Desert Poppy Inn — Hotel in Lancaster

I stayed at this establishment on both September 22nd through September 24th 2023 as well as September 29th to October 1st 2023. Out of all the establishments I could have picked here in Lancaster I chose this one due to the proximity of it being close to the AV Fairgrounds. I work for a company that was a sponsor at the AV Fairgrounds in the AV Fair. The hotel itself was fine. The Continental breakfast was good, the gym had a nice Bowflex machine. The first weekend I stayed here at this hotel went well. Up until the second weekend that I stayed here when I noticed that the $50 incidental charge they have here at this hotel posted to my account. The first weekend I stayed in a Studio Suite, even though the bed was on one side of the room and the couch was on the other side of the room with a TV on a nightstand in the middle. The TV had a remote control that did not have a guide option to the remote so if you wanted to find your channel you had to go through every channel up and down to find it. The problem with this scenario is that most people don't live in the area in which the hotel is located therefore the cable channels other than the basic ones are all different. I wasn't about to use a remote and scroll through every channel for hours just to find the right TV channel. So I never used the TV. Which is also the reason why I'm writing this review. After learning about the hotel charge of $50 I was told by a representative at the hotel that the reason I was charged was because of a "DISCONNECTED TV". I was like in shock, even the representative was like shocked that they would charge me for a disconnected TV that I DID NOT DISCONNECT when all they have to do is plug it back in. This representative printed me out a slip that shows disconnected TV as the reason behind the $50 charge . I was also told to contact Karla the hotel manager the next morning on the 2nd of Oct. Needless to say, after calling Karla and finding out she was not there, and after speaking to another representative at this point she had told me that a maintenance worker went in the room and saw that the "lock box" on the TV was missing. I said lock box? What is a lockbox? She didn't specify, only to tell me that they normally charge $150 for this and that they're willing to do it for $50. Honestly sounded like a scam. After she told me that, I called Best Western International to file a complaint with their customer service line. As I was waiting to talk to someone through customer service , I realized that this hotel is actually owned by Bain Hospitality and Mehr Consultancy, which is technically through the state of California known as HM, Hospitality Inc. I ended up speaking to a woman by the name of Harmeet Mann-Baines, who I believe is the chief operation officer or chief enforcement officer of this hotel. I explained to her that I had some bogus charge of $50 and if they do it to me they probably do it to everyone else. As a result of saying that she said I was accusing her of doing things that wasn't true in that she would put me on the do not rent list. As I was waiting to hear back from Best Western International, the corporate office, I called back to this hotel and one of the gentleman's with an accent answers the phone and says who is this, as I proceed to tell him who it is they realize it's me, and as I told him it's the guy that will be suing them for $50 he says You must be pretty desperate to have to sue for $50. Makes me wonder if they just think $50 is nothing and they can just steal people's money and it doesn't matter. The hotel I Contacted my bank and ask them to open an investigation into this fraudulent charge, and after talking to Best Western International who also doesn't seem to care anymore than the hotel itself, they sided with the hotel. The hotel is stating that the TV was disconnected and that there was a scratch on the TV. So I told the hotel and Best Western show me a picture of the scratch on the TV and show me a picture of the TV prior to me checking into the room. How can they actually prove that I was the person that did it even though I didn't do nothing.? Obviously this is one way that could show that there are just trying to rip people off if they don't have a picture that could show the TV wasn't scratch before I came in then how can they prove their point.? It's crazy to think that this company thinks I'm just going to let this go . Nah more then likely, I'm going to go to small claims court and...

On 5/4/22 I tried calling and I spoke very kindly to a young lady at the front desk to speak to a manager about strange charges on my son’s credit card after being a guest. There was a $185 charge and a $714.00 charge. He had 1 day and came back and stayed 2 days. Those charges were taken out already. The young lady was very short with me told me to call back the next day for a manager. I did. This time the same young lady said she was a supervisor. I asked her about the charges. She said there was stains on 2 large towels and 2 wash cloths that were not going to come out, so they charged $185. Wow! I asked her why was the towels so high? Then she told me she didn’t see a $714.00 extra charge at all. But as she was speaking she was talking very fast and very rude. She told me they can charge as much as they wanted at Best Western for 4 towels. She told me that she didn’t have to explain anything, and that she didn’t know why $714 was charged on his card. I asked her to please slow down and to explain it to me clearly. Because she sounded angry and was talking very fast again. Like she didn’t want to assist. She started acting more irrational and started yelling at me.At this point I was frustrated at her behavior, but I wasn’t going to stoop to her level. I told her that she was rude and she needed to practice better customer service. I asked for her name, and she hung up the phone in my face. I was shocked. I’ve never experienced such bad customer service. No patience. Lying about fraudulent chargers and who she is. Would not give her name. As well the lack of customer care and attention to assist me. If this was her credit card she would be concerned and would like the hotel to help her! I think there is fraudulent activity and poor service at this hotel and this needs to be addressed! I have been a business owner for years. I have several employees. I would never allow them to address customers this way. And if fraudulent activity is being asked about this should be taken care of swiftly. I’ve traveled and stayed in many hotels, and I have never experienced anything like this! Myself our my family would never...

My husband, daughter and I stayed in the hotel while attending a baby shower for a family member from the area. Unfortunately, housekeeping failed to make up our room after the first night's stay. I mentioned this to the housekeeper the next day when I saw her in the hallway and she apologized saying she would let the front desk know and that it should not have happened. At check-out I asked for a discount on my room. The clerk did not seem to have heard anything from housekeeping and immediately asked if I had placed a Do Not Disturb sign on my door. I answered honestly that we did place one on the door from 8:30 - 10:30 AM while we were getting breakfast and getting dressed, but removed it when we left the room. She then told me that she did not have the power to discount the room and I should contact the manager next week when he was in. I followed up with manager by email who offered me 700 rewards points in a program I am not enrolled in and noted that I had placed a "do not disturb" sign on my door -- again implying that it was my fault the room was not made up. I responded via email that I had done so but removed it when we left at 10:30. I never received any response after that.

I am not typically a complainer and I was very offended at the way in which both the desk clerk and manager immediately implied that it was my fault and that I was lying about it. While I commend their loyalty to their staff, obviously mistakes do happen. I have never had an issue at any other hotel when I took off a do not disturb sign before noon. I think my request for 50% off one night's stay was a reasonable request. Not even receiving a sincere apology or response to my request added insult to injury. I will not stay here for future visits and do not recommend others do either. Who knows....next time they might accuse me of stealing...