Econo Lodge Phoenix North I-17 — Hotel in Phoenix

This hotel is a stomping ground for crack users and prostitution. I was offered several rooms. The first room had someone else’s items in the room. I had to ask the active drug users to allow me access to the stairs to go up to the room and when I had to go back down the stairs when I looked in the window and saw the items on the bed, floor and table in the room. The second room had fecal matter, urine, condoms and other items piled high in the toilet. I moved all my stuff into the room and then decided to use the restroom and that’s when I discovered the toilet. There was no toilet paper or towels and ONE pillow. There was graffiti INSIDE the room. There was a stick on finger nail on the very grey sheets. There were no blankets and the sheets showed wear. I went downstairs and asked if I could come in and use the restroom. I was denied access as a 66 year old female. I was jumping and walking trying not to pee on myself and the front desk told me he would give me another room. I went up the stairs to the 3rd room and discovered you did not need a key to enter the room because the door DIDN’T lock. I used the restroom carefully so as not to catch anything and because I really had to go. When I got back downstairs I told the front desk that the door on the 3rd assigned room didn’t lock. I had already paid for the room online. The front desk offered to refund my money. The front desk took my ID again and my credit card AGAIN for the refund. There is no front office just a window. I need to give context. I ALWAYS lock my card after each transaction. On this adventure I forgot to lock my card. So while the front desk guy had my card out of my possession HE CHARGED my card again and I didn’t discover this theft/fraud until the next morning at about 5:26AM September 30, 2024 Sunday. So to be clear there was already a charge for $119.74 and then an EXTRA charge for 53.77-/+ that was charged while the front desk had my card behind the counter where I could not see what he was doing. I have my card set to alert me because I travel 100% for my job and it’s important to keep my card protected from fraudulent employees like I encountered at this Roadway hotel. I only found out about the fraudulent behavior when I was awakened by an card declined alert the NEXT morning after the refund was issued. I then check my card to see if there were any other unauthorized charges on my card from this Choice Hotel encounter. I discovered the front desk guy had charged my card again when he was processed my refund. He made a big deal out of showing me the document with the refund. He made no mention that he charged my card again. This is theft/fraud by Choice Hotels. The third charge didn’t go thru because I had locked my card. I called Choice Hotel at 5:26AM local time and informed them of the issue. Someone on the CSR staff IMMEDIATELY reversed the 3rd charge to my account. I’m still waiting for the 1st charge to be credited to my account. This started on Saturday and now it’s Friday. Since I’ve spent all this time typing this I’m going to post to social media so no one has to go thru this at Choice Hotel. There were also two rolling racks of trash bags pilled high in the parking lot. There is a security with a giant gun and bulletproof vest. There were at least 50 persons “milling” around in the two parking lots. The front desk would not allow me two keys for the rooms. I’ve stayed at many hotels where the front desk gives you the key to the new room while in possession of the key to the old room with the issue. The front desk made me wait for the security guard to retrieve my belongings out of the 2nd room. The security guard did not rush to unlock the room. I had to stand there and wait while he dealt with some people hanging out in the parking lot. The security apologized for the issues I encountered. This took a very long time to type. I’m screenshotting and will post on...

I am not exaggerating this is the worst motel/hotel experience I’ve ever had. Everything is broken down and dirty. Staff is rude. You have to call for everything, late checkout (even when booking they say it’s fine, when I politely tried to note it upon check in I was rudely told to call in the morning. All dialogue felt like computerized NPC /automated voice repeating messages…except a human is present non stop demanding cards and is non responsive to any questions.) if not asking for a card , they just tell you to call the desk, and there’s also no phone in the room. No tv, no coffee/tea. 2 broken lamps. 2 pillows total for 2 beds. 2 dirty towels total in a room with 2 beds (1 washcloth that’s dingy and a poorly half folded medium bath towel). Actually having to debate with yourself if you can shower without drying off with towels, or if it might actually be cleaner to just skip the shower until you get out of here. The doors are broken. Had to push the bed out of way to close the bathroom door and still doesn’t stay shut because it looks like both the main door to the room and bathroom door have been kicked down it seems. I arrived and the staff just demand your card and ID, I tried to tell them I paid online already and nothing I said made any difference until you have to meet the same level of aggression. Left my room to go to QT for snacks and upon walking back a random security man is demanding my ID and room number. Not in an office, in the parking lot. Considering nothing here feels remotely safe or sanitary i don’t want to give a rude man in the parking lot my personal info and ID and room number , hours after I checked in already , particularly as a female in a motel near the interstate. I don’t care if you wear a shirt saying security , showing my room key should suffice. I don’t need to show you my ID at night after check in and tell you my room number with people around in a parking lot at night. No greetings either, like hey I’m security , I have to do this, but let me know if anything feels unsafe. He made me feel uncomfortable going to my own room. Also you have to call for the wifi password , so for a second you want to pretend you’re not here and maybe be on your phone or computer (not the non existent tv) you can call with your personal phone because for some reason paying for your room isn’t enough for them to just put a note with a WiFi password or phone in your room. I have unlimited data , usually fortunate in case I don’t want to be bothered with situations like this and further unpleasant interactions, however my typically reliable service did not have any reception in my room, which I rarely have service blackout but for some reason here it didn’t work at all. $20 might be a reasonable price for this and that’s if you’re desperate. Really desperate. Unless you need rooms for a few hours for shady purposes, I don’t see anyone with any level of standards ever voluntarily being here if they have virtually any other alternative. Wouldn’t even suggest if you get it free...

This should be zero stars. I waited 18 min to check in. No one was at the front desk. I rang the service bell 3 times and called the front desk phone number twice, which should have been forwarded to someones cell phone, if thy're not going to be within earshot for an extended period of time. There was no response to all 5 attempts to get checked in. Fortunately for me during that 18 min wait, I looked around. ALL the trash cans (in the main office foyer and around the property) were overflowing. There was even a bag of trash sitting on the second level walkway. Someone must have been tired of waiting for the trash cans to be emptied. A pile of trash (empty snacks and soda boxes) was sitting on the floor, in front of the vending machines, in the foyer. A gentleman walked past the overflowing trash cans and took the empty boxes and never returned to empty the trash cans or pick up the bag of trash, in the time I was there. The hardware of the ice machine was gutted, so it wasn't working.The lobby area, where (I'm guessing) the free b'fast was to be offered, was a hot mess. Some kind of work being done, so possibly no free b'fast as advertised. There were 2 large fans and 2 large a/c units plugged into 1 wall outlet. I'm not an electrician, but that looked like a potentiontial fire hazard. There were old mattresses outside, piled against the main office building, up to the roof. There was a 2 foot high pile of trash along the length of the back fence of the parking lot. I took pictures and will attach them to this review if possible. After seeing all of that, I was not going to pay for whatever condition the room might be in. I called Choice Hotels customer service. The rep. also called the front desk and got no response. I described to him the condition of the property and he canceled my reservation. Dealing with him on getting a reservation at a different hotel was another nightmare for a review of Choice Hotels'...