Candlewood Suites Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Ref:…read moreConversation with Vita, IHG, Candlewood Suites, Case # 10567321043, May 30, 2025.
On May 30, 2025, around 6:30 PM, I arrived at the Candlewood Suites in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. I have stayed at this Hotel on several occasions over the last couple of years because I travel to Western Missouri almost every three or four months to visit and personally check in on my 91-year-old mother. Because of its location at the halfway point of my trip, I usually stay in Sikeston, Cape Girardeau, Jackson, or Perryville. I liked the Hotel because of its location, right next to the interstate, with easy access from the highway and a convenience store and gas station next door.
On this particular evening, I stopped in and inquired about a room, accepted it, and checked in. The person at the counter was a young African American girl who, at that time, was pleasant. This particular Hotel has an ever-changing staff of very young women. However, they seem inexperienced (in terms of age and professionalism) compared to the other places I stay in the area; they are usually pleasant and mature. The Hotel is unkept on the outside, particularly in terms of its sparse grounds, which include landscaping that is on its last leg. The last time I was there, the grounds were overgrown with weeds. The windows are also leaky old plastic and usually do not close, letting in sound and cold air in the winter. Regardless, the place inside was always clean, and I thought before it was appropriately priced for its downfalls. Unfortunately, from what I know now, you get what you pay for. Lesson learned!
After the young female clerk at the desk had me initial and sign some paperwork about dogs in the room, which I did not have, she then gave me my room key. I proceeded to the room to inspect it. I was fine with the room, set my belongings down, brushed my teeth, and left the room to eat dinner. At the time, I remembered how she did not offer to tell me when the guest breakfast was or explain other details about the Hotel and internet, which I am accustomed to elsewhere. At the time, I shrugged it off and didn't think of it again as I left for dinner.
At 7:29 PM, I finished my meal at The Southerner restaurant in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and headed back to my Hotel, with a stop at the convenience store. At 7:45 PM, I finished purchasing fuel at the Rhodes 181 Stop in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, near the Hotel and my exit to I-55. I immediately went to my room with a few more items from my truck and made a phone call, which lasted until about 8:30. During the call, I noticed that the noise from the window was loud, so I tried to adjust the window to close it. As I mentioned before, these windows will not close properly, allowing air and noise to enter. I finally gave up and accepted it. Just after this call had ended, the noise coming from the next room began, along with chaotic noises from the hallway around my door.
The noise emanating from the room next door was someone banging on the walls and what sounded like someone jumping on a bed and laughing. The door next to my room would open repeatedly loudly and then slam shut, all happening for several minutes. Included in all this were people running up and down the hall and what sounded like the elevator, which was just around the corner from my door, pinging as it opened and closed. At first, I tried to ignore it, hoping that it would all stop, as I was exhausted from the day and wanted to relax and sleep. As the minutes passed, the noises grew louder: more slamming of the door, banging on the walls, and what sounded like children running up and down the hall, giggling and yelling, along with the loud voice of an adult and the elevator played with. Finally, after so long, I opened the door to my room and looked out. What I saw was a group of kids playing; a young adult male was holding one of them, and the kids were yelling and playing with the elevator. They all stared at me. I muttered some comment about how they were too loud and closed the door. I immediately went to the phone and called the front desk, as I could see from what was going on that this was an all-night event. A person came on the line, and I provided a description of the above and said, "I want another room." The person on the line then began explaining how they would talk to them and so on, and I said that was all fine, but I still wanted another room. It was my belief, based on what I had seen and experienced so far, that the situation would not change. Finally, the person on the line said they would have to speak with another person and that someone would call me back soon.
What happened next was an experience I had never encountered before in all my travels, including hotels and B&Bs I have stayed in around the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and South America. It is the worst customer abuse from a business that I have ever experienced. The incident was out
