Sonesta Select Detroit Novi — Hotel in Novi

Business Travelers Beware!

Our family stayed in this extended-stay while we waited to close on our new house, based on reviews, its proximity to my husband's new office, and the number of business travelers who seem to frequent this location. We have small children and figured it would be a clean and quiet place to stay for the short term while saving money as well. I can't even begin to tell you how wrong I was in both of those assumptions.

First, while every ad I read about this hotel indicated it was "comfort and convenience in a newly remodeled setting!" I can assure you it is absolutely no such thing. Unless you consider a remodel to be complete once new countertops are installed, because those were definitely nice. But if you want to shower in a clean place or have appliances like a refrigerator, sink, oven, or toilet in working condition, I'd say this remodel could use another once-over. Yep.

On our first night we had to plunge a non-working toilet and bathe in a shower with a liner that was peeling, exposing the fiberglass beneath it. Lovely. Forget about bathing toddlers altogether. We also planned on making meals here, since we'd be here for a while and I didn't exactly fancy eating out for every meal, but that was a wash too, once I realized the sink in the kitchen didn't drain because of a clogged, non-working garbage disposal, and the oven door didn't close all the way, making it essentially a full-room heater in the middle of summer. Oh, and we were kept awake all night by a rattling sound, which turned out to be a loose coil in the refrigerator, which meant the $300 I just spent on groceries was completely wasted, since the fridge was roughly the same temperature as our room most of the night.

Add to all that our room was never serviced by housekeeping and we had to ask the front desk for towels, and when we shared the other concerns about our room, the response we were met with was..."thanks for letting us know." Really? I've basically alerted you to the fact that NOTHING in my room is working and your response is, meh? We've stayed in zillions of Marriotts and I know there's a spectrum when it comes to quality in hotel rooms, but holy smokes this disaster of a stay has me wanting to ditch our points and become Hilton people. If you're wanting a spot to stay over an extended period of time in this area, I'd suggest you do just that, or switch to Courtyard and spend the money on meals out. This place doesn't deserve one star and it definitely doesn't...

It's the Little Hotel That... Couldn't

We just spent 4 nights and 5 days at this hotel and while the location is great (except for all the closed roads and road construction), the hotel not so much.

The front desk woman when we checked in was very nice though she couldn't help us with directions to avoid the construction so that was a setback. Not being from the area we didn't know any workarounds for avoiding the construction.

The room was good. Big and the beds looked clean, but there were paw prints and nose bloops on the sliding glass door to the balcony and the refrigerator never worked properly to keep anything cold. The TV was static-y and the channel selection is minimal.

It's a pet friendly place, which is great, we almost thought to bring our pup because of it, but the animal urine smell in one of the elevators was pretty noticeable. Needs a very good shampooing.

We did have to ask for our room to be cleaned. We requested no service the first day because we got there late, thanks to construction, so there was no need. The second day we asked for extra towels so we could swim in the pool, but they never came to clean the room let alone leave extra towels and the pool was broken so extra towels didn't matter anyway. We did have to ask the front desk for clean towels when we got back that day. Finally on the 3rd day they cleaned the room.

One of the elevators broke while we were there, and the pool was inoperable for most of the time because of a chemical imbalance. On our last night the pool was finally open so we thought to take an hour or two and relax before heading home the next morning. The pool was SO SO SO SO cold it was unenjoyable and even staying in it for 15 minutes, it was so cold you just couldn't get use to it so we went back to the room for lukewarm beverages from our fridge and a show that was full of static.

When we were checking out the next morning, there was a lady in the lobby wanting to know about breakfast - it doesn't begin until 8 and the prices are extremely high - $14 for just a croissant sandwich. You'd be better served eating breakfast at the nearby iHop or First Watch - which is always amazing. The front desk attendant when we were checking out only kept asking us to let him know when everyone was out of the room to make sure we weren't squatters, because that must be an issue?

Will never...

-Bathroom handle falls off. -No breakfast either morning even though the manager said there would be someone to replace the other person if they were sick still. -No housekeeping -No coffee out then when I asked the person on shift for one for my room she gave me decaf and said she couldn't find any regular. -This morning the Next person on shift went to the same place and gave me 2 coffees. -Each person seemed to make at least an attempt at an effort but if this was what I was expecting, I would have stayed at Red Roof In for 1/2 the cost. -When I called Customer Service to see about since the the stay was so dismal, he said someone might email me. No empathy(a CSR's job), no resolution, just more dismal service, the neglect finally got to me. So I asked for compensation. I don't even know what that lóoks like but if they'd offered me another night, I'd have taken it, because we just moved here and don't have anywhere else to stay. That's the ONLY reason why I would stay again.

-There is no one even staying here. I've seen 4 guests here in 2 days. Parking lot is empty.

I chose here because of the high reviews...but that will probably be short lived unless they start being more customer friendly. I worked in hotels for 3 years.

Just a mention, I never did find a specified place for my dogs to do their dooty or baggies. So I'd say pet tolerant is a more accurate phrase. Bring your own everything.

-Even the market was pretty bare of any decent options.

Updating stars from 1 to 3 because I did stay another night and they used the 3rd party rate +$10 about. It really wasn't that bad, it was just disappointing.

After adjusting my expectations and having to call out the manager for lying to me using excuses regarding deposits, she did reluctantly give me a break since there were 2 hitting my account at the same time.

Anyway, the front desk people were nice. The manager on shift when I arrived Tuesday was clear and whether he was nice or not, I couldn't tell. Definitely not a chummy type but he was helpful in changing my room so my dogs didn't have to go on the elevator to the 4th floor.

He also explained that everything offered via 3rd party is a lie unless it happens to be true, and he said people need to call the hotels 1st if it matters....like...