Centerstone Inn & Suites Carlyle was legitimately the worst hotel I have ever stayed in. I realize…read moreyou can't expect much from a 2-star hotel, but our experience was totally inexcusable. We traveled to Carlyle as my husband was competing in a triathlon at Carlyle Lake, and this was the only accommodation that still had rooms available. This is where the nightmare begins...
1. We arrived at the hotel to a hastily scrawled note at reception stating there was NO HOT WATER. Had we known this before our arrival, we would have demanded a refund and booked accommodation outside of Carlyle- even if it meant driving an hour to and from the triathlon! To make matters worse, when the female manager called me to confirm our reservation ONE HOUR before we checked in, there was zero mention of the issue. This is despite them having had no hot water for a whole week (and likely to be without for the rest of the month). I brought this up with her, to which she replied, "sometimes these things slip my mind". They offered a pathetic 20% discount to be refunded onto our credit card (which had already been charged before we arrived) "sometime next week", but it would take a while as they had "no idea how to do it". Why charge our card the full amount in the first place? Why not charge us the discounted amount....? STRIKE ONE.
2. We then entered the room to find 3 dead cockroaches on the floor. STRIKE TWO.
3. I then walked into the bathroom to find a pile of dirty, used towels on the floor. STRIKE THREE.
4. The carpet was filthy (dog hair, dirt, food) and looked like it hadn't been vacuumed in weeks.
5. 1 of the 2 TV's didn't work.
6. Every surface was covered in dust and dirt.
7. The pool that was advertised on their website was closed, and half filled with black, stagnant water.
8. The bed linen had cigarette burns in it and the pillow cases smelt mouldy. Based on our experience so far, we didn't trust them to give us clean pillowcases, so we walked across the road to Walmart and bought a pack of 2 for $5. Best thing we did all weekend.
9. Management was an absolute joke- rude, unhelpful, dishonest, and downright shameful from start to finish. Upon checkout at 6am the next morning (we couldn't get out of their fast enough), neither of the managers were there so we dealt with one of the employees who was very kind and sweet! I felt so sorry for her as she stood there in tears explaining to us that she had been left there alone all night despite only having started the job 4 days prior... Not only that, she'd been working since 6 o'clock the previous day and was feeling the wrath of all the disgruntled customers while the owners sat back at home and counted their money. What these managers did (a married couple name Raj and Pam) was not only cruel, but also illegal. We never met the husband, but from our experience with Pam, I literally can't fathom how this place is still standing.
A few other noteworthy things we learned from our stay:
- These owners took over the hotel a couple of weeks ago after the previous owners left, and despite knowing it would not be ready to house guests (no gas/hot water, unclean, dirty and broken facilities etc.), they decided to take everyone's money and open anyway. According to an employee, this was because a large group had already booked months ago for a local wedding and the triathlon was on too. Talk about greedy and unethical.
- A family with a disabled son had booked an accessible room and when they arrived, were told there wasn't one for them. There are no words....
- An employee watched as Pam (the female manager), knowingly double-booked rooms over the phone for poor unsuspecting people, while also failing to communicate the lack of hot water on the premises.
- When we checked out initially, the inexperienced employee on shift didn't know how to print off a receipt or any other relevant paperwork (which was understandable-she'd never been shown how to!). We returned a few hours later after the triathlon to speak with the manager and request a receipt for the room, in addition to written confirmation that we would be receiving a partial refund. But of course, the manager did not know how to print off any documentation! It was at this point I realized that unless I asked for a check to be cut then and there, I'd probably never see my money ever again. After some back and forth, I left with a check in my hand, which I immediately banked to make sure it wouldn't bounce.
Overall score: MINUS INFINITY STARS