Red Carpet Inn Hot Springs, AR — Hotel in Hot Springs

I booked a room for two nights for my family at the Red Carpet Inn based on their proximity to Magic Springs and their "pet-friendly" $5/night dog allowance. The website said there was a pool and that the hotel was within walking distance of the amusement park.||||After two nights there, apparently having received The Red Carpet Treatment, I'm here to share our experience with fellow families seeking similar accommodations.||||We got to the hotel fine, but the derelict Golf Shop in the adjacent, overgrown parking lot didn't make a good first impression of the obviously aging Red Carpet Inn. There were no problems at check-in, as we were given a room on the first floor very near the front of the hotel. Since the property offers smoking rooms, we had requested a non-smoking room. As I parked in front of the room, I noticed there were only two other vehicles in the parking lot. Being so near the amusement park on the eve of Memorial Day, I had expected to see more vacationers upon arrival.||||The room was large with a bathroom inside. The sink was outside the bathroom door, but that's nothing I'm not accustomed to, having stayed at properties across a wide range of price points through the years. The carpet, fixtures, countertops, furniture, etc. were dated and showing a bit of wear, but the sheets were clean and there were a mini-fridge and a small microwave.||||While our room didn't smell like a smoking room, I'm not sure how the staff would've known if we smoked since the smoke detector was pulled off the wall with wires poking out. And when I plugged my laptop into the wall outlet, the plug fell back out and the lamp flickered with an electrical sizzling sound.||||We got unpacked, changed clothes, and prepared to walk to the amusement park. Our GPS gave us walking directions, but it wasn't able to tell us there would be no sidewalk, no path, not even a shoulder on the roadway. As a family, we run, play soccer and baseball, swim, and bike, so the prospect of a short trek to get to our single, day-long destination didn't produce complaints from anyone. However, when we realized we had to walk along the edge of a road with no actual footpath, it became more of a burden to navigate with children and a rolling cooler. I expect to face challenges hiking with those things down a hill to a bend in a creek, but not to an amusement park from a hotel billing itself as "within walking distance".||||When we got back to our room the first night, one of our children went into the restroom while the rest of us were kicking off shoes and finding dry clothes. I was startled a few seconds later by a loud noise coming out of the bathroom. Then my son called out, "Dad, the toilet won't flush!" ||||I went into the bathroom and found that the commercial-style, tankless toilet would not flush when the handle was pressed in any direction. I even tried pushing the handle straight in, since that has done the trick with that handle-type in the past. But the only result I could get was a loud whining sound with no waterflow. I called the front desk, and the gentleman from check-in came to our room, went to the toilet, and promptly flushed it on the first try.||||"No problem. See?" he assured me. "You just have to shove the handle in when you push down." ||||I gave it a shot, and although I could tell it would be too difficult for the children to do, I accepted the workaround and thanked him. After all, we were already unpacked and exhausted from being at the amusement/water park all day. After everyone had been to the restroom for the night, as we were all getting ready for bed, I went to the restroom and flushed using the shove-push trick. This time I was startled by a low, rumbling sound from somewhere within the walls. I tried flushing again and the sound got louder. Wondering if the sound was really coming from our room, I turned on the bath faucet ... the sound stopped. I turned off the bath, and the sound came back again. ||||Once more, I called the front desk clerk, and he came to our room to investigate. After poking around in the restroom for a minute, he disappeared out the door, leaving the exterior door open for a couple minutes while he went to diagnose the noise. A minute or two later the sound stopped and he reappeared, telling me it was a problem with the hot water and leaving it at that. Gracious to simply be able to go to sleep without the walls rumbling at me, I retired for the night.||||The next morning, I went to the front desk to pick some items from the continental breakfast to take back to our room for the kids. I was disappointed to discover only a few mini-muffins and mini-cinnamon rolls in a breadbox with some slices of white bread. There were two types of cereal available with nearly empty pitchers of milk and orange juice, and a single carafe of coffee, and some small disposable cups of cream cheese, but no bagels. Since there were no trays, I had to make a couple trips back and forth to the room, balancing milk for cereal, coffee, and muffins. When I went back a final time for a last cup of coffee, the lady at the front desk said, "It's best if breakfast stays in the breakfast room." She then pointed to a sign printed on a sheet of copier paper stating the same. ||||I told my kids that if we wanted breakfast the next day we would all have to go down to the breakfast room. However, once they tasted the dry muffins and watery, artificial-tasting orange juice, they all decided they'd rather skip breakfast altogether. I tried to make a small pot of coffee with the coffeemaker in our room, but the water just sat in the back of the pot boiling over. I found the tube in the back of the pot floating in the hot water, unattached to anything. When I took the pot to the front desk to let them know ours was broken and see about getting another, I told the lady, "This almost boiled over. Someone could get hurt with this. It's broken." ||||"No, it's not broken. See? It's just not connected," she replied, adding, "is that all?"||||When I asked for a replacement coffeemaker I was told they were in storage and the manager would be in at 1:00 so I could ask him for one then.||||Although the staff was never argumentative or objectionable outright, they were equally not hospitable nor helpful. ||||Finally, as we were gathering our things to leave on the last day, we thought about leaving our dog in the room for an hour or two while we took the kids for brunch. But when I called to request a late checkout, I was told that it would cost $10 per additional hour to extend our checkout. We declined and opted for convenient store snack food instead.||||I'm not sure when the photos on the website were taken, but given the differences between the photos and reality, it could have been a span of decades. The "sparkling outdoor pool" described as actually an overgrown, access-barred monstrosity. The "gate" blocking the entrance was just a stripped-down boxspring from a mattress, and there was an industrial looking oven/cooktop just sitting in the middle of the sidewalk leading to the pool area. Boards with nails poking out were piled under a stairway, and the vending area had a door and an old air conditioner leaning in the back corner. ||||I've been subjected to worse treatment by hotel staff before, and I've stayed at properties in worse condition than the Red Carpet Inn, but in each of those cases, I never returned to those hotels again. The same will be true of this latest experience. Even the low rate and small fee for pets aren't worth the insufficient maintenance and absence of customer service. Perhaps if we had been offered a chance to move into a room with a working toilet, or if the breakfast bar was as updated and appealing as the website photos made it look, or if the wall outlet didn't feel like a fire hazard, or if we weren't forced to pay hourly charges for a late checkout, any of the other concerns taken on their own might not have amounted to much. But compounding all of the issues into a single two-night stay made it difficult to see the value in the low rates. ||||If you are looking for a low price on a room close to Magic Springs with cheap rates for pets, and you aren't concerned with such frivolities as functioning toilets and working coffeemakers, then this might be the place for you. I am certain that it is not the place for my family, and we will be seeking other accommodations on our next visit to the park. I only hope this review sheds light on the reality of this property for other prospective guests, and that the owners find the time among not updating their property to at least update the website photos and descriptions to reflect that the pool is closed and guests should not expect to be able to walk to the...

I booked a room for two nights for my family at the Red Carpet Inn based on their proximity to Magic Springs and their "pet-friendly" $5/night dog allowance. The website said there was a pool and that the hotel was within walking distance of the amusement park.

Our GPS gave us walking directions, but it wasn't able to tell us there would be no sidewalk, no path, not even a shoulder on the roadway. I expect to face challenges hiking down a hill with children and a rolling cooler to a bend in a creek, but not to an amusement park from a hotel billing itself as "within walking distance".

When we got back to our room the first night, my son called out from the restoom, "Dad, the toilet won't flush!"

I went into the bathroom and found that the toilet would not flush when the handle was pressed in any direction. I even tried pushing the handle straight in, since that has done the trick with that handle-type in the past. But the only result I could get was a loud whining sound with no waterflow. I called the front desk, and the gentleman from check-in came to our room, went to the toilet, and promptly flushed it on the first try.

"No problem. See?" he assured me. "You just have to shove the handle in when you push down."

I gave it a shot, and although I could tell it would be too difficult for the children to do, I accepted the workaround and thanked him. After all, we were already unpacked and exhausted from being at the amusement/water park all day.

The next morning, I tried to make a small pot of coffee with the coffeemaker in our room, but the water just sat in the back of the pot boiling over. I found the tube in the back of the pot floating in the hot water, unattached to anything. When I took the pot to the front desk to let them know ours was broken and see about getting another, I told the lady, "This almost boiled over. Someone could get hurt with this. It's broken."

"No, it's not broken. See? It's just not connected," she replied, adding, "is that all?"

When I asked for a replacement coffeemaker I was told they were in storage and the manager would be in at 1:00 so I could ask him for one then.

Finally, as we were gathering our things to leave on the last day, we thought about leaving our dog in the room for an hour or two while we took the kids for brunch. But when I called to request a late checkout, I was told that it would cost $10 per additional hour to extend our checkout. We declined and opted for convenient store snack food instead.

I'm not sure when the photos on the website were taken, but given the differences between the photos and reality, it could have been a span of decades. The "sparkling outdoor pool" described as actually an overgrown, access-barred monstrosity. The "gate" blocking the entrance was just a stripped-down boxspring from a mattress, and there was an industrial looking oven/cooktop just sitting in the middle of the sidewalk leading to the pool area. Boards with nails poking out were piled under a stairway, and the vending area had a door and an old air conditioner leaning in the back corner.

If you are looking for a low price on a room close to Magic Springs with cheap rates for pets, and you aren't concerned with such frivolities as functioning toilets and working coffeemakers, then this might be the place for you. I am certain that it is not the place for my family, and we will be seeking other accommodations on our next visit to the park. I only hope this review sheds light on the reality of this property for other prospective guests, and that the owners find the time among not updating their property to at least update the website photos and descriptions to reflect that the pool is closed and guests should not expect to be able to walk to the...

I'm not saying to much but all 100% truth no lies. And I want everyone to know this please do not stay here if you have kids period this place is disgusting and I was there for awhile is a different room I never had a problem until they moved me to a different room and was good for maybe 3 to 4 days and was starting to get bites I wasn't able to sleep at all and after a day or so I started to check everything and sure enough they was everywhere in the box spring we been sleeping on so I said something to the maids to let the owners know and they can me a liar that it maybe fleas and I was making it up to get my money back and so at this point being a single father with my 2 kids I couldn't take it anymore with the no sleep and having to work 12 hours a day 5 days a week and with no heat not ever wanting to fix anything plus me spending my own money on bed bug sprays and there not cheap either it got to the point after I said screw it so I started putting the bugs in a cup that was sealed to prove it and all my pictures I took of me and my kids suffering and all they do is say sorry and take the mattress not the box spring that they was all in and sprayed it and latterly put it rite back in and said it was a new mattress lol and after seeing the proof so after them not wanting to do there jobs other than harass and blame everyone else and not fix a damn thing I wasn't going to keep paying period and owner had to call the cops and lie to them saying we never paid anything going on 3 months when I just paid him 300 that morning before me going to work and was going to still pay him another 250 but the cops was cool as hell and looked at all the recipients to prove it they said that look he lied and yall don't worry about doing anything tonite but to try to be out at noon the next day and if he trys anything to give us a call and we will handle it they were good people but anyway I never had beg bugs before or even have to deal with them and I wouldn't wish anyone not even my worst enemy to go through that so if yall have to stay there good luck but even there bug guy they have come spray said they have always been having problems with roaches and bed bugs after the owner saying that I bring them that they never had them ever so with this being said I apologize to everyone that's staying there or has no other place to go I will be praying for you all so God bless and thank God it won't let me post the pics I have of the proof cause it's pretty bad and they do know about it but don't care and I'm not the only one so I'm so sorry for whoever had to suffer and or is suffering though these hard times going or staying at this so called motel make sure to check everything before bringing your stuff and double check the beds cause they will put all the blame on you I'm just glad I'm out of that dump finally cause once Osha sees atleast half of there rooms and how they so called fixed them and see all the proof of everything they will probably just that dump down till they actually start caring and running things the right way like they are supposed to and it's sad on so many levels kicking families out after you take most of there money it's just pathetic but I advise yall please just double check the rooms cause there a few rooms that are nice and maybe don't have bugs but for the most part most of them do and like I said I'm sorry to you all for having to...