Wyndham Garden Norfolk Downtown — Hotel in Norfolk

I really wanted to love this place, but it was a very mixed experience & because it was expensive I have to go down on my rating because at present it simply isn't worth the money (I paid around $100/night), but with some upgrades I read they are doing it might someday. I recommend lowering prices for known Wyndham guests and raising quality for a while. I stayed on NYE for two nights and in that time the following happened:

(1) The Internet, at first, worked intermittently. This is always a pet peeve of mine because it usually means it has not enough access points/ too many logging in to too few internet sources. It's such an easy way to get my compliments, if it even works mostly I'll give a hotel the credit for it. However, after a few hours of it finally (mostly) connecting, the wifi and cable both went out for the whole building at midnight on NYE. Haha. So, this was obviously a fluke, but after the issues that had been regular I had to mark this against them.

(2) There was a guy sitting in plain view of the staff asking people to get him a ride using your phone ok uber, promising to give you money if you did. The staff didn't seem particularly worried about it (but I could have been wrong). The guy stayed for at least a half hour. Near the elevator other people took model photos near the elevator (these could have been guests), but generally it seemed like the security was a bit lax, though it did have a dedicated guard (which was a positive & he was very customer friendly). The fault I think is a lack of locks on the door/ system for checking people in, not the guy doing his best to secure the building. The guy asking for money seemed like he might be drunk & wasn't a guest, so I don't know why he was being allowed to stay there.

(3) I went downstairs to the front desk asking for a plunger because we had a clog in the room (no fault of the hotel room). They didn't have one behind the desk and it took them nearly an hour to bring one up. They did and I appreciate that, but my problem was they didn't know where one was. Something like this is a basic for a hotel & should be easy to pick up if needed. The staff tried their best to fix the problem, but it was an awkward hour as my roommate had to use the downstairs restroom in the meantime. Maybe keep an extra one and know where it is.

(4) The room was in good condition & the view from the 12th floor was pretty. My car felt moderately secure, but I would have liked some more security patrolling.

Summary: it is an older building, they are fixing it up and the lobby is very nice. In my opinion they need to lower prices for a while, as I paid extra to stay here thinking it was nicer than other Wyndham properties, but was disappointed slightly by just about everything. If you need to stay downtown, fine enough probably, but the extra $30-$50 per night they charge over nearby hotels it should go the extra mile and it simply didn't. I wouldn't stay here again on my next visit to Norfolk unless they improve these points and overall luxury of this downtown location. It has a lot...

Positive: Debra Berry - Front desk. Exceptional customer service. Good employees are hard to find. She is a gem! We were booked for 3 nights for a law enforcement conference. We checked out after 2 nights.|I have stayed at Wyndham Hotels many times. I am so disappointed with this property. Wyndham has always, in the past, been upscale, beautiful and clean.||Negative: |- NO SLEEP. The walls are paper-thin, our neighbors on the 1st night were up and loud until 3 am|2nd night, new neighbors, became very loud at 12:37 am. Called the front desk, security came up.|Quiet for 5 min. then started yelling about the neighbors calling security. went on all night, in addition to their tv being on and loud all night.||The room on the other side of us, children were screaming, banging on the walls while the parents were screaming at each other.||Incidentally, we ran into guests who were on our same floor but at the opposite end who were upset about the same issues we were having.||Room: Although I see that renovations have been made, they have been cheaply implemented. Throwing paint over splintered wood and laying laminate over the existing floor does not constitute an upgrade.|- cabinet doors were broken|- coffee pot was broken (they did replace it)|- outlet for coffee pot was useless. It did not accommodate a three-prong plug.|- opaque bathroom barn door, although cute, there are design flaws for the purpose of a hotel room| - handle on the outside of bathroom is fine, the pocket handle inside crushes fingers when you close it.| - The opaque window allows light to filter into the whole room in the middle of the night, awakening other occupants in the room.| - not sound absorbent at all| - had hot water for shower, but that evening no hot water from the sink, checked if water was hot from the tub, NO HOT WATER| - Grout dingy and dirty||Hallway: Honestly, every time I walked down the hallway I felt I was in the movie, The Shining. Red, velvety wallpaper, red and black weird leathery tile (????) |This is obviously a personal observation but it was not friendly.||Elevators: dirty, same papers on the floor every day. When the doors closed the elevator made horrible noises and would drop slightly. ||Reception area: This area was beautiful, updated, and clean. ||Closing: We were compensated for our visit. When checking out with Ms. Berry, I checked to make sure my credit card had been closed out. She informed me that the only charges would be the parking and the restaurant charge. STOP: We did not eat on the property at all! Someone had charged to our room.|Ms. Berry, at this point comp'ed our parking and of course took the food charge off the bill.|She offered to move our room and accommodate us, at this point we were exhausted and decided to forego the remainder of our stay.||Wyndham, you have good employees, but you should be ashamed of that property. It does not represent the...

Worse experience I can truly say! The theme of my trip was no communication. I recently purchased a room for one night because I had some business. The very first start I need to acknowledge that I purchased the hotel and did the option to pay at the hotel because of company reimbursement policy. The day of my reservation while driving I must add! The hotel calls and lvm to explain that I would need to make the payment for my room in full in 20 mins or they will cancel my Reservation. I explained that I was driving and didn’t have the option to pull over. The lady explain with a nonchalant attitude that was hotel policy. However before making the purchase there was no where on the website that stated this policy you speak off! Angry I gave card information while driving and asked for a receipt. The lady advised it would be given upon check in. Finally get to the hotel the FRONT DESK MANAGER checks me in. I wrote the title in bold because I wanted to highlight the important title to given emphasis to my added frustration. I asked again for a receipt and was advised by the front desk manager that receipt is only given at check out. Over it all at this point and exhausted because it seems like no one can give me a straight answer. I check in. The room small and the refrigerator is making a loud noise for the whole night unable to get comfortable but I said whatever I am only here for one night. Early in the morning we check out because we had a full day. I get down to the front desk and request the receipt that the manager advised I would get . The new front desk associate advised me now that we can't get a receipt since they didn’t complete a charge. I explained if no charged was complete then why is 100 dollars charged to my card. The women laugh and say you can be annoyed but we don’t have a receipt to give. I simply exit at this point ! I go to move my car but there is another car blocking the ramp and I am unable to exit. I enter and ask the security guard can he ask the person to move their car. However both security guards begin to look at me for disturbing their conversation even though they are working . I think it’s absurd how you are getting paid for a job but look annoyed because I am asking you to do the job . I want to say as someone who works in customer service that it’s very hard to resonate with this hotel . When people are paying money to stay at your establishment it’s most important to demonstrate some form of empathy and respect for a customer . Transparency is key when dealing with money and people’s time.I can honestly say that training needs amplified ! As a customer I am counting on you to know the policy and procedures since this is your job ! The whole experience has left a nasty taste in my mouth regarding this hotel. The run around and the lack of empathy or respect to customers that works hard for their money. I will never again spend a dime for...