The Historic Brookstown Inn | Trademark Collection by Wyndham — Hotel in Winston-Salem

Oh boy, where to start.

I walked in having made my reservations on the wrong day. I booked Saturday and Sunday and meant to book Friday and Saturday. The nice lady at the desk sorted everything out for me and moved my reservation. However, she did not mention that the price went up $150. So, shame on you.

Luckily the manager overheard me ask about it and came in to drop the price down to the originally booked price. I appreciate them doing it, but why didn't they let me know of the price increase prior to authorizing my transaction? Sus.

When I checked into the room, the temperature was very high. I put my hand up to the fan to see if there was air coming out, and there was, but it was not cool. I asked the front desk and the gentleman's response was literally "Do you have the fan controls on your wall? If so, make sure they are turned on." Ummmm.... okay? Seeing as how I had to do this for myself, I fooled around with a few things and got it to be better, but the room still runs hot.

Later in the evening, my 8 year old son got locked in the bathroom. The button that locks the door closed in the middle of the knob would not release as the knob was turned. I called maintenance and it took them 40 minutes to find a key. He tried one set of keys, it didn't work, he tried another, it didn't work. Eventually I mentioned that he needs to get out... so get a crowbar, get an axe, or call Pop a Lock. I am guessing the manager came into the room as I was googling locksmiths and he actually had the audacity to tell me "If you call them, tell them we will pay for it." Ummm.... yeah, ya will. If I have to tear this door off with my own two hands you will pay for it.

Went to go to take a shower tonight and as I ran the water, two spiders crawled out from the drain. And also, with the building being mostly brick, internet signal strength is wonky at times. So, at what point do you stop complaining and just issue a one star review?

That being said, it is a great location. The proximity to the sheer number of things in the city is great... many bigger hot spots less than a mile and a half away. Free cookies and milk at 8. Wine and cheese at 5. Free breakfast.

Do the pros weigh out the laughably bad experience I have had at this hotel? No. I will say that I was comped a night for the bathroom incident, but this place really needs to have a better eye for attention. Just because it is a historic hotel does not mean it is a good one.

Also, if the owners are reading this... should you feel inclined to reduce my bill even further, my confirmation number: 90472EE015037. Feel free to go in there and work your magic.

Update:

We were relaxing in our room after dinner and we heard a very loud “hiss” followed by a deluge of water coming from the overhead AC unit. I called front desk who sent someone right away.

He came in, looked at it, and said it was because he had been blowing nitrogen through the ac lines and sometimes this happens. I asked him if it would stop soon. He said he had to go check on the “mess” that was created “next door” and that my room would be checked on later.

I gotta say, this is becoming the worst hotel experience I have ever had.

Edit - Response to Owner:

Really? First off, my name is Waters, not Walters. Secondly, that is the best we can do? "Sorry we suck, have a great weekend."? You guys should be ashamed of your level of service and...

There is a reason that my family and I return to the Historic Brookstown Inn (BI) year-after-year. Yes, we are drawn in by the historic and beautiful 1800's buildings. When Queen Victoria came to the throne in England (1837), the buildings that are now the BI were raised on what is now Brookstown Avenue in Winston Salem, NC. As charming as the old cotton mill building is, the Brookstown is more than a building, it is people like Steve, Allison, Aaron, Zack, Kaitlyn, Casey, Danny, Nicole, and the rest in the main lobby. A walk across the courtyard and into the events area are the folks who are the caretakers of weddings and other special events. There you will meet the wonderful Maryann, Maria, Erik, Misty, Chanda, Caroline and the rest of their team (again, many not mentioned). They are true pros of down-home hospitality. And walking through both buildings, keeping a close eye on the well-being of guests and staff, is Tom along with the rest of the security team. ||||Whether the main lobby area or the events center, one thing is a constant at Brookstown--warm hospitality served up with lots of kindness and demonstrated by everyone on the team--housekeepers, food servers, maintenance, management, and, until mid summer--Sally the Cat who sadly passed away.||||And I would be remiss not to mention the owner of the BT, Dana--whose joy is felt wafting throughout the historic buildings and reflected in all of the folks who make up the Brookstown team.||||The folks at Brookstown are my NC family. My actual family anticipates our trips each year--trips that began about 30 years ago and we hope will continue for the next 30 years. Why would we go anywhere else? All that we want and need is here: Beauty, charm, and the Brookstown team who feel like brothers and sisters. ||||My wife and I are blessed with six daughters. All of them have dreamt of a Brookstown wedding but, due to a variety of circumstances, we previously opted for local (GA) venues, all lovely. When daughter #5 wondered if Brookstown might be possible, I met with the Director of Sales Allison and she never doubted that we could work out a way for the wedding to happen in the BT courtyard and the reception in the ballroom. She, general manager Steve, and the entire Brookstown team went to work to make sure that we had the best possible wedding. It was amazing. ||||Thank you Brookstown for 30 years of memories and thank you for the "peak" memory of a most beautiful wedding. Thanks Dana for a great place. Thanks to Steve for being a great general manager who compiled a great team. Thanks Allison for saying, "we can make it happen." Thanks to Aaron who answered my call years ago asking if BT could be my writing place. And, that to everyone in our Brookstown family (so many names not mentioned) for being so amazing. ||||If you are looking for a place for a night, a week, a business event, or a lovely wedding, a place that is more than a hotel--a charming place of character enlivened by a wonderful team of people, look no further than the Historic Brookstown Inn. This...

This place could be really charming with better upkeep and maintenance but unfortunately it fell short in a bunch of ways.

The pictures online apparently highlight their best couple of rooms, but don’t accurately reflect what most of the rooms are actually like. Our room (and the hallways) had old, stained carpet and awful harsh white, almost fluorescent, lighting that was anything but cozy and welcoming.

One of the queen beds in our room squeaked so loudly that we asked to switch rooms, which the front desk happily accommodated. However they didn’t have any other rooms with 2 queen beds so we had to have our (tall) teenage son sleep on the pullout couch in our new room, which was a thin mattress with very uncomfortable springs.

The icing on the cake was that after switching rooms and finally going to sleep, we were awakened by loud banging outside when the garbage men servicing the apartments behind the hotel emptied the dumpsters at 4:30am! Then a little before 7am the leaf blowing began. It was a horrible night’s sleep, followed by a shower in a tub that wouldn’t drain. There was also a picture in the bathroom that had apparently fallen off the wall but hadn’t been hung back up (or the wall patched), and it was just propped on the back of the toilet.

Overall the hotel has potential—the wine happy hour as well as evening cookies were a nice touch—but unfortunately just didn’t make up for all the other ways our room/stay was lacking. We actually checked out a day early despite having prepaid for the room, and relocated to another hotel in town instead.

In addition, we left behind a phone charger and when called to inquire about it we were told housekeeping didn’t find it. We then stopped by in person and asked the front desk person to please go check the room (which he did and easily found it) which leads me to believe they didn’t bother to look when we first called.

The best thing about the hotel was the nice woman who worked the wine/cheese happy hour and helped us switch rooms, but overall there were just too many hassles to make it worth it, so I would not recommend staying here unless some significant...