Clarion Pointe Huntsville Research Park — Hotel in Huntsville

We needed a mid priced affordable hotel to stay for a week that was located close to where we needed to be but was located in a little better area then some of those located in the older section of the city. PROS Rooms have been redecorated and are clean with comfortable beds. Bathrooms are functional and have had minor renovations but remain old style for now. Shutters with curtains on the windows were awesome for controlling light versus trying to close curtains and prevent light from peeking in. Did not hear noise from neighbors or the outside during the night. Plenty of lights and closet space for things. Awesome wi fi when the hotel is empty during week and when the hotel is not full. At night things are slowed but probably the best wi fi for a hotel we have experienced. Common areas such as lobby, laundry room, exercise room have also been redecorated and are updated. The fitness room is great! Access to rooms is from the outside and all walkways are covered. Also walkways are great for getting your steps in since hotel has many rooms. Breakfast was good and staff kept everything filled despite the number of people filling up large coffee mugs in the morning. Maid service was very good. We did not have to chase them down once because something was forgotten. Also professional and respectful. Elevators available for the floors. Next to many food options so a short drive for many options. Pool was clean and area well maintained. CONS Hotel caters to blue collar contractors and they arrive en mass on Sunday or Monday. They congregate in the open spaces during the evening smoking and drinking and areas not hospitable to the common traveler. They also leave it a mess and hotel is not maintaining these areas on a daily basis so they are trashed. Smoking policy should be more clearly spelled out or smoking areas set off from non smoking rooms. Covered walkways mean smoking occurs wherever they want to do it and comes in via the ac units. 1st floor rooms seem to always have smokers sitting out and passing by to go to lobby means you will encounter it despite best efforts to avoid. Stairwells are often full of litter and cigarette butts despite signs saying not to smoke in them. Elevators work but are dirty and in need of renovations. Walkways need to be swept to remove mud, dirt, litter etc. By nighttime trash cans are overflowing Front office staff, for the most part, seem to be in their own world and can be rude or just make you feel like you are intruding on them. Frankly in many instances they just stare at you and you are left wondering what you did. No vending machines so they have a "pantry" which has nothing priced and is hidden away. When I took the last bottle of water and suggested they might want to put more in (it was 90 degrees) they looked at me incredulously and said "too bad." TIPS If you are going to be here for more then a night or two, get a 2nd or 3rd floor room to avoid all the people traffic. Hotel has a very small footprint for the number of rooms and is at high occupancy during the week. Avoid breakfast between 6 to 6:45 during the week if you can. It can be a madhouse. Know the area or get the info yourself. Don't expect much help from the front desk staff. Get quarters and detergent for laundry from the front. Only 2 machines and...

VALERIE is a disgusting individual. Booked here previously with other staff, service was just fine. Stayed again and there were baby and adult ROACHES crawling all over the room. Roaches crawling out of the A/C unit, roaches crawling in the bathroom, even a live roach crawled in the fridge. (PHOTO INCLUDED) I let the hotel know about the roach problem and was told by the front desk that it was “not a valid reason” to switch rooms. I proceeded to call Choice Hotels customer service and they got me transferred to another room and a comp started as they said and as we all know, an infestation is completely unacceptable. Choice told me the manager would absolutely have to provide some type of resolution and to speak with the manager once they came to work. I waited from 4am after changing rooms to 7am when she finally arrived. When I approached the desk she snarled “What is it” and glared across the desk. She instantly became hostile before I even had the chance to tell her I’ve already spoke to corporate about the issue, but they wanted me to come speak to the manager about the resolution of the roach infestation. She told me to my face that there are no roaches. I have proof and photos that there are indeed cockroaches as well as Choice Hotels already being informed. She repeated that there are no roaches and since I’m not satisfied that I can leave. I already paid for another day after today during the reservation. In fact, I was still on the phone with Choice Hotels who heard the whole conversation. Five minutes later the police arrived, because Valerie failed at doing any part of her job, instead she abuses her power to have me escorted off the property because of her own cockroach infestation. She also lied and told the police I had no reservation and even printed out my receipt from the previous day to try to make it seem like I did not have a reservation that was already paid for throughout the next day. Luckily, I was still on the phone with Choice Hotels whom confirmed to the police that I did indeed have the paid reservation through the next day. It didn’t matter, though according to Alabama state laws. The police did not agree with the situation but those are the laws here. Corporate is taking this deliberate misuse of policy very seriously and I doubt she will be working here much longer. The only thing more disgusting than disease carrying cockroaches running around the property is Valerie‘s cruel and atrocious attitude. Please stay anywhere else. Any of the good reviews are fake. Fair...

This was my first stay at a Clarion. I am not sure what was happening in the room, because I always check the rooms beds and furniture to make sure there are no signs of bedbugs or any other pests. But, there were some type of gnats, maybe sand gnats, I am not certain. But they would bite me and my daughter. The pesky creatures would bite so hard that they would awaken us in the middle of the night or early morning. And, since we were on a conference trip, this affected my performance and abilities to remain awake and alert the next day. I did kill several, and I couldn’t see anything that was drawing them to the room, but that was my biggest complaint. The shower was a nightmare. It was stuck in the off position as when someone turns too hard and locks it into place. Then, once I got the water on, I realized the reason for this problem; it was because the shower was halfway broken. Water sprayed some from the shower head and some from the spigot. And, the shower head was stuck in a position that was completely towards the shower curtain. Which for me is a horrible issue because I can’t stand the shower curtain touching my skin. But, that’s a me problem. I do love the fact that the Clarion Pointe serves a HOT BREAKFAST with many choices to choose from. I didn’t actually get to eat because I was running late each morning because I didn’t sleep well, but my daughter did and she was very impressed. She’s 25. Not a child, so her opinion counts with me. When everyone else is serving muffins, coffee, and juices, Clarion has a filling hot breakfast to help you get through your morning. I also enjoyed the fact that the Clarion was such an easy route to the convention center there in Huntsville, Al. I will probably consider staying there in the future but please eliminate the pests issues. They did cause me problems. I hope that my review has given...