EVEN Hotel Norwalk by IHG — Hotel in Norwalk

We celebrated our wedding anniversary, as we have in the past, by booking two back-to-back "free anniversary nights," using our IHG Select and IHG Premier MasterCards. Each night had its own reservation number, although the IHG Rewards reservations clerk had assured us we could remain in the same room both nights, as we did last year. While enjoyed our time in SoNo, the IHG portion of the experience proved disappointing, at best. We'll continue to use our free anniversary nights but hope future experiences- at other IHG properties - will be better than this experience was.

When we arrived at the EVEN Hotel Norwalk, there was no one at the front desk. Eventually, a seemingly random guy showed up out of the blue, more casual in both his dress and manner than one would expect of front desk staff at a hotel. He snarled at us, "Can I help you?!", the way a shop clerk would address an unwanted shopper suspected of stealing.

The front desk guy saw our two reservation numbers in the system - both of which, in our online account, specified that very hotel - but he incorrectly claimed the reservations were for another property. He made us wait 20-30 minutes in the lobby before deciding to swipe our credit card and reluctantly give us keys to our room (since the hotel was not fully booked). As he did this, he warned us that whatever the issue was that he was having with the reservation had not been resolved, which made us feel uneasy. He also warned we would have to check out and then in again in the morning, which we didn't mind.

When the IHG Rewards booking person had booked our stay by phone, he was very personable, and he told us to expect the hotel to acknowledge our Platinum status with an upgrade and welcome gift, as well as to acknowledge our wedding anniversary. We thought the idea of those perqs was nice, but when the EVEN desk person neither mentioned nor gave those perqs, we didn't press the issue. We were happy to enjoy the free popcorn available to all guests, happy to celebrate each other and our wedding anniversary, and happy to enjoy the SoNo area. So we grabbed some popcorn and bought some bottled water from the market in the lobby. (More about the water, below.)

Once in the room, we wanted to get settled and shower before going out to dinner. However, the bathroom had only towels and a washcloth for one guest. (We found that surprising, since we'd booked a room for two, since the desk person acknowledged seeing that in the system, and since our having been kept waiting so long before allowing us to enter the room had given the hotel's staff ample time to kit out the bathroom for two).

We called downstairs to order a second set of bathroom linens and were falsely promised they'd be brought right up. When we called again, 20 minutes later, we received a second false promise.. After waiting another half hour, we went downstairs and got the towels ourselves..

At that point, the front desk clerk said we would NOT have to check out and then in again in the morning. However, that later proved to be inaccurate.

While awaiting the promised towels delivery earlier, we learned the following facts about the room:

There's no closet. There's only a tiny cubby too small to accommodate even one guest's clothes or luggage, much less two guests'. And there were no luggage racks.

There's no couch, and the small TV was placed such that for in order for two people to watch it together, they'd have to sit up on the bed, at an uncomfortable angle.

The bathroom afforded zero privacy. It had a glass door that did not lock, and all activities involving the sink, toilet, and shower were fully visible and audible to anyone else in the room.

After getting our towels, getting situated, and getting showered, we had a nice evening in South Norwalk, followed by a good night's sleep on the comfortable king-size bed.

The next morning, we found two unpleasant surprises when we returned from having had breakfast out. First, our digital key had expired. Despite the desk clerk's assurance, we were, in fact, required to check out and then in again using the second reservation number, as he had originally advised we must do.

We also found that while we were out - despite having left our belongings and luggage in the room, obvious signs we had not vacated - the maid had thrown away the four opened bottles of water left from what we'd bought the night before. We reported this to the desk clerk, in person, and at our request he replaced them.

That was a minor annoyance, and we tried to stay positive and enjoy our anniversary celebration, SoNo, and things we liked about the hotel (see the "Pros"). We had no idea the most upsetting part of our experience with EVEN Hotel Norwalk would occur after we'd returned home.

It wasn't until after we'd checked out on day three and returned home, we learned that the room cost of one of our two "free" IHG anniversary nights had been billed to my credit card! We phoned the hotel to report this and were assured the charge would be removed in a few days. We'll see.

PS. No IHG Rewads points for that room charge or for the purchase of the bottled water in the hotel's market have appeared in my IHG...

As an IHG Rewards member I had higher expectations for a 9 day visit at your Norwalk, CT location. While I realize (and confirmed by a number of your staff) that you are badly understaffed - and while we always try to be as considerate as possible - there is no excuse for the litany of issues we encountered during our stay (outlined below). The hotel was busy our entire stay, so one step might be to increase your pay scale and hire more employees, resulting in a better overall customer service experience.

First, we booked in advance and they were unable to accommodate us to a better room, something we requested repeatedly. Our room was dark and outdated. The door on the lock would only lock upon exiting by using the card key, instead of manually from the inside. We had previously stayed in one room facing the front of the hotel which had better lighting, more floor space and updated. It would have been nice if you had honored our request to stay in a better room for a longer stay like this one, as most people were obviously “one nighters".

Unfortunately, despite our continued request to the front desk, our room did not even get serviced everyday. On one occasion wee returned from our Norwalk-related activities, only to be told, “oh sorry, housekeeping is done at 5 pm (it was 5:05pm) and we’re understaffed.” On the days when we did receive housekeeping, we were supplied two bath towels only, which seems to be standard for this hotel. Additionally, the tissue box was never replaced despite leaving the box outside of the holder; the bath gel and shampoo were never refilled and stayed empty, and when we asked one of the staffers doing housekeeping, he had to go in a closet to find a bottle of shower gel.

Despite being told that “coffee and tea are complimentary", there was never any basic black tea bags (despite a hot water machine always ready to break it), and in fact, no tea bags at all after the first day. And a small thing, but the complimentary pet “treats" jar as you exit the hotel was not refilled and sat empty our entire stay after day one.

The final indignation, of which there is non excuse, occurred the day after we checked out, when my husband immediately realized he’s left his (3) nicest dress shirts hanging in the closet. We returned the next afternoon, only to have the front desk person tell us, “there’s nothing in housekeeping or lost + found”. When I asked her to please check, she went to the back, returned and uttered the same response. My husband went and asked if she’d call him father housekeeping came in that day, and she assured him she would, wrote down his number, and circled it on a piece of paper… only to never receive a call back. While we understand it’s our fault for having left them, does it make sense that the very next day all (3) shirts have mysteriously ‘disappeared”? And worse, being assured a call back only to never receive it.

Look, this is clearly a very busy, understaffed and profitable property for IHG. I’m a loyal rewards member, and I expect better...

Upon arrival was given no direction on how food pantry payment was, breakfast times, gym use. The male rep handed me my key and pointed to elevator. Each time I left or entered the building was on their phone, never looked up or acknowledged my presence. The room felt dirty (on 2nd floor) and I found hair from the previous guest in the bath tub. Room service also did not clean the shower thoroughly the following day after use. Shared this with front desk and did not apologize or problem solved. The walls are super thin. The guest next door (we had a room that had a connecting door) had their alarm sound for an hour at 5 am. Contacted front desk where they said they went upstairs and did not hear a sound. They Never called the guest or I to share this. When leaving for the day and passing the guests door, I noticed he or she had their do not disturb tag up. I spoke to the desk representative again that the alarm went on for an hour, no apologies were provided, she insisted she heard no noise. A discounted rate was provided for the previous day which I was appreciative but shared concerns of this occurring again. Following morning, guest next door has their alarm go on for 15 mins at 7 am, contacted front desk again. The rep called me back to share she called both rooms and each guests shared no alarm was going off (she also shared the guest was checked in through the weekend). I forced the rep (another girl from the previous day and much friendlier)to come to my room to hear the how loud the noise was. It felt like two days of being gaslighted that noise was not occurring. She came in and acknowledged there was noise. The alarm went for another full hour. She never knocked on the guest next door. It appears that no one wanted to disturb the guest next door or have an open conversation. They did move me to the third floor although I was suddenly given the story that the guest next door checked out which confused me. When I moved to the third floor it was all being painted with floor wrapped in paper and the smell of fumes. It appeared to me that I was the only guest on this floor and did not feel safe with all the cameras covered in painters tape but didn't want too difficult and let it be This room appeared to be cleaner however. Stayed a total of three days, discounted one day. The whole stay was not pleasant. The team seems green in experience and not fully engaged. I ALWAYS want to give grace but it truly felt like...