Hilltop Inn & Suites — Hotel in North Stonington

If zero stars was an option, I would have selected that. The man at the front desk should not be working in the hospitality industry. I have been staying at the Hilltop for over 14 years. It's a comfortable and inexpensive option near Foxwoods; however, after my experience this morning, I will not be returning.

My boyfriend and I were packing to head out and had our room door open when a male staff member came out of no where and appeared outside the open door, startling me, to ask me if my husband was just smoking outside. No greeting, no "excuse me," no politness - just an abrupt and direct question. I quickly replied, "no, he doesn’t smoke," which is the truth. He does use a tobacco-less, smokeless inhaler as he is trying to kick an old vaping habit but that is not smoking or vaping. I did not feel as though I needed to explain this as there weren't any more questions from him. He simply said, "Oh, ok" and left.

I tought the encounter was strange to say the least. I proceeded to continue packing then grabbed my bag and exited the room to check-out. I went to the front desk and the same male staff member was there. I turned in the room keys and said, "I'm checking out" to which he replied "You're all set." My boyfriend and I left and thought nothing more of the odd encounter until I checked my online bank account a couple of hours later. I was charged an additional $50. I called to inquire about the charge and was told by this same man, "you lied to me this morning when I asked you if your husband was smoking. I saw it on the camera." I tried to ask a couple of questions, one of them was for an emailed receipt for this charge and the other was to either speak with his manager or to get his manager's name. He belittled me, called me a liar, spoke over me and would not let me get a word in edgewise. When I asked for his manager's name again, he simply replied "have a good day," and hung up. I called back several times asking for the manager's name and when they would be available to speak to me. I got the same response. He would not provide the manager's name or contact information.

This man should not be in the customer service industry. He also should have told me when I was checking-out about the $50 charge because I would have immediately questioned it and refuted his false claim about my "husband smoking outside." It seems as though there are a number of other complaints about this particular male staff member. It also looks like Hilltop has lost several former long-time guests due to his unprofessionalism, poor communication skills and lack of self-awareness.

Will never return...

When we arrived we were a little bummed we had to go outside to get to our suite. No big deal though. The room is outdated, smelled like cigarette smoke, and had a burn on the edge of the tub, despite the room being non smoking. I definitely didn’t feel as if the room was worth 361$. My fiancé and I walk down to breakfast. Their continental breakfast consists of bagels, muffins, toast, a waffle maker, coffee, juice, and cereal. We frequent hotels a bit, so when my fiancé went to make me a waffle he asked, Dom, the man checking people in, if there was spray. Dom might have been having a bad day, I don’t know, but he responded “I already did it, I spray it in between use.” Whatever, his tone was clearly annoyed. So my fiancé makes my waffle, goes to take it out and only the top half of the waffle comes out, the bottom half of it is still stuck to the waffle maker. So my fiancé manages to get it off the machine it’s definitely ugly, but edible. So he says “don’t worry babe I’ll eat that one and make you another.” So he starts to make another one after Dom, comes out and sprays the machine. Dom from behind the counter across the lobby says so disgustingly rudely “so what you’re just gonna throw that one away?” My fiancé responds back, now his tone is annoyed as well, “no actually I am planning to eat it, but even if I was throwing it away that’s not your business.” To which Dom replies “it is my business, my job is to be in your business.” “There’s people waiting for the waffle machine,” there was one other woman there and she was using the toaster. There was 2 of us, we were both planning to have a waffle, we made two waffles.. He continues to try and get a reaction from my fiancé, he would not give it up. I said “come on babe, it’s fine let’s just go up to the room and eat breakfast.” Dom screams from across the lobby “what was that? What was that? You guys can check out.” I said “sir I paid almost 400$ for one night at this establishment, I am not checking out at 8 in the morning.” I couldn’t hear what he was saying as I walked back towards my room. I was appalled at the customer service this man gave us. I looked everywhere for a way to reach out to the owner, and I intend to continue that search. That man wrecked any chance of me ever stepping foot anywhere near this...

EDIT: 6/26/2025 after response:

I did all of the things you suggested. Expedia did not charge me what I am concerned about, your business did…You can process the refund right now. The young lady who I check out and have spoken with the last 24 hours stated it is “with you”. It appears that the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing.

I, unfortunately don’t believe that you are sorry, based on other reviews I’ve seen on here. Is it a character reference or an apology? I contacted via email and you chose to respond to me on here. Fix it, thanks.

Original Review:

Don’t stay there if you don’t have to. I would give it zero stars all around if I could. They are mean (the blonde lady) called me on Saturday morning with an attitude at 11:39 am and said “you didn’t check out check out was at 11”. They waited all day 10:30pm. They said they called me all day (they didn’t call my cell they called my room phone by they way) and said that needed to give them my credit card for “incidentals”…I knew they were trying to be sneaky. They blamed it on the guy who was there when I originally checked in and said he was training and didn’t know but the guy who was at the desk when I rebooked was standing right there and said nothing and didn’t take any responsibility. A charge showed up on my card for $25 and the room was filthy. I wiped the floor with a rag and you can see it in the corner of the bathroom it was disgusting. The room smelled like pine sol and fabric refresher.

Bring your own snacks or food the “complimentary” breakfast is all prepackaged.

Sent an email today that came back multiple times. Supposedly the owner was ‘unavailable’.

Good Morning, I stayed at your motel from Friday June 20-Sunday June 22. I made both reservations through Expedia and was still charged $25 on Tuesday. I was told when checking out that I would not be charged for anything. I would like to know why and get my money back.

I left the room clean, I actually wiped the floors cleaner, as noted by the towel in the bathroom, as they were filthy when I got there. Breakfast was complimentary and I bagged up my garbage. There was also a pretty large gap in between the door and the floor and anything could have gotten in What is the reason for the charge? See pictures below...