I only give 1-star reviews for egregious behavior. Receiving a jacuzzi room with literal congealed…read morefilth bubbling in the jacuzzi and management being argumentative and evasive upon being notified (and refusing a credit) qualifies as such.
I'd driven for something like 10 hours and was looking for a rejuvenating stop at AmericInn. I sought the jacuzzi to soothe my road-weary bones and prep me for another 8-hour drive the next day. I arrived in late evening. As I entered the room, I began getting situated. I immediately started filling the jacuzzi and assessed what to put in the fridge. Three containers of Styrofoam from the last guest sat forgotten in the fridge - abandoned by their original owner, neglected by cleaning staff at the hotel. I took them out and peered inside. One contained a half-eaten omelet. It was in decent shape, appeared edible. In another container, a dinner entrée - some sort of meat and mushrooms - laid in wait, looking nearly slimy. My curiosity satisfied, I didn't open the third. I set them on a nearby table and prayed they wouldn't stink.
Definitely a sloppier room turnover, I thought, but I was going to let it slide.
I ate (my own food) and got ready for the jacuzzi. I eagerly climbed in and fired up the jets. As I sat in there, I noticed something peculiar: a large cluster of bubbles that appeared to contain... material? They didn't dissipate like the other bubbles. They hung around, growing to a softball size, before making lazy circles in a corner. I looked closer. They were a dingy color, formed of a congealed substance - abnormal. Trying to find the source, I spotted a ring of brown filth near the water's edge in that corner. I took video and photos before promptly getting out.
At that point, it was too late to feel like moving rooms and starting up another jacuzzi (they take something like 30 minutes to fill, anyway). I was also on the top floor by request and knew their other open jacuzzi room was on the bottom floor, which I didn't want.
The next morning, I brought the issue up to the front desk. The lady was empathetic and referred me to the assistant general manager, Jessica, who was nearby. I calmly and politely told her of the issue and showed her the video. Her response? "So I can't prove that that's our hotel."
I sat there a bit stunned at being low-key called a liar. She asked if I minded if she went up there. I said by all means, go ahead. As she's away the lady at the front desk apologized for the wait. I found myself wishing the GM had discovered and promoted her talent for customer service.
Jessica returns and seems to begrudgingly acknowledge the unclean state of the jacuzzi, saying she sees the grime in the corner. Great, I think - now that my issue has been appropriately investigated, we can move towards a resolution.
Except there's more.
She proceeds to tell me that the general manager, who apparently had to approve a credit, just had a death in the family "so I'm not going to ask her right now" - well, okay then - but that she'd be back tomorrow (apparently in better spirits?). Her delivery wasn't very convincing but as I actually just experienced a death in the family, I felt for her, if true. She told me she'd give me an update then.
To her credit, she got back to me the next day... but with a voicemail asking me to call her. For what? You're either giving the credit or you're not, and we already discussed this. I got my answer when the full charge for the room posted to my account soon after.
I didn't even tell her about the leftover containers of food. I'm sure that would have been questioned as well though, unless I found receipts...
Bottom line: a hotel that doesn't care about brown jacuzzi bubbles probably doesn't care about much else. Further, the journey of discussing it with Jessica the AGM was unnecessarily adversarial and evasive, even dismissive. Although I'd previously liked this chain, I could not recommend or stay at this AmericInn (or any other Wyndham property) in the future.
