Staybridge Suites Stroudsburg (East) Poconos by IHG — Hotel in Smithfield Township

I am a platinum elite ambassador member of IHG group. Usually when I travel for business by myself I don’t care about rooms much as long as it’s clean and ready. This time I took my family skiing into Poconos and to celebrate family member birthday so I booked 2 Queen Size suite knowingly that I will have one step up upgrade guaranteed as an ambassador platinum. When I got checked in front desk had to take her time to make sure that my room is ready even though it was after 4pm, on top of that when I asked her about upgrade she had no clue what I’m talking about it. So I had to educate her about Program and benefits even after that she she still didn’t get it. So, I checked in to whatever I booked. Here’s my impression. For over a hundred per night it had to be a better suit. The one she gave me was tiny... it had 2 rooms yes, but everything cramped into without even leaving enough space between beds and other furniture that you have to pass sidewise. (I’m 5’10 - 160LB by the way). TV’s are Joke!)) it’s a 22 inch monitors, stains on the carpets and hole in drape. So. I went down with a 2nd try to ask for that upgrade. This time I print it out on their computer “benefits” for platinum member to show that front desk girl. Still... no results. She said she will have to charge me extra for upgrade. I said, you know what.. fine... charge me extra, but change my stay for just 1 night. So, my rate went up to way over couple hundred... this room was much bigger and nicer (still with ugly stain on the carpet) but I don’t care at this point. I decided to talk to manager in the am so they can fix my rate so I can extend my stay. Guess what, manager refused to upgrade and reduce my rate... oh well you lost me as a guest and now you getting this nasty review...

So, attention members!

If you want your elite status recognized here, do not stay in this Staybridge. You will be treated as a regular customer.

I took my business to Holiday inn 3 miles down the road paid around hundred for room, they upgraded me (without even me asking) upto a spacious jacuzzi suit and we had a blast for 2 more nights.

Oh... breakfast:

First of all its till 9:30! on a weekend! where most Staybridge keeping it till 10-11am. 2nd of all.. omg I felt so bad for a big guy who came down 9:32 and practically begged a breakfast girl to keep waffle machine on for few more minutes because his wife was right behind him but she was relentless... she took the waffle dough, replied that breakfast till 9:30 turned her back and Disappeared in the kitchen. lol)) I offered my waffle to the guy but he said no, that’s ok...

It took less than 2 min for that girl to swipe everything away from tables... lol)

She knows exactly what she’s doing...

So... like I said stay away if you can, if you can’t don’t spent more than one night and lower your expectations.

Besides carpets, rooms was clean though, sheets fresh. Nice friendly housekeepers but NOT a front...

The individual running the evening reception/breakfast doesn't seem to understand that the "guest" are paying customers and probably ought to be treated as such. Guest were treated like children staying at a cranky relatives house that didn't want them there. Her behavior was so unexpected we laughed about it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to stay here again. Some examples noted:

A gentleman did not clear his dishes, so she chased him down and chewed him out (he was a pig and probably deserved it, but he was still a guest).

A guest poured wine in a beer glass filled with ice and was chastised for not using a wine glass.

A guest picked up a sandwich roll with his fingers and was reprimanded for not using tongs. It's not like he was digging through the tossed salad with his hands and it was a moot point. No comment was warranted.

A child picked up two pieces of cake. One for her and one for her mother. Host told her she could only take one piece and made her put it back, then posted a sign saying only one dessert per person.

She stopped refilling buffet and started cleaning up a full 20 minutes before it was supposed to end. Any guest that showed up in the last 15 min were out of luck. Salad bar had been put away and only 3 meatballs remained.

Only cups available for soda were small juice size.

On the bright side the food was decent and the experience was okay as long a you maintained a sense of humor and minded your manners to avoid being fussed at.

Also, hot water in the hotel was barely adequate. Had to run shower at full hot setting to get lukewarm. Reading past reviews this has been mentioned for months. Should have been fixed before now. This is why I rated room/comfort 1 star.

Rooms and facilities were standard Staybridge. No issues noted. Gym did not have water available which is a little unusual...

I was hoping this place would be really nice for the price and from the pictures. It was not the most pleasant stay I’ve had. The hotel looks nice from a distance but everything is pretty outdated and old. Our refrigerator and phones were yellowing so badly they looked pretty nasty. On top of that we tried to use the phone to call the front desk and it didn’t even work. The wallpaper was peeling and had water stains in the hallways, there were odd smells (a mix of curry, BO and weed) and the layout of the place was kind of bizarre. The bed was really uncomfortable and in late October our room was really hot. Even with the ac on full blast we couldn’t get it to go below 74 degrees. It was 79 degrees when we first got our room. Our fellow travelers in a different room had the opposite problem where they couldn’t get their room warmer than 63 degrees. Tried to plug in a standard curling iron and I absolutely could not get it into any of the outlets. My husband eventually was able to force it in but it took awhile and who knows what damage we did to it to get it in there. The TV channels were really odd and didn’t correlate to the guide list (something weird about the 2.1, 2.2 etc) so we couldn’t figure out how to watch a Sunday night football game which should be decently easy at a hotel. The breakfast was decent. The front desk staff were fine, we asked for a recommendation of a nearby park or place to take a stroll but they couldn’t think of anything (this place is in the Poconos so I’m sure there had to be some place). The cleaning staff seemed to actually be the most friendly workers we interacted with. I’ve stayed at cheap motels that were far better than this place. Overall I think if they made some major renovations it wouldn’t be too bad but I’d find somewhere else to stay until...