Hotel Topeka At City Center — Hotel in Topeka

We had to come here Thanksgiving morning because a big buck walked in front of our van on the Hwy. The tow truck driver dropped us off here after we had to wait 3hrs for AAA to respond, in the process, losing my partners drivers license. Thankfully we were able to check-in to this hotel with a photograph of his license. What happened next was not at all expected with how nice this place appears when you first enter it.

My partner was able to sleep, but I was wide-awake on the couch unable to sleep for a couple of hours. When I went to the bathroom I noticed what I thought was a baby roach on my coat—I swiped it away, trying not to let a roach infestation get to me. After stepping out, I hear, "We have bedbugs," and I turn my head to see them crawling all over the bed. In that moment, I was so thankful I could not sleep. There were blood smears, something I have never seen a roach give off before.

We shake off all our belongings, emptying everything. I have never encountered them before, but the smell they gave off was familiar to me from living in cities—this smell that I inititally thought was from poor ventilation.

We are given a room on another floor. It smells upon entering. Hesitant to sleep here, we inspect the room. A shedded skin of a bedbug is on the windowsil. There is a blood smear on the bedskirt. The rim of inside a lampshade is filled with dried up blood. I have an odd feeling from sitting on the couch.

Another room upon request, no questions asked. It is on another floor. It smells clean, nothing to complain about except the itchy bedding with a slight fabric softener smell that makes me a bit queasy. I kept waking up to check for bedbugs the first night, since they often will not come out until you are asleep to feed upon your unassuming limp body. The following night, I could not sleep at all. There is a constant hum in the room and the doors seem paper-thin. I am very reactive to soy and the washes here have soybean oil as a base, so everytime I shower I am blowing my nose for ages. I have my own wash but it is like it permeates the pipes, it got really bad in the mornings when everyone was showering (the bathrooms are next to the paper-thin doors).

Before we were initially scheduled to leave, my partner found out there was laundry on the 5th floor (which they charge for), so he decided to start up a load. He discovered the dryers did not work after already having a pile of wet clothes, which we had to air dry in our room. We would not have done laundry if we knew the dryers did not work, especially in consideration of the bedbug issue (probably why they do not work!!).

Whatever, they dried overnight but came into another issue unrelated to the hotel and had to unfortunately, extend our stay another day. I found a pair of large underwear, which smelled like a dirty bathroom sprayed with perfume, behind a table when making sure we did not lose anything during our stay.

Our time here was an all-around nightmare that we were subjected to out of convenience during a time of disaster. While I cannot entirely blame them for my allergic response in the hotel, I did not know it would be this bad considering I have been in this situation before—the difference is in the buildings circulation. It is terrible and seemingly nonexistent. The relentless sneezing and nose running gradually reduced upon leaving.

While this is not the worst thing to have happened in my life, this was bad enough to warrant me writing the longest Google review I have ever written. This establishment is being horrifically managed if they are unwilling to close for renovations instead of putting not only their patrons in unsafe living conditions, but their EMPLOYEES in unsafe working conditions—they are the ones who are coming into a poorly ventilated infestation on a...

I was a guest at this hotel for one night, Aug. 17th, and again for four nights starting Aug. 22nd. I also stayed last year as I am a dog show judge. While this hotel is attractive at first glance, many small problems diminished my stays.

On the August 17th stay it took five (5!) different keys before I had one that reliably worked; I became very tired of going back and forth to the lobby. Things started off poorly even before that since the young lady who checked me in (sorry, I don’t know her name) was most somber and unfriendly, making me feel like an imposition rather than a guest. Once in my room I found that the WiFi was essentially useless. Neither my iPhone nor my iPad could reliable receive or hold a signal. I normally do a lot of work on my iPad but it was useless. I could use my phone without WiFi but that was not only limiting but used up a lot of data allowance. Next problem: my TV remote only worked some of the time, when I would get it literally within inches of the TV and would repeatedly press and press. The clincher was when I went downstairs to the restaurant for dinner. This was the evening of the 17th. I was alone, only three other tables were occupied while I was there, but it took one hour and 15 minutes to get a hamburger!! One waiter, one cook but only four tables of customers. I had to hunt down the waiter, who was working hard but overwhelmed, who told me that was the best they could do as they had to take care of room service as well. My hamburger was not even put on the grill until I had been there a full hour (I had to once again hunt down the waiter who in turn went to the cook, in plain sight). Getting drink refills and paying the check were only accomplished by getting up and finding the waiter once again. Unreal. By the way, I complained to the front desk and received nothing more than an “Oh!”

Now my latest stay, August 22nd through August 26th: WiFi working yet? NO! Once again, no reception but this time for a four day stay. I was told by the desk that the WiFi had “problems.” No kidding; fix it. Next problem: Shortly after using the toilet for the first time the bowl would not refill. Water line was open and the flap was sealing, but no water would refill the tank. The desk did send a repairman who fixed it by replacing a part in the tank but just another annoyance and a sign of neglect. Additionally the “cold” water faucet in the bathroom sink would only run a few ounces of cold water before it became moderately to very warm. Can’t drink a glass of water! Also of note were the towels. Very thin and bare; I would call them “Motel 6” towels.

These multiple annoyances are, on the surface, individually, not terribly awful, but they show clearly that this hotel is not being properly run. Too many things wrong and my associates (other judges) experienced similar problems as well as some others I did not experience. The carpets, everywhere being held together by duct tape, certainly did not add to the experience but at least didn’t affect my stay on a personal level as did my...

Ghost confirmation/Check-in: I was skeptical about the check-in process because after we booking the room late last month, we did not receive a confirmation email. It was strange and something I have not experienced before. We called prior to arrival to confirm our booking and the front desk clerk was not pleasant and rushed my husband off the phone. The bar was in hell at this point. However, after arriving, Genevieve gave me hope. She was friendly, efficient, and knowledgeable about our stay. I was relieved to have an easy check-in that was no hassle. Bonus points for not waiting at all to get our room. Room 306: Upon entering our room, I immediately checked the bedsheets and mattress. The mattress had questionable stains and bed bugs! The bed skirt was dirty, dusty, and was covered in random hairs from previous guests. We immediately alerted Genevieve, who was quick to get us into another room, thankfully with no questions asked. She reassured us that maintenance would be called to correct the situation. Thank goodness our next room was bed bug free. It was very dusty, especially on the bedside table and the headboard. I brought my own cleaning supplies and deep cleaned our room. It was surface level clean but it had not been deep cleaned in a long while. (The handprints and stains on the walls were proof of this for sure.) The bathroom sink had a crack in it and the water was slow to warm up. Once it did warm up, it had excellent water pressure and it was very hot. O for Old: While we appreciated the mini fridge, microwave, and the LG flat screen, the room and the furniture are about twenty years out of date. The lobby and hotel bar are very nice and were the only amenities that have been recently updated in the last few years. There is a pool and a hot tub, but we did not check these amenities out. The only thing that seemed newer in our room was the carpet. Also-the toilet was low to the ground and leaked around the base with each flush. Ghostkeepers: We did hear housekeeping running a vacuum for thirty minutes in the main corridors after seven this morning, but I did not see anyone going into any rooms to clean them. They definitely did not come to ours during the day. This may explain why our room was only surface level clean. Overall: I cannot recommend anyone to stay here. The bed bugs alone were the ultimate nail in the coffin. Plus, the rooms have not been deep cleaned in such a long time. The upside was the free Wi-Fi, which was solid! The continental breakfast is $12 per person and there was plenty of parking. The water gets nice and hot but the pricing for how dated the rooms are is severely overpriced. Please save your money and heartache and stay somewhere else. And no matter where you go, check...