Candlewood Suites Melbourne/Viera by IHG — Hotel in Palm Shores

When we got to our room, we were immediately hit with an intense odor, the closest thing I could thing of being the smell of urine. We tried to initially see if we could deal with it, but after about 30 minutes my boyfriend went to the front desk to ask if we could switch to a different room because the smell was overwhelming. They told him there was no other room available so he told her we would just take our money back and find somewhere else to stay because we couldn't handle the strong urine smell. Upon telling her we would find somewhere else if they were booked out and had no other rooms, she came back to our room with my boyfriend and also noticed the intense smell. She inspected the room and said that the carpet near the window felt wet, taking her shoes off to feel it with both her hands and feet. She then doused the floor and most of the room with a strong air freshener and also sprayed a ton of the chemical into the room's air vent. This did not get rid of the smell, now it became a mix of the original odor and the chemicals she sprayed also being all over the carpet and blowing into the air from the vent she sprayed into. She told us that was all they could do and she could keep coming back to spray the room if the smell was still bad. We said we'd let the room air out a bit and let her know if it's better when we get back. We left to get dinner and upon returning to the room it still REEKED of the urine smell and the chemicals she sprayed all over the room. At this point we had tried to deal with it, reported it and tried to just get a new room, gave her the benefit of the doubt that maybe the spray she doused the room with would help, gave it a chance to air out a bit... but at this point being in the room was starting to make me feel physically ill. My boyfriend again tried to ask if any other room was available and this time the same receptionist told him she could put us in a different room but it was going to smell really strong of bleach so our choice was inhaling the bleach all night or stay in the room inhaling the urine mixed with cleaner smell. He had asked her if there was a manager of some sort available and while waiting on that, I started getting physically sick from the smell and had to leave the room. I joined my boyfriend at the front desk and let him know I was starting to vomit and needed to get out and they filled me in that our only other option was the bleach room. I told them that I was going to just find a different place to stay and grabbed all of our things from the room to take to the car. Meanwhile my boyfriend had to go back and forth with her several times just to get her to check us out of the room, she told him we would only get half of our money back because we had technically been checked in already for a few hours despite maybe spending 30 minutes in the room. Our fault for trying to give it a chance to air out I guess, so our loss on the money wasted there. We had asked for the manager's contact so we could let her know what happened that night and the receptionist told us to take a business card and call the next morning when the manager is in. We tried calling the next day at the time we were told, the receptionist told us to call later. We called later, now she said the manager was busy and took our info saying we'd get a call that afternoon... never received a call. We tried again the next day, same thing. We finally tried calling a fourth time and no response, it's now been over a week waiting on the callback we were told we'd get. It's clear they don't care, as long as they make money it doesn't matter what health hazards they're putting people into, but I at least want to share our experience in case any other person gets put into that situation here. We're putting in a report with the local health department, so at the very least it can be documented even if it doesn't get looked into. I have never in my life asked to switch rooms or given anything but 4/5 reviews to support businesses but this place was disgusting enough to break that...

When we got to our room, we were immediately hit with an intense odor, the closest thing I could thing of being the smell of urine. We tried to initially see if we could deal with it, but after about 30 minutes my boyfriend went to the front desk to ask if we could switch to a different room because the smell was overwhelming. They told him there was no other room available so he told her we would just take our money back and find somewhere else to stay because we couldn't handle the strong urine smell. Upon telling her we would find somewhere else if they were booked out and had no other rooms, she came back to our room with my boyfriend and also noticed the intense smell. She inspected the room and said that the carpet near the window felt wet, taking her shoes off to feel it with both her hands and feet. She then doused the floor and most of the room with a strong air freshener and also sprayed a ton of the chemical into the room's air vent. This did not get rid of the smell, now it became a mix of the original odor and the chemicals she sprayed also being all over the carpet and blowing into the air from the vent she sprayed into. She told us that was all they could do and she could keep coming back to spray the room if the smell was still bad. We said we'd let the room air out a bit and let her know if it's better when we get back. We left to get dinner and upon returning to the room it still REEKED of the urine smell and the chemicals she sprayed all over the room. At this point we had tried to deal with it, reported it and tried to just get a new room, gave her the benefit of the doubt that maybe the spray she doused the room with would help, gave it a chance to air out a bit... but at this point being in the room was starting to make me feel physically ill. My boyfriend again tried to ask if any other room was available and this time the same receptionist told him she could put us in a different room but it was going to smell really strong of bleach so our choice was inhaling the bleach all night or stay in the room inhaling the urine mixed with cleaner smell. He had asked her if there was a manager of some sort available and while waiting on that, I started getting physically sick from the smell and had to leave the room. I joined my boyfriend at the front desk and let him know I was starting to vomit and needed to get out and they filled me in that our only other option was the bleach room. I told them that I was going to just find a different place to stay and grabbed all of our things from the room to take to the car. Meanwhile my boyfriend had to go back and forth with her several times just to get her to check us out of the room, she told him we would only get half of our money back because we had technically been checked in already for a few hours despite maybe spending 30 minutes in the room. Our fault for trying to give it a chance to air out I guess, so our loss on the money wasted there. We had asked for the manager's contact so we could let her know what happened that night and the receptionist told us to take a business card and call the next morning when the manager is in. We tried calling the next day at the time we were told, the receptionist told us to call later. We called later, now she said the manager was busy and took our info saying we'd get a call that afternoon... never received a call. We tried again the next day, same thing. We finally tried calling a fourth time and no response, it's now been over a week waiting on the callback we were told we'd get. It's clear they don't care, as long as they make money it doesn't matter what health hazards they're putting people into, but I at least want to share our experience in case any other person gets put into that situation here. We're putting in a report with the local health department, so at the very least it can be documented even if it doesn't get looked into. I have never in my life asked to switch rooms or given anything but 4/5 reviews to support businesses but this place was disgusting enough to break that...

While I had no choice in staying here since Candlewood/IHG apparently has a contract with my work to swindle people into staying with them, this would not have been my first choice. I am quite an easy person to please, so for me to leave a hotel review like this is a rarity. First, the entire hotel smelled like methane/rotten eggs, especially the stairwells. Next, my room's carpet (room #219) was disgusting on a day I left my a/c off I ended up coming back to my room stinking like a musty basement. So gross! The biggest surprise to me on my 12 night stay here was the fact that they only clean or even enter your room ONCE EVERY 7 DAYS! This results in guests like me having to bring their own trash to the one trashcan at the end of the hallway. It also results in having to switch out towels and get new toilet paper from the front desk every few days. Absolutely unacceptable for my stay. What exactly am I paying for? A lop-sided bed that leaned obviously to the right? Pillows as flat as a pancake? One of the grossest parts was how the toilet/toilet water smelled like extreme body odor all week long. Now, I'm a very clean person and shower at least once a day. I know very well that my body odor didn't magically disperse itself into the toilet and surrounding area. Very nasty. They should also have a plaque in their elevator for "World's Slowest Elevator". The few people I came in contact with at the front desk were nice but if I passed it at any point in time I would always have to initiate a "hello" or "good afternoon" first, or they wouldn't even look at me. Not the type of folks you should have at the front desk of an IHG hotel. Overall, this hotel does not live up to IHG standards and should not be affiliated with the chain. One more thing that the hotel cannot control but you should also know: the location is VERY inconvenient if you are traveling/commuting eastbound across the Pineda Causeway. You have to turn left at two lights that take a total of about 10 minutes to get through. Very inconvenient if you are going eastbound every day while there.

I normally love IHG hotels. Next time, I will definitely be staying at the Crowne Plaza on the beach where the rate is exactly the same and the standards are MUCH higher. Very disappointed with this stay, Candlewood. Investing money back into your hotel would definitely improve the quality of the stay and might actually help you justify...