Veterans Park Hotel — Hotel in Hamtramck

SERIOUSLY BEWARE. Read and listen to the bad reviews. The owner Erik is a scammer. I would give negative stars if I could. If you read a few reviews below mine, you'll see him REVIEW HIS OWN HOTEL, giving himself 5 stars and saying it's the best place to stay in Detroit, and it wouldn't surprise me if he's paid people to write good reviews for him (just my speculation though). My review is more of a story and it is long, but I hope it will prevent any other poor soul from being scammed by this piece of trash. Here's what happened to me and my friend: We are both 21/22 year old college students who booked the hotel for a couple of nights for a music festival that was in town through Priceline. I was sketched out by the reviews on multiple sites, and we honestly should have listened. The neighborhood itself is fine, but the hotel is shady. It doesn't even have a sign indicating it's a hotel except for in small print on the door, so it can easily be missed. When we got to our room, we read the note on the door explaining the house rules in which the very first thing says no smoking. Got it. After our first night there, while we were attending the second day of the festival, my friend got a call from Erik stating that we were being kicked out of the hotel for smoking and that we had one hour to gather our belongings and leave..... What?!?! We didn't! And when my friend told him that over the phone, he yelled "bullsht!!!!" and continuously called her a liar. She left the festival (and had to purchase a new ticket to re-enter...) and headed back to the place. When she showed up, he pulled her into a separate room, where he had a very large friend of his standing in the corner (obviously there to intimidate her). He told her we were being charged $330 for smoking in the room to "repaint the walls and replace the linens." He then threatened to call the police if she did not sign for the fee when she argued that we DID NOT smoke in his establishment. She said she felt threatened by not just the owner, but his big buddy as well, so she signed out of fear/anxiety of what would ACTUALLY happen if she didn't. He did assure her though that we would not be charged for the second night. Wrong... He charged us anyway, and ANY AND EVERYTIME we called about this, he hung up as soon as we said who we were???? We contacted Priceline and reported the situation the very next day. The representative from Priceline called Erik about this, and he lied, telling them that we "checked out" after 7PM (we were kicked out around 1PM...), so he had to charge us since it was too late to fill the room with new tenants. Seriously, save yourself time, money, and pride. Erik scammed and preyed on two naive young girls and has ruined my opinion of locally owned hotels forever. He will make up any lie to get money if he thinks he can get away with it. There better be some fresh f*king paint on those walls.................

Also, when my friend posted her review/story on the hotel's Facebook page, he removed the review section 6 hours later...

UPDATE Erik has removed his review of his own business mere hours after I posted this. Guess he doesn't like being called out. I have added a screen shot of his...

A friend and I booked a weekend stay at VPH through Priceline.com to attend a music festival. The owner, Eric showed us the room and explained the hotels rules, explicitly stating that smoking was not allowed. The room was decent and there were no problems the first night. 40 minutes after leaving hotel for the second day of the festival, I received a call from Eric stating that we had been kicked out for smoked in the room and we had an hour to collect our belongings. We did not smoke in the hotel or anywhere in Hamtramck. He yelled “bulls*!” into my ear when I told him this. I had to leave the festival (and later pay for a new ticket to re-enter) to gather our stuff. When I showed up to the hotel, he pulled me into his office, where a large friend of his stood in the corner and watched. He told me I was being charged $330 for smoking in the room. The $330 would be used to “repaint the walls and replace the linens”. When I argued that I did not smoke in the room, he threatened to call the cops if I did not sign for the $330 charge. I signed because I felt threatened, but he assured me I would not be charged for the second night. ||A day later I reported the situation to Priceline. I did not get the $90 reimbursement Eric promised me. The representative from Priceline contacted Eric. Eric lied to the Rep, and told him that I left at 7pm (not true) and that I had to be charged because it was too late to fill the room with new tenants. IF HE TRULY BELIEVED I SMOKED IN THE ROOM, THE ROOM NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN OCCUPIED THAT NIGHT, BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE NEEDED TO BE REPAINTED. When I called Eric again about returning the $90 to me, he hung up on me.||Do not stay here. Eric is dirty, and he preyed on two naive college girls. He will make up a lie if he thinks he can get away with it and will not reason with you. Unfortunately, this man has ruined my trust in...

AVOID!!! I stayed here over the weekend, and needed to extend my stay by one day. During check-in, I informed the manager about this, and he said ok, it'll be about $110. There was a pricing sheet on the wall that confirmed this price, so all was good. I check my bank account a few days after the stay, and what do you know, he charges me $202. I call and he said that he had to do special holiday pricing because of the holiday. He did not tell me this in person, he said $110, and the sheet also did not have any holiday pricing. Total scam. The room was also a kitchen suite, with a stove. During the stay, I informed the manager that there were no pans/pots to cook on the stove, and he told me to look under the sink in the cabinets. There was nothing. He said he would get there in a few minutes to see what he had, but he never reached out at all so I had to buy my own pan to cook. When i called him about it, he sarcastically said "Should I also provide you with eggs, ham, and other food too?" Great customer service. Avoid this thief, he will screw you one way or...