Candlewood Suites Portland - Scarborough by IHG — Hotel in Scarborough

Stayed 1 night during road trip to visit New England area.

Pros: The young man at check-in was nice and recognized and thanked us for membership. Room was spacious with a kitchenette with an induction stovetop, microwave, cupboards, dishes, regular-sized fridge, dishwasher, coffee maker, living room with sofa bed, recliner, coffee table, and two separate bedrooms – more than we were expecting. Our room was pretty soundproof. The hotel is close to a freeway which we only heard when having the windows open in 90 degree heat to try to air it out (see ‘cons’ for details on that), but quiet once closed. Decent, strong coffee.

Cons: Bad smell on first floor and even worse on the second floor, where are room was, and in our room. Perhaps it was something someone cooked in their room, but I can’t imagine what, but that’s all we could smell all night and the next morning when we left. It was horrible. With the east coast being notorious for bed bugs, I traveled with a can of Lysol which I sprayed everywhere then left for dinner then had to spray again when we returned and open the windows again to try to bring the smell level down enough to fall asleep. The room and hotel still smelled bad the next day which found its way in our clothing which we smelled for some time until we aired out.

There were many indications that people live in this hotel long-term including having stayed at another Candlewood in NY the night before, which was our first time staying at a Candlewood where we were also put in an apartment-style which was also at the end of a hall with like indications of long-term stayers. I’m thinking they put short-terms stayers in rooms at the end of the halls from the long-term stayers for best results.

Slow check-out; nobody present at the desk. I had to summons with a ‘hello’ in the lobby to see if anyone could hear me then a man wearing many big rings popped out from behind the makeshift wall behind the desk; I seemed to have interrupted his meal and radio or tv show, which I couldn’t see but could hear blaring in the back, as his soley nonverbal communication gave me that vibe and he said nothing. I told him we were checking out and I handed my key cards over and had to ask for a receipt, which was a bit slow, no work from the man at any point before we left. I suggest you request a receipt as one was not emailed and does not appear on the IHG account.

Aside from the perceived clean bedding and countertops, which is a blessing and appreciated, everything else is pretty beat up, outdated, and dirty. The hallway carpet is obviously very dirty which is understandable especially if people live there, but the light colored tiled floor in the stairwell going outside was very dirty and appeared to have blood on it as well as on the wall. I didn’t see any housekeepers present, which one would normally be seen in the morning at a hotel.

Wi-fi doesn’t work and a large number of networks appear, from Netzero, Xbox’s and various other routers, which is another indicator people live there long-term. Of course, I considered it may be from neighboring homes, but there are none for quite a ways as this hotel appears to be in a business district. To get here you have to drive past some vacant commercial buildings that is next to a freeway.

No hair dryer available. Good thing I...

I was really expecting a nice and safe stay after a long driving. However, lafter I arrived, I found the door hand was broken before I even I touched. And when I tried to use the bathroom, the door of the bathroom was not able to be shut to close so I had no way to lock the door...Secondly, I am dissatisfied with the cleanness from your people after the last person stay in this room. The toilet paper was even left as what the last person left on, at least the half left used piece from that roll should be disposed and a new square piece from that roll should be prepared. This is disgusting. Based on this, I could not trust the cleanness of the room. I love the hotel for the huge area and convenient location. However, for these points, I am not satisfied with my stay. In my point of view, IHG groups are always put the customer at first, so I never expect the toilet paper was left as what the last person left on. This the first time I stayed in Candlewood Suites, however, I do believe the bathroom door that is able to be shut to close is basic and the door handle in this situation is not welcome. I came to Scarborough for a short break, and I will choose Candlewood Suites Portland - Scarborough maybe next time. Do believe me, my general manager, I expect these problems solved maybe next time I visit here. I contacted the hotel immediately after the stay, but I never got the response from the hotel until I reached the IHG customer relationship. The is the response from the hotel after I contacted the IHG customer relationship: "I first want to start with a sincere apology that our hotel did not meet you expectations. As well, I am sorry that I did not see and or receive the email you sent to us. Please know that I would have replied as I take guest concerns very seriously. I take guest comments to heart and utilize them on a daily basis as I work with my team members to improve our service and hence the accommodations for our guests. We also greatly value or IHG reward club members and thank you for choosing our hotel for your rewards night. Your stay was not the typical stay that our guest experience. I hope you give us a chance in the future to prove that to you. Please feel free to call me directly to set up any future reservations. " First of all, I understand the issue of my email was ignored is because my email might not be received sometimes. However, from the response, I did not feel any apologies from the manager ( the response is just like typical content the manager sent to every customer every day!) and I did not see any actions manager takes to make up the issue the hotel causes. This is not what called "take guest comments to heart" looks like from my point of the view. To be honest, but this hotel shows me the customer service I...

The management here cares nothing for the people staying at the property. They have crazy people staying there running around all hours of the night slamming on doors and yelling and screaming all throughout the night and nothing happens when complaints are made. Then to top it off they did a pest control service in the room while I was staying in it and took all of my stuff as well as all of the hotels items(plates, silverware, cooking equipment, towels) and threw them on the desk or on the bed and trashed the room and left it that way. I came back to the hotel that night after work and found a room I was paying for trashed and go to front desk and manager tells me to go clean it myself or I can wait until tomorrow and housekeeping will come clean it. I complained to IHG corporate and they contacted this hotel and the hotel told them they had rectified this with me and they had apologized for this...which is an out and out lie. The only communication was to tell me to go clean the room myself, which includes putting all of the kitchen items as well as the refrigerator back myself, and then clean up all of my stuff that had been thrown around the room and on the bed or wait for house keeping the next day. They do not care and have no integrity...they did this to someone who had spent about 60 nights in this hotel in the last few months. Do yourself a favor and stay in a safer hotel that has owners and managers with integrity...its a few dollars cheaper to stay here but not worth it. I stay in IHG hotels all across the country and will never stay here nor have anyone else who works with me that I send to Portland stay at this hotel ever again. I have tried repeatedly to speak with IHG corporate about all of this even sending them pictures to prove how the room was left by the hotel staff and they do nothing but say they are sorry and offer a few points to try to appease me because the hotel manager lies to them and tells them he has spoken to me and all this has been fixed. Any gesture of apology would have at least shown some semblance of care but nothing except a lack of care and then lies to top that off should tell you to take your money elsewhere...I included pictures at the bottom...remember I am paying them for this room and this is what I walk into...mind you I was leaving in two days and they could have scheduled pest service then, but no they did it with me staying there stirring up whatever pests are in the walls, trashing the room, leaving it to me to clean it, and then lie about...