Casco Bay Hotel Portland Airport - Maine Mall, an Ascend Collection Hotel — Hotel in South Portland

Horrible experience end-to-end - avoid at all costs

My recent stay with my daughter at the Casco Bay Choice Hotel was, without exaggeration, one of the most unsettling hotel experiences I've ever had. I'm usually pretty easy-going when it comes to accommodations, have never written a negative hotel review in my life, and travel quite a bit every year for work and recreation. This place was a perfect storm of red flags that left me feeling violated and stressed.

From the moment I pulled into the parking lot, I knew something was off. The location felt unsafe, infrequently trafficked, and did not match the reviews. The parking lot was substantially empty. The only people lingering all seemed to be employees or somehow affiliated with the hotel, or locals using the area as a hangout. No one was professionally attired, and people did not act in a manner typical of hotel staff. The front desk attendant, a young woman wearing a pink t-shirt with a Jesus saying on the front and jeans, was not trained for hospitality. Her English was extremely broken. When I inquired about early check-in at 1:58 instead of 3 pm because we had a 2:30 pm appointment, she directed me to wait 2 minutes in my car in the parking lot until 2 pm, re-enter the building, and then she would provide a room. The experience felt less like a professional establishment than a 4-star hotel, and I was nervous. However, we followed her instructions, got a room, dropped our bags quickly, and left.

The "sketchy" vibe only intensified when we returned for the night at around 7 pm. A new group of people was now loitering in the lobby, but still equally unprofessional in behavior and attire. While the room smelled of cleaning products, a quick, uneasy inspection of the beds confirmed my worst fears: small, black, and reddish-brown spots on the sheets, comforter, and top of the bed frame. We quickly looked up bed bug information online, but it was our first experience with this issue, and we felt uncertain and wanted to give the hotel the benefit of the doubt.

We called the front desk requesting that someone come take a look. We assumed they would have a method to confirm if it was, in fact, bed bugs. Within minutes, a new staff person, still not in a uniform or professional attire, with broken English and a heavy Indian accent, showed up. Instead of responding to our request to look at what we saw, he refused to look and wanted to move us to another room he described as an upgrade. We asked for a moment to discuss, but he rushed and pressured us to another room one floor up. When we got there and started pulling down the comforter to check the new room's bed, he stopped us and said he would rather we just get a refund and leave.

We were shocked and rattled. We'd never been "kicked out of a hotel," and the whole situation was bizarre. We grabbed our bags, went to the front desk. Two new staff members were there clearly waiting for us. While the first man said he would refund us, the desk staff said they could not because we booked through a third party (Expedia). They said I had to request the refund with Expedia. They refused to provide anything in writing, but demanded I sign a piece of paper saying I was charged $0.00, which was factually inaccurate because I was charged $100 at the time of check-in. I refused to sign, and retained a copy. At no time did anyone apologize or act in any way that was professional. We left, found a last-minute Hyatt downtown for twice the price, but at least it was professional, clean, and bed bug-free. It was an expensive, uncomfortable, and frankly, disturbing experience.

I genuinely urge anyone considering staying at the Casco Bay to look elsewhere. I think they must be having friends/family/staff provide online reviews because there is NO WAY this hotel is anything above a 1 or 2-star. Save yourself the headache and the sheer discomfort of an unprofessional and questionable...

Unfortunately, we should've listened to the other reviews about this hotel. Everything about this place was disappointing.

When we checked it, everything was smooth until we got up to our room. Our bed was filthy - with hairs and crusty bits left in the sheets. We immediately went back downstairs and complained at the front desk. We were met with an apology and the sheets were changed that night before bed.

The hotel breakfast is sparse. The waffle machines were the best part, but there are only two and there was always a long line. The tables were never wiped down and people quickly crowded the breakfast area each morning. Coffee was terrible. The bathrooms in the breakfast area were dirty and didn't have soap.

On our third day, we asked in the morning if we could get the room turned down. There's no daily housekeeping and we were told to ask the morning of for the room to get cleaned. The person at the front desk said, "um, maybe. I'm not sure to be honest." That night, we arrived back to a dirty, unmade room. We had to go back downstairs, get our own towels and ask again for the room to be made up the next day. The person at the front desk apologized, but that was it.

Upon checking out, we asked for an itemized bill. I was told that HotelEngine, where we booked the room, would have the bill and that the front desk was unable to print anything. They told us we didn't have any extra charges, but we were unable to see that for ourselves. We weren't even offered the option to view the charges on their computer monitors.

Everything about this place felt chaotic and unrelaxing. The place felt dirty - hallways constantly filled with dirty towels, sheets, etc., I never actually saw anyone vacuuming or cleaning. The staff are not properly trained. We often found them in the hallways or at the front desk gossiping and not paying attention to customers. For example, I was trying to bring my bags to the car in the rain. Two employees cut me off at the front door trying to leave for the day without an apology.

A family member who works in the area later heard we were staying at this hotel and told us that it was known for not being a nice place. We paid $900 for four days here and felt completely ripped off. Next year, we'll pay a little more for a lot more. Please don't waste your money...

All I can say about this place is the location is good. I was scheduled to stay at the hotel 28 days for business but I had to find another place to stay after 2 days. I was told the week prior to coming that medical professionals could stay after showing credentials with no issue. I arrived to the hotel and the gentleman at the desk told me I couldn't stay more than 21 days, and told me I would be charged $25 a day for my dog. I spoke to the manager the following day and she tried to get the pet charge waved, but then the owner of the hotel claimed it was unethical for me to leave a dog in a room unattended while I'm at work for 9 hours a day. I really didn't think it was any of the owners business about what being an ethical pet owner is. Especially, a pet that is trained to potty on a pad while I'm gone, and is a mild mannered animal. I had a friend that just finished a stay there that was of the white race and she had no issues. They didn't charge her the $25 a day for her pet either. Funny how I show up and they see I'm a professional minority and the rules change. The owner suggested that I find another place to stay because of my unethical pet parenting. They decided not to charge a cancelation fee and expressed they weren't kicking me out. In addition to all of that, I had to change the bedding on arrival because the sheets were dirty and the pillow had an eyelash on it. The floors in the room and bathroom were not clean. I had to bleach wipe the whole room and bathroom to stay comfortably the few nights I was there. The guy across the hall from me had to be mentally ill and possibly homeless. He would talk to himself outloud and pace the halls. I did appreciate the front desk female staff that worked during the day , during the week days. They were nice and understanding of my frustration with the hotel. If you are looking for a clean room, go to the Ramada...