Staybridge Suites Plano North - Frisco by IHG — Hotel in Plano

During a recent trip to Plano with several training colleagues I experienced some truly disappointing treatment from the hotel operators at Staybridge Suites. In fact, all of us trainers were treated terribly and with great disrespect.

On the day we arrived we found that both treadmills were broken in the fitness center. The selection of free weights began at 15lbs and jumped to 35lbs, severely limiting all of us who have regular workout routines. For longer term stays, keeping in shape is pretty important. I reported the condition of the treadmills and the discrepancies with the weights to the front desk staff and was assured that Housekeeping would resolve the problem by the end of business on the following Monday. Other members of our group also reported the treadmill problems. One of them was subsequently told that the problem was fixed. Upon using an apparently working treadmill he was nearly thrown over the top of the machine. It stopped abruptly as he was running at a speed of 8mph. Our repeated requests for safely operating treadmills were met variously with promises for a quick repair and reporting the problem to their manager, an individual we never met.

By the beginning of our fourth day at this Staybridge Suites we discovered an even bigger problem: The front desk staff was lying to us. The evidence for this was clear… Some of us were told one story on one day and an entirely different story on a subsequent day. For example, “I will inform the manager” became, at times, “The manager won’t be in until (pick a day),” “The manager is in the hospital and not available,” “I spoke with the manager yesterday and s/he is aware of the problem, “ “We reported the problem to the repair company but it will be two weeks before they can get here.”

Well, so what? Why worry about such things? The problem is easily overcome, no? I drove three members of our party to a local gym each morning and personally paid for myself to join. The round trip time was half an hour. Not the end of the world. But consider that it was half an hour of driving time every morning plus the cost of fuel while a functioning fitness center was marketed as part of the Staybridge inclusions.

Perhaps a bigger problem is: If the hotel staff lies to us about relatively small things, what else might they lie about? Just a couple of things come to mind such as “Are the fire control sprinklers inspected, tested, and functional?” “Are the elevators inspected and certified on a regular basis?” We noted early on that the elevators are not air conditioned, despite the fact that temperatures in Dallas exceeded 105F (heat index of 115F) every day of our entire stay.

What else?

Three members of our party couldn’t sleep one night when their rooms would suddenly no longer cool the air. The same thing happened to one of them the following night as well. A member of our team found a live salamander in his bathtub. Another member had a tub that would not fully drain. One of my closet doors fell on me one day when I opened it. A member of the housekeeping staff broke my toilet paper holder and failed to report it or repair it. Two of the five clothes dryers were inoperative, creating a traffic jam in the laundry room. Another member of our party found mold growing in his coffee pot.

The remainder of the stories are not mine to tell.

Given that Staybridge is an IHC property just like the Hotel Intercontinental, I wonder whether the brand is in financial straits or is perhaps no longer capable of performing quality checks on a regular basis. Perhaps it is only a few of its properties that can operate outside of compliance. We do know that the story we got from their corporate offices was not the same story we were given by the staff at Staybridge, meaning that the staff at our Staybridge was also lying to their corporate office.

I will never again stay at a Staybridge Suites, for business...

Writing this review is proving to be challenging, but not for the usual reasons. Instead of struggling to recall the amenities we appreciated or the names of people we'd like to commend, I find myself searching for the right words to warn others. I want to strongly urge you to spend your money elsewhere. I'm trying to articulate my thoughts clearly and avoid sounding petty, focusing only on the major issues at hand because there are many, and they are deeply concerning.

This hotel seized every opportunity to make our stay stressful, chaotic, and expensive. The prices only increased during our stay, never decreasing, even after we reached the "extended stay" required amount of time. Simultaneously, they made sure we never felt safe, welcomed, or cared for... a lot of effort is required for a hotel to not only make guests uncomfortable but also raise prices while making them feel unwelcome, I wish it weren't true. I wish I were exaggerating. As I type this, I'm contemplating how best to address this from my end, given the egregious actions by the hotel management (not the staff, but the actual managers and the hotel owner). Review guidelines state I can't mention names or specific amounts, but I can say this: Do not spend a dollar on staying at this hotel. I stayed for 2 weeks and caught 2 billing issues, no privacy or respect for the do not disturb notice on the door, housekeeping knocked EVERY day asking if we were checking out, to the point of redundancy and started feeling like it wasn't by mistake, never received one set of clean towels and toilet paper without me having to make at least 3 requests and waiting half the day, the laundry facilities here are disgusting and a fire hazard waiting to happen, there is trash littered all over the premises, the doggy area had no poop clean up bags available the entire time we were here, the grounds are poorly maintained not only in regard to landscaping, but there are giant active ant-piles everywhere, so if you have little kids or dogs, beware!! I was walking the dog one evening and narrowly missed planting my foot in an ant bed the size of small country. The trash receptacles outside are overflowing with trash at all times, (we were here 2 weeks) and although it appears there are a lot of "workers" and "managers" it seems like no actual work gets done around the facility. They had one front desk person at all times who is inundated, and management that doesn't assist but stands silently over their shoulder watching them. It was truly the strangest, and single handedly, the WORST thing ive ever experienced, and to think that I actually paid a small fortune to experience it, is even more disgusting. That is what I warn you about today, your hard earned money, deserves to be spent somewhere that it will be respected and appreciated, and you should be treated accordingly. Please, consider that before booking here at this location. I couldnt post this without trying to provide input from my experience here to the hotel on how to fix this- and that input is this- This problem starts at the top and must be fixed from the top and work downwards from there. Hire more help for the front desk, instead of having 4 managers and "directors of sales", hire actual front desk people trained in customer service and hospitality. Owner should be removed from operations completely, and step aside or into a strictly supervisory role, no operations input. Train all the managers in etiquette, grooming and customer service before you allow them to interact with guests. That is the only way to turn this...

Writing this review is proving to be challenging, but not for the usual reasons. Instead of struggling to recall the amenities we appreciated or the names of people we'd like to commend, I find myself searching for the right words to warn others. I want to strongly urge you to spend your money elsewhere. I'm trying to articulate my thoughts clearly and avoid sounding petty, focusing only on the major issues at hand because there are many, and they are deeply concerning.||||This hotel seized every opportunity to make our stay stressful, chaotic, and expensive. The prices only increased during our stay, never decreasing, even after we reached the "extended stay" required amount of time. Simultaneously, they made sure we never felt safe, welcomed, or cared for... a lot of effort is required for a hotel to not only make guests uncomfortable but also raise prices while making them feel unwelcome, I wish it weren't true. I wish I were exaggerating. As I type this, I'm contemplating how best to address this from my end, given the egregious actions by the hotel management (not the staff, but the actual managers and the hotel owner). Review guidelines state I can't mention names or specific amounts, but I can say this: Do not spend a dollar on staying at this hotel. I stayed for 2 weeks and caught 2 billing issues, no privacy or respect for the do not disturb notice on the door, housekeeping knocked EVERY day asking if we were checking out, to the point of redundancy and started feeling like it wasn't by mistake, never received one set of clean towels and toilet paper without me having to make at least 3 requests and waiting half the day, the laundry facilities here are disgusting and a fire hazard waiting to happen, there is trash littered all over the premises, the doggy area had no poop clean up bags available the entire time we were here, the grounds are poorly maintained not only in regard to landscaping, but there are giant active ant-piles everywhere, so if you have little kids or dogs, beware!! I was walking the dog one evening and narrowly missed planting my foot in an ant bed the size of small country. The trash receptacles outside are overflowing with trash at all times, (we were here 2 weeks) and although it appears there are a lot of "workers" and "managers" it seems like no actual work gets done around the facility. They had one front desk person at all times who is inundated, and management that doesn't assist but stands silently over their shoulder watching them. It was truly the strangest, and single handedly, the WORST thing ive ever experienced, and to think that I actually paid a small fortune to experience it, is even more disgusting. That is what I warn you about today, your hard earned money, deserves to be spent somewhere that it will be respected and appreciated, and you should be treated accordingly. Please, consider that before booking here at this location. This problem starts at the top, the hotel staff needs training on etiquette and customer service basics. There are about 4 too many managers, along with the "director of sales" who does absolutely nothing to help the poor girl all by herself at the front desk, and none of them know the first thing about hospitality, customer service or how to build relationships. The hotel owner and manager need training on hospitality, ethics and manners. This is a business built on "people" and you must treat them...