Extended Stay America - Winston-Salem - Hanes Mall Blvd. — Hotel in Winston-Salem

first and foremost the only thing that kept me from getting another hotel and trying to get out of the reservation here was the girl working last night and the gentleman today. the girl last night was by herself with no help. she was able to laugh and do the best she could. the gentleman the next day was nice enough to put a do not disturb that he had with him into the door for me .

When i arrived i had booked thru a 3rd party so there was a 100 dollar fee that was refundable (no biggie, just wasnt aware of). i was given a room on the second floor ( i booked a few days in advance and had requested a bottom room), i get that the place was booked. the first room was dirty, and had not been cleaned. Again, the girl working the front desk was nice and got me switched to a different room. she even ran to the second room personally to make sure it was clean which she didnt have to. There were no do not disturb signs and there were no more "kitchen-ware packets". she apologized profusely and told me to come back the next morning and should maybe have some then.

i made my own do not disturb sign and ordered pizza that night, easy enough... i really am easy to get along with and dont write a lot a these kind of reviews. today at 10-10:30 i am woke up to knocking on my door. when i open the door the lady realized that there was a home made sign and apologized but now i am awake after only a few hours of sleep.

around 1130 i head to the office, still no kitchen ware available. i say ok (what is one supposed to say) I also ask for a do not disturb sign again explaining that my homemade one didnt work this morning. i was told "no one should be knocking for three days since you just checked in" She asked who it was and i stated that i didnt know, i wasnt upset, things happen (especially since she was truly sorry and embarrassed for not seeing the sign), just didnt want to be woke up anymore.

The main reason I chose this hotel is because i am a travel nurse and a lot of hospital workers stay here for the 13 week assignments. i have no idea how people do it here. there is no way i would or could. between all the little mishaps and having nothing to cook with when it is known to be available with the room is aggrevating. i believe that this location needs to up the ante immensly.

Oh i forgot to mention when i was trying to get kitchen-ware last night that there was a man in the office that had no shower curtain or anything to even hang a shower curtain on.... there were no clean shower curtains as well. i unfortunately will not be staying here after this reservation. i will also make sure i call hotel personally and make sure things are there as adviertised (this was my mistake)

so...... pros - friendly staff, fairly clean room, recliner in the room so didnt have to just sit in the bed, table and two chairs cons - not enough products to hand out to guests, not enough staff very loud - i could hear the highway, doors slamming shut, people talking.... and i have a wind tunnell fan that was on as high...

I'm not very high maintenance so I don't usually mind older/less frequented facilities, but there was lots of trash by the stairwell for my whole 4 day stay, and housekeeping was generally apathetic. I work nights, so I usually check out of hotels at 6p on my last day, and some hotels require that I book for that entire night, while other places just charge a late check-out fee. When I booked by phone I was told specifically NOT to book for Saturday night, and the facility would just charge me a late check-out fee when I left at 6p on Saturday. When I got to the hotel, they gave me a different story, that I would need to pay for an additional night. No problem, right? Saturday comes and housekeeping wakes me up to ask me if I'm checking out. I politely explain that I'll be out at 6p as I told them when I checked in. An hour later I get a call from the front desk, asking if I'm checking out. I again tell them that no, I will be checking out at 6p, and I'm trying to sleep for work (which is the whole reason I got the hotel, to sleep, right?). After explaining that I was not coming to the office after being woken up from a dead sleep to give them my license and credit card (which they already had on file...) They relented and asked me to come to the office when I check out to pay for the additional day. No problem. I get to the office at 6p, and they want to charge me almost double what I paid for the initial 3 nights. I explain the situation, and the clerk (Georgia) tells me "If you'd booked it in advance you would have been charged the rate you paid for the other nights." I explain that I tried to book it and was told not to as "the late fee would be cheaper than the extra night," and despite being lied to about that, I'm willing to pay for the extra night, but not at what is an exorbitant rate for a sub-par hotel. Georgia replies, "No, that don't sound right, it don't work like that," implying that I was being dishonest and becoming increasingly more rude as time went on. Finally another rep who was there managed to at least give me the original room rate, but the whole ordeal was a hassle, and nearly made me late for work at the local ER. Housekeeping never came by to inquire if I needed anything (towels, trash removal, etc.) and the existing residents are less than considerate of visitors. Someone knocked on the door in the middle of the day (which is the middle of my sleep time) to ask if I could give them a ride, people were slamming doors and yelling, and there were at least 2 domestic disputes while I was there that may or may not have involved law enforcement. If you're looking for a place to stay - especially for work out of town - I would not recommend. Other hotels in the area may be more expensive, but in long run I think I paid about as much to stay here, and get treated like a liar by the front desk. It doesn't take much to please me, and I almost never leave bad reviews, but this place really left a bad taste...

I guess I can't complain too much considering I paid $60 for the night (pre tax). However, here is what I found: The lobby was so obscure upon turning into the parking lot that I circled the entire building before finding it. The lobby looks as if it occupies an old guest room, can't be sure, but it was tiny and behind the counter was disheveled. It did smell nice and a sign on the wall said the sanitation score was 94.5. There was an unhappy guest disputing charges when I arrived, who stated that a colleague had left and stayed at Sleep Inn next door due to lack of cleanliness. I was somewhat shocked that a $100 deposit was required as I have stayed at much nicer places that did not, this was not an issue, just worth knowing ahead of time. The check-in process was quick and easy and the staff was friendly. Even the employee handling the guest dispute was extemely friendly, patient, and understanding. Upon arriving at my third floor room (306), I saw the maid cart at the next door. I opened my room door and before walking in I noticed the tv was on and the pillows we laying in a pile in the middle of the bed. I held the door open and when the maid exited the next room I asked her if this room was ready to be occupied. She peered in and said the pillows had no cases. When she reentered it appeared she noticed what I did, a sticky spill going down the side of tbe recliner (photo included). Nothing was said about this, though it did seem as if she was scanning the room for other issues. When she left I walked around the room and found a large hole in the bathroom door (photo), the dresser looks as though its had serious water damage (photo), dirty refrigerator door (photo), no helpful info on telephone (photo), and oddly a full kitchen with NO included necessary items (photo). The sign seems to indicate these items are an extra charge. I have never run across this at any other extended stay hotel. Even a coffee maker was absent. There was an iron and ironing board and the air conditioner cooled the room quickly. Perhaps my favorite part about this place so far is the fact there is a Barnes and Noble on the same road with no need to get on a major road. So there you are... I have only just arrived. Hopefully it will be a quiet night. (EDIT- added after stay) I slept well and had a quiet night. However other things of note for this "extended stay" hotel are: there were no laundry facilities, no breakfast, and there was no alarm clock, no hair dryer, and oddly, no hangers either. I just feel that any hotel who calls itself an extended stay should have these...