leaving the same dirty sheets that the previous guests have slept in. Additionally, as we were packing to check out, we discovered that our new luggage had been damaged which was obviously a deliberate act of retaliation by a member of your housekeeping team for reporting the conditions. I reported these matters to the front office manager, Melissa Espinal, during check-out, whom flat out lied and said that she could assure me that this has never happened and that all the guests love their stay. I knew in your demeanor that you were lying since you did not look one bit surprised with what I was telling you nor with all of the images that I showed you of the FIVE DISGUSTING ROOMS we went through.

I later discovered numerous negative reviews highlighting similar problems with DIRTY ROOMS and THEFT INSIDE THE ROOMS, which Melissa had previously responded to, contradicting her assurance that such incidents have never happened there before.

I also contacted General Manager Eric Albano via email 6 days ago, providing a detailed account of our experience, along with the images below. While Mr. Albano responded that same day, stating he would investigate the matter with housekeeping and follow up, I have yet to receive any further communication. He has neither followed up by email nor returned the phone message I left with the Front Desk.

This lack of follow-through and disregard for the guests health, safety and property is entirely unacceptable. One would expect a higher level of professionalism and accountability from a General Manager in his position. His failure to address this matter demonstrates that this neglect is a common practice...

Came here on July 14th 2024, Sunday to check in.... was told by front desk we cannot get checked because there is an outage and not able to process payment but guess staying for a week or more were processed and given priority to go upstairs . It was frustrating and unprofessional being that we have frequented this hotel . When my partner spoke to front desk the guy replied there is nothing he can do . I intervene and asked if they didn't have a form to process payment after the outage is resolved as we frequented this hotel on a regular...membership and all. The front desk guy then stated he will call the manager . He stated manager informed him anyone not staying a week or more should NOT go upstairs to be roomed . I was livid upset as I've never seen or heard protocol for a hotel like this. I called the main toll free number to get assistance what to do then the front desk who seemed very unsure and inexperienced along with a bunch of young new employees who aren't trained themselves stated he will call his manager AGAIN... ( *waiting almost a hour watching people pass ans go upstairs).. Then he discuss signing a form to process payment once the outage was resolve ...which I suggested from the beginning. Upon getting the keys processed the first room had no AC and was very humid. ...guess rooms are not evaluated before guests are checked in ??? After going downstairs to front desk for a new room which we both are extremely frustrated already got to the second room and the room was brick ice cold . The room adjuster along with the AC panel was not working and we were done going downstairs...the experience for the day was just too much. Guess what happens now ...my partner gets congested and eventually got sick from the blazing AC in the room . We were just done with the hotel and decided we won't be returning. This was just the last straw ...too much unprofessionalism, lack of knowledge and protocol in the event there is an outage , managers having preference who should be checked in , Rooms are not checked and evaluated before guests check in . Too much disorder . Terrible experience... what I'm writing does not express the horrible ordeal or experience we went through....