Comfort Inn & Suites Mandan - Bismarck — Hotel in Mandan

I wish I could give this 0 stars.

We Googled the hotel in advance so arrived with an expectation of what the rate would be as it was advertised online. When we arrived at the hotel, it was going to be about 40% above the advertised price. When I asked the man at the front desk, he said that that was the online rate, which they were not able to honor unless we reserved the room online. I have a smartphone. I said, "So, if I step away from the desk and make this reservation online, I can save 40%?" He said, "Yes."

So my sister and I did that. Not through a third-party site but through the parent company (Choice Hotels). The card was immediately charged and the reservation confirmation came to my email. Shoot! The website auto-filled for the following night instead of tonight! I told the man at the front desk, who told me there was nothing he could do, the web reservations are not connected to the hotel at all. Also, his computer wasn't showing a reservation for any night. I asked if he had a number to get help (there was no number on the confirmation email), he didn't. I was surprised but googled Choice Hotels customer service and got the numer. I should note here that the man who was working at the front desk at the hotel seemed to want to be helpful but had no training whatsoever in customer service and just exacerbated the situation. Once on the phone with the customer service number for the company, they told me that there was no way to switch the reservation, but they would be happy to book us a new one, we could call back tomorrow after 7 am to TRY and get a refund for the following night (when we would NOT be there).

I asked to speak to a supervisor, because I have worked a lot in customer service and understand that there are a number of things that can't be handled at the first level, this seemed like an exceptional circumstance. She put me on hold. For 40 minutes. My sister called the line multiple times while I was on hold and talked to multiple people, none of whom could/would help. All during these phone calls, the man from the front desk checked in on us several times (we had gone around the corner in the lobby so as to be out of the way) not to offer help, but seemingly to hold it over us that we shouldn't have used the website since in-person service is better. Which, I agree to generally be true. But in this case, both were significantly under par.

Finally, we hung up and went down the street to a different hotel. Will update tomorrow whether or not we got a refund but I will NOT BE staying at any Choice Hotel if I can avoid it. Terrible...

UNBELIEVABLE STAFF: I could not recommend this hotel more if I tried. The staff here are absolute experts in the customer service and hospitality industry; if more employees were trained to mimic the golden standard these ladies set, customers would leave happy from any hotel. I wish I remembered all their names, but a thank you to Jillian and her coworker who welcomed me in late 3/20/22 night and to Betty who took charge in ensuring my stay was as comfortable as possible. Even the girls setting up the food made an effort to interact with you and offer what they could to meet your needs. FREE BREAKFAST: When there was a part of my room that I felt could have been cleaned better, the front desk immediately sent someone over that day and left the area spotless. They offer complimentary breakfast each morning and dinner during the week of my stay. I wish there were healthy, natural foods offered. Perhaps varying the fruit option to be more than just apples would be a quick fix for those with similar diets that missed out on enjoying this perk. AMENITIES: Gym available, pool, and hot tub. Never overcrowded. Thank you to the staff who went out of their way to make my business trip into a vacation. LOCATION: Walmart is right next door, and it is only a 10-15 min drive to get to Mandan or Bismarck. Perfectly situated to save you time to hit snooze in the morning.

WOW! They really consider feedback too. My face lit up as I saw some kiwis in the fruit section on my way...

My sister and I had been driving 10 hours and we're excited to relax in a quiet, cozy hotel. After looking at their website (which had a rate of $88) we called ahead to the hotel to make sure they still had rooms which they assured us they did. We arrived at the hotel to find out that their walk in rate was $105. The clerk informed us the only way to get the online rate was to book online so we stepped aside to do that. We reserved and prepaid for a room via the hotel website but accidentally reserved for tomorrow instead of tonight. The clerk assured us he'd help switch the room over to tonight if we could call and get the reservations department to fax him the reservation since we were not in his system AT ALL. After calling customer service, being told they couldn't do anything to help us and to call back in the morning (with no guarantee of any type of refund) we asked to speak to a supervisor. We waited on hold for 30 minutes before I used my phone to call customer service (while my sister waited on hold for another 10 minutes before hanging up). Apparently the website and the reservations department have absolutely nothing to do with each other so we have to call a separate department tomorrow to cancel our room that we don't need but they could help us make another reservation for tonight (for $109). We are extremely tired after traveling and decided to find another hotel in the area instead of spending our money and a hotel with such atrocious...