Choice Hotels
reviews and complaints

Checked in on Saturday 9/11/2010 at 1130 AM, by midnight my son was asleep and when I looked at him a saw a gug on him. Immediately I grabbed it and when I did I saw several more on the sheets. After examining them I was able to recognize that they were bed bugs. I pulled back the sheets and saw 15-20 more running around on the mattress. Needless to say we went to the front desk to make a complaint, which they refused to do anything or act concerned whats so ever. I am calling the Health Department on them.

My name is Jennifer Crosby and I used to be an employee at the Cottage Grove, Oregon Comfort Inn. I was verbally harassed everyday by Bikrimjit Singh who is the General manager. He would tell me I had no common sense, Make sexual remarks to me, offer to buy me alcohol even though I am 21, yell at me in front of guests telling me I have no idea about anything and that he should just fire me. I would cry everyday before I went to work and when I got off and into my car. The management would threaten to fire me every week. I put up with it for so long cause I needed a job, and where I come from there are not many jobs. One time he walked up to me while I was stalking cups and he came up to me with an erection and told me not to rent out room 236 cause he would be busy up there. He would walk by my house and yell the time I worked the next day when I was outside, then when I got to work the next day make rude remarks and question why I was drinking a beer on my own property. After that he would call me a drunk at work when I was on the clock. I do not approve of it and neither did my family. I talked to former co-workers and they have wrote me letters telling me what he and the rest of the management would do to them. I will send the letter if you would like. After just a few months I put my 2 weeks in and they never gave me my check after I put my 2 weeks in. I have had to see 2 different doctors about how my anxiety has increased to extreme highs and am taking new medication for it. Three other women and I are have hired and spoke with an attorney about these recurring problem. If you need any information please feel free to contact me [protected].

Jennifer Crosby

We were staying @ the econolodge in Plantsville CT, my daughter arived earlier than we did, THe person behind the counter was flirting with her and INSITSED that he carry up her bags for her, when they got into the room, I was told that the employie "fentyl" tried to kiss my daughter. She said no and pulled away. He threw her on the bed. He continued to kiss her. Thank go he did not rape her or hit her. But he did say that all american girls are sluts and that he can have sex with them all the time, . SHe left the room and stayed with her Best friend for the night, WOuldnt you bellieve, This guy knocke don that door. They woudlnt let him in, he however used the master card to unlock the door but they had the bolt on the door. WHen she finaly told me when happend, we were already in chicago and i coudl not confront him. This is UNEXCEPTABLE. I WANT SOMETHING DONE TO THIS MAN OR I WILL DO IT MYSELF. It is not fair to my daulghter...she held a certain level of trust with these people that is non-existant at this point. WE may have to take her to therapy. If this is the case, I will have to sue you. I think it woudl ne in all of our best interest if you terminate this employee because if he does this with my daughter, he must have done it before and will continue to do it. BTW I almost forgot, he offered her money. Like I said, unexceptable... I can not be the only person who has filed a coplaint about this guy. Plz take care of this. I am asking you as a proffesional, please. I am hurt and mad. I dont want to go to jail for ringing his neck...but this is my 14 yo daughter.

Choice Priviliges is a hotel rewards program that promised a free night stay if you stayed at one of their member hotels for 2 nights. My wife and I took them up on the offer but we have never been allowed to use the free stay.
After repeated phone calls over a number of months, we have been told the hotels we want to stay at require more points than we earned with our stays. "Points" were never mentioned in the ad that enticed us. Even after staying one more night in one of their very dirty and run-down Comfort Inns in Petaluma, CA, we were told we still do not have enough points for a free stay.
I asked for a list of hotels that we did have enough points for and was told they don't have such a list, that I would have to go through hotel by hotel for my request to figure out which hotels would qualify.
Lesson: Do not trust Choice Priviliges advertisements and don't fall for gimmicks

My wife and I stayed at Cambria Suites in Dania Beach Florida. When I state that we thought we were in a 3rd class country, I am not exaggerating.

When I made reservation arrangements, Kamal at the front desk stated that the hotel was a 5 Star property. Although the hotel is nice, at best is a three star.

He also said that because the occupancy rate was high, he would offer the room to us because he considered our stay to be long term, 6 days. However, because he was oversold on rooms, he said that if we check out prior to the 6th day, we would be responsible for all 6 days. At that time I didn't think much about his claim.

Here is what occurred:

On Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday there was not hot water. Each day I had to call about not having hot water for a shower.

The few days we could use the pool we could not stay poolside. A truck pulled into the hotel parking lot towing a large power washer which was used to wash cars. This went on for 3 hours. The din was so loud, we were forced to leave the pool area.

We went to the pool area for towels and there were none. The manager happened to pass by and said that he would return with towels. He never returned and we had to return to the room to dry off.

At 10:00 PM, a bus was idling near the front entrance of the hotel. The noise and fumes woke us up. I called the front desk to ask why the bus was idling. The girl at the front desk said she would check into this. After another hour, I called the front desk again because the bus was still idling. Again, she said she would check into this. A half-hour later the bus moved to the driveway.

During the three days we spent poolside, I noticed that the pool and jacuzzi filters never ran. However, on February 22nd, the board of health was inspecting the hotel, the pool was temporarily closed while they completed their inspection. This was the first time that the pool filters were operating.

Because of a medical condition, I have a prescription for a narcotic pain killer. I packed 7 tablets and didn't have to use any of them. When I returned home there were only 3 in the bottle. I can't prove that the maid stole them but I have no other explanation for them being missing.

Their $8. breakfast buffet was average for a resort hotel. But we elected not to participate because I felt that they fell far short of what is considered to be basic food service health concerns. No sneeze bar, food temperatures were questionable, and tinted green scrambled eggs indicated that the eggs were not fresh.

On Saturday of our horrific stay, our room key card which permit access to the pool, door entrances, gym and outside doors would not function. We had to walk around the perimeter of the hotel to the front entrance. The front desk said that either their card readers were malfunctioning or an employee invalidated our key cards.

We would have left after two days if we could, but then we would have been charged for the entire 6 days.

I submitted a complaint form and recieved an e-mail that I would be contacted by customer service within 24 hours. I waited. After TWO weeks, I called customer service. They offered us a reduction of two nights stay. When Chris from customer service asked if this was acceptable, I said no. I wanted to be reimbursed 50% of our hotel bill and also wanted a 6 night comp at a Choice Hotel.

Bottom line after REPEATED, REPEATED phone calls and e-mails and 2 e-mails sent to Kevin Lewis, CEO of Premier Division (?) which were not responded to I was able to recieve a 50% reduction of our hotel bill. Corporate office said that they would not offer the 6 night comp to compensate us for the grief and aggrivation of our 6 night FORCED "imprisonment" at the Cambria Suites Hotel.

I thought that my request for the comp and reimburserment was reasonable considering that if we could have left after the second day, we would have but could not afford to be billed for 4 nights and then find another hotel and pay for another 4 nights.

there customer relations, and mangers are far from being good. they don’t care about there customers. My stay was horrible, when I complained about it, they offered me reward points? why in the world would I want to stay at that hotel chain. As far as Im coinsured I believe they should be shut down. my issue was not even solved. they seamed to think they can get away with anything. I have read a lot of complaints from this hotel chain. And I would not ever suggest ANYONE to stay there. so in that note, I hope this company can fix there issues with there staff. so no one has to go threw a bunch of crap to get no where!

I traveled to EconoLodge (OH430) in Worthington, OH for a high school wrestling tournament on 3/5/09. Two rooms were reserved by the team coordinator. Upon check in, I requested to reserve my own room as the motel was empty and I wished to use my AAA discount. The clerk assured me I had the lowest rate available--lower than the AAA rate. Upon check out, I was amazed to see that my VISA had been charge double the nightly room rate and more than double the AAA rate. The clerk would not give me her name or a room receipt. She would only write her initials ("BR") on my VISA receipt. I have contacted customer service to no avail. I received a form letter apology by email addressed to "Dear ___." In the letter, the general manager, Bob Patel, said it would not happen with future customers. I also received $50 in Econoldge coupons which I have no use for.

I would like to be reimbursed for the $100 for which I was deliberately overcharged.

My wife and I stayed at this motel on July 28, 2009 for 1 night. I requested a smoking room upon check-in and the desk clerk said it was so.
When I got home the next day, I had a message on my phone that they were charging my card $175 for smoking in a non-smoking room. My wife attempted to contact the manager, but never could. She then contacted the corporate office and they assured us there would be NO charges.
On January 1, 2010, I checked my bank balance and guess what? They charged my card $175 on December 31, 2009! My wife called the motel and talked to the desk clerk who was very rude to her and told her there would be no refund. When my wife asked to talk to the manager, she was told that he was in and out and not there at a set time. I doubt that the message will be relayed.
I have contacted the Better Business Bureau of New Mexico and made a complaint. We will see what happens from here.
I would not recommend this hotel to anyone traveling through Albuquerque. I would hate to see anyone else get ripped off.
Stanley Morris, Las Vegas, NM

I booked a hotel room in a Comfort Inn hotel in which I've stayed before, on choicehotels.com. The "fine print" room description did not read, "no pets allowed." The hotel accepts pets and on its website, at the time I booked, it listed no pet fees. I typed in the Special Requests section that I would need a pet room and was bringing two small dogs. When I checked in the computers were down. Whatever... I got checked in. The room was very nice. I've stayed there several times before in their pet rooms. The next morning when I went to check out, there was a large, rather unfriendly office manager, Victor (Richards, I think, was his last name) behind the counter. He gave me my invoice to sign and I noticed a $25 pet fee on it. I refused to sign it or pay the pet fee, because it wasn't indicated on the website and I've never had to pay a pet fee at that hotel before. He said it was their new policy. I said you can't spring a new policy on me like that, I didn't book expecting to pay a pet fee. He handed me a hotel business card and told me to call the manager on Monday (this was Saturday morning). I said no and asked him to call his manager right then. He did, on a cell phone (his own? the company's? who knows). Right in front of me, in a "long suffering" unfriendly tone of voice, he told the manager he had a customer who didn't want to pay the pet fee, and then he said, "I explained that to her." He handed me the phone to talk to the general manager, Neelam Patel, who tried to argue with me. The phone reception was lousy and I couldn't even hear half of what she said, but she tried to explain their cleaning process and the new policy, etc., etc., blah blah blah. I insisted on her authorizing the removal of the pet fee from my bill, and she finally agreed to do so. But she kept speaking to me in an argumentative tone! Finally, I said, "Could you please tell Victor here to take off the pet fee?" And she finally said yes so I handed the phone back to him and he printed me out a new bill without the fee. After all that, Victor had the nerve to tell me it would probably take a month for the website to be updated and he hoped to see me again. I told him I would not be staying there again. When I got home my stay wasn't listed on my account, so I feared I'd have a hassle getting my points credited, but they finally, several days later, came through and I saw the listing of my stay.

Stayed there 1 night while my daughter was having tests run at the Medical College of Georgia. A week after returning home, I checked my credit card account online and the hotel had charged 2 seperate $500. charges and one $300 charge! Immediately I called the manager, he said that there was "water damage" to the room and that was the cost to repair. First of all, my shower was taken the night before I checked out and there was no "water issue" the morning I woke up. No one had even tried to contact me regarding this matter until I saw the charges! Still working with claims department of my credit card - but will sue them if it is not resolved through the credit card company. THESE PEOPLE ARE STEALING FROM THEIR GUESTS!

After staying at this motel one night on 11/7/09 I was in severe pain and swelling from multiple bed bug bites which took some hours to show on my body. By the next day I had to go to an emergency clinic for shots for swelling. Rx for anti itch and a week of misery. I contacted the home office of Choice Hotels and was blown off. The local owner has still not contacted me back!

I can only advise you not to frequent this place. I have learned my lesson and will spend more money for now on even for a quick one night visit

Dr. Ralph J. Sharow
Nashville, TN

We checked into the country inn and suites and the only room available was a room next to four chain smoking rooms. The room reeked of smoke. We went back to the service desk and requested a different room. None were available. We were sent to the comfort inn down the street. We were sent up the stairs and the hallway was filthy. There was dirt and grass all over. When we walked into the room, the first thing we noticed was that something had spilled all down the side of the tv. Milk? I went to see the bathroom and you could feel the hairspray on the countertop and the toilet cover. I wiped it off with a wetwipe and the wipe was grey. I then went to check out the bed and there was a hair in it. I tried to call the front desk and phone didn't work. It was late, i was exhauted and already changed into my pj's. Headed off to bed and talked to someone in the morning. Told him of the problems and his response was. I will tell the management, he won't be happy. There was no apology whatsoever. It was a gross experience.

I reserved a room at the hotel for a dog show we were attending held on May 10 and 11th. The hotel was advertised on the back of the dog show premium list as pet friendly. Upon arrival we check in and get our suite(#322). It had no toilet paper and the carpet was nasty. We bring our dogs in and go to unload the car and the clerk tells us there is a "situation". The building doesn't allow dogs because it serves breakfast. I told them I was coming for the dog show and had dogs at the time of the reservation. They moved us from our suite to a small room(#214). We are sound asleep and at 4:30 a.m. there is a loud crashing noise and my husband screams. When I turn on the light I see that the picture above the bed fell off the wall hit the head board and fell on my husband's head. Shattering glass imbedded in my husband's shoulder and glass shards 6"-10" long all over his neck and upper torso and all over the bed, pillows and dog blanket. I removed the glass from my husband's neck so my husband could move and I could clean his wound. I went to get assistance and bandages but the desk clerk didn't know where a first aid kit was. She tried to be helpful but was new to the job and was the only one on duty. They moved us to another room(#217). Again no toilet paper. We went to the front desk at least 3 times to get the manager or owner, or anyone in charge to come to the room and meet with us. The clerk couldn't give us an extra blanket or sheet to replace my dogs blanket now imbedded in glass because she'd "get fired". I asked her to call the manager/owner and she tried several times. When she finally reached the owner we were told to return after the dog show in the afternoon to discuss this mess, the owner was too busy with a "little one". We return and, again, no manager, no owner. The desk clerk said she couldn't call the owner again on their cell phone because she'd "be fired". We were told to go to the other hotel that the owner has, Econo Lodge, we did not go. We went to our room and found my husbands personal pillow lying on the dirty hallway floor. At appx. 2:30 with no one in authority, in sight, I went and found a room at a competitor's hotel. So we moved again. We had a nice room and they actually had breakfast and pet friendly room. The owner of this hotel is Ms. Patel. Choice hotels, who is the Franchisor was of no help and told me it's not their responsability to provide a sheet or blanket for dogs, even though mine is now filled with glass. We got a "gee whiz" "I'm sorry" letter from Ms. Patel telling us how seriously they take our complaint and offering us a free nights stay. What a crock! I plan on contacting the AG's office and am happy to discuss this. This is not the only problem we encountered here and several other people in the hotel were complaining about their stay!

I stayed at the Econo Lodge in Cornelius NC. I was there under contract from Duke Energy. When I checked in i stated that I was there under Duke Energy. Was suppose to have gotten the Duke rate. After staying there for 2 weeks i checked out and asked did I get the Duke rate the lady at the desk told me no I didn't check in under Duke. Told her I did she then got rude and told me it was my tough luck to bad. I work with a company that travels all over the east coast working at power plants. They will be told
not to stay at a Econo Lodge due to this hotel.

We spent two free nights at this hotel over the Labor Day Weekend (2009). The lodging was free because we had suffered numerous insect bites on our previous stay there. The hotel indicated that room had fleas. We started breaking out with bites shortly after leaving to go home after staying the second night. I might mention that we have experienced this numerous times, but only complained the one time. Now we are livid. We have spent two weeks of misery with the itching. Our research indicates that the room probably had bed bugs. We have complained and were told that an externinator found nothing in the room. I find that information insulting. We have had this happen in numerous rooms at this hotel. The average tourist probably wouldn't realize where they got bit if only stopping en route to somewhere else. I know this is only seen by the hotel as a minor annoyance, but it was misery and is two weeks of my life that I'll never get back. I believe this hotel is infested with bedbugs and/or fleas. I won't be back even though we go to that region regularly.

On Thursday, August 13, I made a reservation on the internet for the Hillsboro, Oregon Econolodge. Not five minutes later I realized that I hadn't put the correct day (1 night) so I cancelled the reservation. I then called the Hillsboro Econolodge and made a reservation for the correct night, after they assured me that the other reservation "wasn't in the system" and I wouldn't be charged twice.

The hotel room was stuffy and stunk like wet carpet and cleaning agents. There was mildew on the shower knob. We went to bed aroun 10:30 and that's when the party next door started. Laughing, giggling, girls coming in and out, doors closing/opening, little "secret" knocks and more giggles, you get the picture. Loud talking, laughing and whatever partiers do was going on. My teenaged daughters and I were subjected to this and did not call the front desk as we were afraid. And quite frankly, I got the feeling that there was a lot more going on at the hotel than meets the eye. We were very afraid.

Trying to sleep, the refrigerator had a really loud buzzing sound, so I turned it off. We turned on the air/fan attempting to drown out the party. A lot of unscrupulous people were about and that includes the desk clerk. No thank you, Hillsboro, Econolodge. NEVER AGAIN.

Then I get home and checked my bank account online to find out that I WAS charged twice for the room. It didn't matter that I cancelled within five minutes. It wouldn't have mattered if I cancelled in 1 minute from the time I made the reservation. You, see, you CAN'T cancel a reservation for Econolodge. They refuse to reimburse you and if they decide to, you still have to pay $25 of it to them. This place is a ripoff, fraud, and very dishonest. Their "policy" states that you CAN'T make mistakes in tiny writing at the bottom of their site. So it brings the question, why did the manager say that my reservation "never went through." These people are a disgrace not only to the hotel industry, but to anyone who has the misfortune of doing "business" with them as their business is consumer fraud.

My daughter went off to college this year and I arrived at this econo lodge at the Marion Il, location to stay. All other hotels were booked for this weekend. The reservations were made prior to my arrival. When I arrived there was no staff available for the 1st 4-6 minutes while waiting to check in at the front counter. The lobby and front desk areas were not clean. I rung a beell for assistance that was on the front counter. A female employee came to the front counter with no enthusiasm as if she was interrupted from something more important to checking in guests. I spoke the the attendant and she never responded. I then asked are the rooms cleaned and mentioned the uncleanliness of the lobby area. The attendant totally ignored me. I then asked was a double bed available instead of the 1 king bed only option. The attendant immediately stated I had no reservation and if so, no chnages can be made. I started to show present proof of my on line reservation and noticed the misspelling of my last name. In addtion, I attempted to explain I was told a double bed was an option if available for the same rate. The attendant overtalked me and told me do not point near her face when I was only trying to show her my paper copy of the reservation. When I asked the attendance why is she so rude, she stromed away and brought a male to the counter stating you can not stay here. I asked for a manager and he said he was the CEO & the lady was the general manager. Then he started to yell "Get your black ### ### out of here!" I was stunned. We began to argue back and forth as I demanded a contact number for a corporate office. I requested a refund since I was refused as a guest. The male attendance stated I am not giving you anything and will black list you to stay in the area. My sister started to record what was happening on her cell phone. The male employee then stated if I did not leave he will call the poice and say I hjad a gun and there to rob him. I encouraged that the police be called. When Officer Hillard arrived he walked to the back and closed the door with the male employee. The police officer asked my sister and I to leave since the manager (male employee) did not want us there. I explained what happened and asked the officer to review the survellince tapes. The office stated the tapes are just a theft deterrant and nothing recorded. I then showed our recording and the officer stated this is a civil matter--and would not do a police report. As we left the location I noticed the office and employees laughing and the officer was given a soda. There was another officer by the name J Mahan that was very professional and encouraged us to report this to their corporate office. He also mentiuoned this is not the first time something happen to a guest at this ssame location. I am so disturb how me and my family was treated. I reuqest a refund becuase it was not my choice to leave, therefore I did not breech the agreement. My name is Greg and a contact number for me is [protected] and I would be glad to go in more details.

I traveled to EconoLodge (OH430) in Worthington, OH for a high school wrestling tournament on 3/5/09. Two rooms were reserved by the team coordinator. Upon check in, I requested to reserve my own room as the motel was empty and I wished to use my AAA discount. The clerk assured me I had the lowest rate available--lower than the AAA rate. Upon check out, I was amazed to see that my VISA had been charge double the nightly room rate and more than double the AAA rate. The clerk would not give me her name or a room receipt. She would only write her initials ("BR") on my VISA receipt. I have contacted customer service to no avail. I received a form letter apology by email addressed to "Dear ___." In the letter, the general manager, Bob Patel, said it would not happen with future customers. I also received $50 in Econoldge coupons which I have no use for.
I would like to be reimbursed for the $100 for which I was deliberately overcharged.

AFTER DRIVING ALL DAY FROM TENN WE STOPPED ON ROUTE 16 AND GOT A ROOM AT THE ECONO LODGE. THE ROOM WAS VERY HOT WE PUT ON THE AIR AND IT TOOK ABOUT 45 MIN. TO COOL DOWN. WE WERE EXHAUSTED, I JUST LAID ON THE TOP OF THE SPREAD AND WATCHED TV, AS I WAS LAYING THERE A BIG BROWN SPIDER WAS WALKING TOWARD ME ON THE BED. MY HUSBAND KILLED IT. HOPING IT WAS THE ONLY ONE AND BEING TO TIRED TO START DRIVING AGAIN WE DECIDED TO STAY. A HALF HOUR LATER ANOTHER BIG BROWN SPIDER CAME OUT AND MY HUSBAND KILLED THAT ONE TOO. THEN, AFTER ABOUT 35 MINUTES, A BIG BLACK SPIDER WAS RUNNING ACROSS THE WALL, WHEN MY HUSBAND TRIED TO KILL THAT ONE IT WAS WAY TOO FAST AND HE COULDN'T GET IT. THAT WAS THE LAST STRAW, WE DECIDED TO LEAVE, KNOWING WE WOULDN'T GET ANY SLEEP THERE. I WENT TO THE FRONT AND TOLD THE CLERK THE ROOM HAD 3 SPIDERS AND WE WERE NOT STAYING, HE TOLD ME WE HAD TO PAY FOR THE ROOM AS WE WERE THERE FOR 2 HOURS. I TOLD HIM WE WERE NOT STAYING AND I WANTED HIM TO SIGN MY RECEIPT AS TO WHAT TIME WE TURNED IN THE ROOM KEYS AND LEFT. HE REFUSED, SAYING WE COULD HAVE SHOWERED AND TAKEN A NAP AND WERE READY TO GO. I TOLD HIM HE COULD CHECK THE THE ROOM, WE HAD NOT TAKEN A SHOWER OR A NAP AS WE WERE BUSY LOOKING FOR SPIDERS. HIS REPLY WAS EVERYONE HAS SPIDER, YOU CAN'T GO 10 FEET WITHOUT SEEING A SPIDER, YOU HAVE SPIDERS IN YOUR HOME EVERYONE DOES. I TOLD HIM I DON'T HAVE SPIDERS IN MY HOME, HE INSISTED I DO AS EVERYONE DOES. WE LEFT, DROVE TO ROUTE 95, TOOK THE FIRST EXIT THAT HAD MOTELS AND STAYED AT THE QUALITY INN. NO SPIDER! VERY NICE CLEAN ROOM.