Comfort Suites Pelham Hoover I-65 — Hotel in Pelham

I couldn't understand the reviews for this hotel until I experienced it myself. On the one hand, some people raved about the hotel and others said it's horrible. I'm hoping I can help a bit. My feeling is that there are some issues, somewhere, in the management level. The hotel itself is beautiful. Both the public areas and the rooms we saw were lovely, nicely appointed, and clean. And the staff was initially friendly. However, when we first got into the elevator to head up to our room, we noticed a strong chemical smell. I remember thinking that I desperately hoped the smell wasn't worse in the rooms or I couldn't cope with it, especially with my rare respiratory condition. Well, we couldn't get into the first room. Trying both keys just caused the door lights to flash rapidly red and green. My spouse went downstairs only to find three other people already down there waiting to get help with the same problem. Turns out the maintenance person didn't do something he was supposed to do working on the room doors. We were given a second room and when we finally got into there, the chemical construction smell was so strong that it nearly knocked us over. I became ill from the noxious odor and my eyes and airways were burning. I became nauseous and started coughing as did my spouse. I went downstairs this time to ask for a different room only to find that all the rooms on two floors had this awful smell. They had done work (smelled strongly like a very concentrated super glue) on all the tubs on the top two floors and they would all smell the same. Despite the fact that I was told they had light bookings, they now told me that they don't have even one other king room in the building, and we'd have to settle for a double or deal with the smell. The latter was impossible so, despite the fact that it was my spouse's birthday and we are both scheduled for surgery in just two days, we spent his birthday night in separate beds in the double room with the windows open (on a cold December night) to try to help with the noxious smell which was still evident from the other floors. We got multiple stories about whether the manager would be in the next day (who we later found out happened to be the mother of the girl working when we first arrived). I'm honestly glad that they are working on keeping the hotel in such good shape. I'd much rather that than letting it get shabby. But there were several other people who also followed us down asking for a different room because they were so sick from the construction fumes - and that cannot be healthy to breathe. All they needed to do was to not accept guests on those two floors for a couple of days after they were worked on so that they smell could dissipate. And it was a terrible odor - clearly very bad to breathe. My service dog was with us and she waited in the 2nd room (with the terrible smell) while I went down to try to get a different room. The smell was so bad that even though she was exhausted from traveling all day, she still tried multiple times to run out of the room to escape the sickening smell. This would be a brilliant, first class hotel, in a very convenient location but they need to deal with issues like this one in a more professional manner. I'd like to stay again in the future but am unsure at this...

My family stayed on 7/13/24. We were passing through on our way to Florida. We arrived around 9:30 PM and left by 9:00 am the next day. Our stay was not great. Please see photos attached. My bed had black marks presumably from shoes on an alleged clean and freshly made bed. There were also blades of grass present. There was also what appeared to be blood on the bedding and shower curtain. The blanket for the pull-out bed was not folded and in a ball in the closet. I went to the front desk at approximately 11:00 pm for bedding for the pull out. I was told there was no more bedding left. I asked what I was to do and the man at the front desk shrugged and laughed. I also told him about the condition of my room, and he replied, “What do you want me to do about it?”

We were very disappointed with the unacceptable condition of the room, the lack of customer service and overall rudeness from staff. I called twice to speak to a manager. I was told both times that Amit the manger is "never there" and that nobody is available. I have also emailed twice. Once with no reply and the second time with the following: " Apologies that you seemed to have a bad experience during your recent stay with us. This is a hotel and our linens do get stained frequently, which is something that we try to take care of when we catch it, but can't catch them all right away. We are aware of your troubles and have taken your comments and put forth the effort to provide a better guest experience. We could have found a near-by hotel for you, if we were aware that you weren't going to be happy with your room. Thank you kindly, Comfor Suites"

Keep in mind I did let the front desk know I needed help and the condition of my room. He laughed and asked what I wanted him to do about it. Very poor customer service all the way around.

I would not recommend staying...

My experience with Choice hotels is through business travel. I have been very pleased with the different Choice hotels I have stayed at in the past and the staff is always helpful and friendly. This overnight stay was during vacation with my family and it turned out to be a disappointing experience. Upon check-in, I waited 20 minutes before a staff member showed up at the counter. Finally, a young man appeared with a wad of linens in his arms. He was very apologetic to me and my family and at the same time critical of his housekeeping staff for neglecting to change the sheets in a guest room. Although this staff member was trying his best to remedy the situation, it was disappointing.

My family stayed in two separate rooms, which were both in good, clean condition.

Other issues we experienced: *We tried to connect to WIFI with our phones and an IPad but had very little luck connecting. We called the tech support hotline posted in the room, but they could not get us connected and said that's all they could do! *My sons like to workout and went to the fitness center only to find some of the equipment in disrepair. *The breakfast bar was below average for me. The juice machine was not working, but the staff member attending the bar was seldom seen.

I'm sure all of the issues we experienced can be easily remedied. But to have so many issues happen in one stay during the first day of vacation...