I rarely take the time to write reviews and complaints like this but I really feel like it is important to do to prevent other families and people from staying at this hotel. We booked through Hotels.com which we were aware was a non-refundable cancellation policy, which is why when we checked in, I happily signed the paperwork that stated so with the nice girl at the desk Rebecca.
Upon checking in, our NON-smoking rooms reeked so bad of smoke that it was choking us. I am allergic to smoke and my throat was closing within a minute of being inside. The rooms were infested with ants and the smoke detectors were ripped out of the walls leaving just the exposed wires hanging, which we are aware is illegal. The sheets were filthy with stains all over the furniture and rug, food crumbs on the rug, and there were men smoking crack cocaine right in the room next door with the door open and right outside the room. We were traveling with my father who is a retired New York City police officer who knew exactly what it was. We felt extremely unsafe, uncomfortable, and it was not sanitary to stay in these rooms. I travel for work for a living and stay in hotels 6 months out of the year and I have never in my life checked right out of a hotel like I did that night.
We took our bags and headed right to the front desk within minutes of seeing the rooms. The girl Rebecca was so upset at the condition of the rooms that she was actually in tears and agreed to refund us even though it was a non-refundable policy. This was not a cancellation, but a refusal of an absolutely disgusting and unsafe property. We stayed a few minutes away at a Hampton Inn instead that night.
The girl at the front desk Rebecca did indeed refund me right after that weekend and I was shocked to see that we were charged again in July. I thought we were done with this nightmare. We have since been credited the three charges of $129.25 for my three rooms by American Express but the Econo Lodge Cortland refuses to accept responsibility, so it is only a provisional credit until the dispute is closed which could take a very long time. We are rightfully due this money after being promised a refund by the employee Rebecca at the desk and also because the rooms were not acceptable or safe to stay in. When I spoke with the manager on the phone recently he was extremely aggressive and kept saying there is a no-refund policy. However, what I kept stressing to him was that the rooms we booked should have been non-smoking, clean, and drug-free. What we got that night was NOT what is advertised online. Even the photos online of the hotel look like they are from a totally different property.
He was totally unapologetic and said that the condition of the rooms have nothing to do with a non-refundable policy and that we agreed to no refund when I signed the paper upon check-in. Again, we had no idea what we would walk in to when we went to our rooms, otherwise I never would have signed. I kept explaining that we were promised a refund by Rebecca and actually did receive it before we were re-charged in July for these rooms we did not stay in. He says he knows nothing about Rebecca giving us a refund and that she has since been fired so he can't ask her. I said surely since she was an employee of yours you still have her contact information, but he refused to call her.
I honestly would recommend sleeping in your car over staying at this hotel. I hope by writing this I have saved you all of the headache we had to go through. Hopefully we get our money back. read more
