Tru by Hilton Harbison Columbia — Hotel in Irmo

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

I checked into the Tru Hilton Harbison on April 6, 2025 for an 8-night stay during which I was working in merchandise operations at the Masters in nearby Augusta. That said, I had a large quantity of clothing that I needed to hangup, and noticed upon arrival that the room only had a few hangers. I went down to the front desk and asked the attendant if he could give me a couple more, to which he immediately replied “no, sorry” without even looking up from their phone to acknowledge me. I could understand them not having any extra, but to not even check and just refuse the request was not the best way to start the experience. Returning to the room, I go to use the shower, only to find that the shower and drain is totally covered in hair, giving me good reason to believe the room was not properly cleaned before I checked in. Upon further inspection of the room, I found my suspicions to be true.

At this point, it was about 10pm, so housekeeping is obviously off property, and I was in the position of needing to be on the road to Augusta by no later than 5 am the next morning. So I wiped up the hair myself, got a shower, and went to bed. Hoping that I would ideally receive housekeeping service within the following 24-48 hours as Hilton policy provides, and forget about the mess I had to walk into. That turned out to be wishful thinking.

The grand finale was the cockroach party I returned to find in the room Saturday night, at which point my grace with the hotel broke and I was forced to rattle off the laundry list of issues I had encountered during the stay. I mentioned that I had received one day of housekeeping in the week I had been there. I mentioned the status of the room upon check in. I mentioned the insects I was having to deal with in my room due to the lack of cleanliness in the hotel. I recognized that the employees were extremely busy with the Masters that week, as well as seemingly multiple wedding parties in the hotel which was completely booked out for the weekend. But at a certain point, you cannot continue to accept bad service and pay full price.

All in all, Saturday was punctuated with a loud party that forced me to call the desk two more times for noise complaints, which persisted past 1am. Sunday night was more of the same in regards to the loud noise in the hotel, which the front desk opted to consider as a separate incident from the night prior, despite the noise being from the exact same party staying in the same rooms as the night prior. After having to call the desk two more times, for a total of four noise complaints regarding the same exact party, I gave up trying to get the hotel to uphold its 10pm quiet hours policy.

My favorite line of rhetoric that continues to be used by the hotel is that “I was not due any compensation for the issues I did not report immediately” - such as the dirty room, when there was no housekeeping on site to clean the room, the hotel was sold out and therefore could not move me, and at almost no point in the entire week did a housekeeper enter the room anyways.

The fact of the matter is that I did report every single one of the issues discussed herein to the hotel before checking out, and they did absolutely nothing whatsoever to accommodate me for the hassle. Only blamed me for their own hotel’s lack of proper management.

AVOID...

I booked a stay to this hotel for 5/20-5/21. I am one who thoroughly read reviews. I saw some good reviews and some that weren’t so good. One woman mentioned how she was not able to check into her room until after midnight because her room wasn’t ready. I figured that was one of those crazy things that don’t happen often...but I was so wrong. I should have heed that warning.

I arrived on Thursday 5/20 around 2:15p to check in. The front desk clerk (young white male...didn’t get his name) told me that no rooms were available for early check in and to come back at 3pm. No problem. I left and went to grab some lunch. I returned at 3pm expecting to check in. I was in Columbia on business and had somewhere to be so I was pressed for time. Anyway, as I’m waiting in line to be assisted, there’s an older black couple ahead of me and they were upset that the room they booked had been moved. At this point there is a second clerk there now (a white young woman) she is assisting the couple and the guy I spoke to earlier is there too. I hear her telling the couple that she isn’t sure what happened to their reservation, but currently no king rooms are available and that there is nothing she can do about it.

I’m standing there like, wow that’s terrible. I hope that works out for them just as I’m called up to the counter by the same young man who I spoke to before. It’s 3:10p at this point. He asked for my name, searches for my reservation and tells me “yeah, so pretty much it’s the same situation , there are no rooms available yet.” I asked him how that was possible if check in is at 3pm, he just says that he was sorry and doesn’t bother to give any further explanation nor does he offer to offer any solutions. I have friends who work in this hotel industry. Normally if Hilton cannot accommodate you, they’ll call another one of their hotels and get you a reservation there at a discounted rate.

I drove up from Charleston, I had a business appointment at 4pm, I needed to shower and change (it was hot as hell that day) but now I have no room and I am losing time. I asked that the clerk to cancel my reservation. He assures me that I would not be charged and should receive a cancellation confirmation email. I never received it. I checked my account and saw that I was still charged $98 Thursday and they tried to push another charge through today (Saturday). I was late to my meeting and didn’t have the proper time to plan due to this issue,

I am so disappointed in Hilton and their staff. Instead of relaxing on a Saturday and decompressing from this horrific trip, I am sitting on an hour long hold to talk with someone about these charges. If you want an easy and stress free stay DO NOT...

Allow me to preface this with the fact that I have stayed at multiple Tru hotels prior to this one. ||Pro: |🟢Location: this is the street with all the shops, things to do, etc. |🟢Handicap accessible rooms are of a nice size.|🟢 check-in and out procedures were smooth🟢 the lobby maintained the reasons why my sons enjoy Tru (games, leisure seating, etc)||🟡 Breakfast was average. There were obvious inconsistencies with the food choices and checking of produce. ||Cons:||⚫This location is not maintained. |⚫There is touch up paint poorly done everywhere, to include rust and signs of water damage in the rooms.|⚫ The heating and air unit sounded like it was about to take flight making sleep without earbuds impossible. |⚫ The flooring is poorly done resulting in popping up of the laminate as you walk.||⚫If there is an issue on the weekend, there is no access to a manager. ||Extended Rationale ||I washed my face and as I got to the end I realized that there was something 'red' on the towel. I checked my face to see if it was bleeding somewhere and it was not... conclusion: I either used a dirty or stained washcloth. I turned to the shower (which has rust all on the handicap seat), only to realize that the same substance was on the shower curtain.| |As I continue to get dressed, I look near the nightstand and there was a large hair clamp that was definitely not mine. ||I spoke with the desk clerk and shared my experience. I requested that the room be cleaned and all towels and linens be changed and restocked. ||We returned 12 hours later...our room was still in the same standing it was prior to our leaving. ||The night receptionists stated she was not aware and could only give us the items and we could call a manager on a weekday. ||As we prepared to check out today, we shared this with the same hotel clerk as our original complaint and she was shocked that our room was not taken care of. ||As stated before I stay at Tru when I travel for business or leisure because my sons generally enjoy the lobby and food; the location is great, the overall hotel is exceptional, and the prices with or without a third party site are reasonable. ||Unfortunately, this Tru does not live up to the Tru by Hilton name. ||While pictures speak a thousand words, I didn't take any because I just knew from past experiences with the Tru by Hilton hotels that this would be rectified.||At this time, I would not recommend this hotel if you are accustomed to the Hilton brand OR the Tru by Hilton experience. ||I do hope that when I speak with the manager there will be something said on behalf of the hotel. ||Reason for travel: 🏀 |Number of people: 4 |Booking...