Complaint Review: Holiday Inn Express - Bonner Springs Kansas

Its hard to say from reading the report. Call the hotel and ask them to explain everything. I work for the one in Phila area. I work for Old Chicago which is in the hotel. Ask for the General Manager and maybe he can help you out.

$200 to clean a room from top to bottom is a bargain. Go take all your belongings and dry clean them, pay the labor, leave the room empty while that's being done and sleep somewhere else and then deal with a guest who doesn't get a room becuase some jackass the day before smoked in it and now it's not available. I feel no sympathy for you...for Christ sake you have asthma...don't you think your wife contributes to this in the least with her smoking? I have asthma and don't want to walk into a room that's been smoked in or I may just end up paying more than the $200 for the medical coverage needed from a serious attack. I worked in hotels for years, and love the trend of non-smoking rooms. I also notice how many jackasses like your wife will call down to the front desk to ask for an ash tray because they didn't get one (in the non-smoking room they either requested or got). Smoking on the outside patio isn't an answer either...since often the smoke still gets into the room or the patio door is left open. Ozone machines don't work well and are noisy too. One suggestion for those of you with asthma or other breathing problems, if you SERIOUSLY want your non-smoking room to be non-smoking, make sure you tell the reservationist you have asthma and MUST have a non-smoking room. Beware however, since many hotels will convert smoking rooms into "non-smoking" by treating them as mentioned in an earlier post. This often doesn't work since the smoke smell lingers in the drapes, wall fabric, rug, bedding and mattress. As earlier mentioned also, it backs up into the rest of the hallway. I don't care who smokes...that's your coffin nail, but don't smoke in a non-smoking room.

As a hotelier I can state that a $200 fee is fair. During our last remodel I had the oportunity to see what smoking does to a room after a few years. Everything in the room had nicotine stains present. Our cleaning water turned orange. After remodeling we went to all non-smoking rooms. What a difference that has made. We also charge a $100 cleaning fee if you smoke in the room. There is another charge of $100 for taking a pet in the room. Signs are posted in the lobby and on the registration pad as well as in each room so there can be no "I didn't know" comments at checkout. And yes each room is checked as soon as someone checks out by our housekeeper who doesn't drink or smoke. If she finds evidence of an infraction she calls the front desk and the manager goes to the room to witness and collect evidence. (usually butts and a pile of crap) The guest is charged. He is also sent a photograph of the remains he left behind. The evidence is bagged and stored for 140 days after which it is dumped. I will take someone to court over this. These people are my guests staying in my home (I live on premises)and I won't allow anyone to mistreat my home. 96% of my business are repeats. It's the 4% I have to worry about. It's the 4% that cause me the headaches. Most are slobs. That's where my computer comes in so handy. They go in my "no rent" register. Many of these have tried to come back only to find out they wern't welcome. To my regulars I'm held in veryt high regard. I run a tight ship. Yes they are on vacation and I want them to enjoy themselves and have a good time. But within limits. The other 4% we call "Turons". That's a Tourist who left his brain at home. If you drink and get drunk, use four letter words, rant and rave, and cause my regulars to get upset you're outta here. And good riddance I say. I have an obligation as an Innkeeper to see that my guests enjoy themselves, have peace and quiet, and are not disturbed. I'm also proud of my record in that respect. I cater to the average working man who cannot afford what some charge here.$150-$400 a night. I also have no debt which makes me very picky. The 4% are also the ones you can't please no matter how hard you try. One last comment. My curtains are pleated. To have them cleaned it costs $40 to be cleaned and $85 to be repleated and they have to be shipped 100 miles away for the service. Enough said.

Smokers carry that ungodly stench with them everywhere. It's in their hair, clothes and skin. More than likely, the room reaked of it after they left, whether they actually lit up in the room or not. I have friends that smoke. Some of them you can smell from outside their house. Others you can't smell it inside the house. The difference is hard work. One friend's wife cleans the house and everything in it every day. Another doesn't. Just like dog owners. Bathe the mutt and it won't stink. What I'd like is a hotel that allows only childless, nonsmoking, animal-free people in it for a "business" class of room. Top floor with a special keycard to get there. Leave the kids, dogs, and hackers downstairs.

I'm a nonsmoker. Other than enjoying a really good cigar, I've never smoked. I'm also a Marriott Platinum member (several times over) and in my own personal opinion - and that's all it is - a penalty such as this that is imposed AFTER you have physically checked out of your room has no legs to stand on. I could care less about anything "checked" on the registration form, the fact is I can prove that (1) the proprietor has left himself wide open; (2) he cannot even establish who was in my room and whether they are the guilty party. Here's how the conversation would go: Q: Did you inspect my room at precisely the time I checked out? A: No. Q: So, the smoking could have occured after I left? A: Yes. Q: Does your housekeeping staff have key cards that will open my door? A: Yes. Q: Does your maintenance staff have key cards that will open my door? A: Yes. Q: Does your security staff have key cards that will open my door? A: Yes. Q: Does your management staff have key cards that will open my door? A: Yes. Q: So at this point, I am only 1 of 5 possible people that could have smoked in the room? Furthermore, the other 4 people were specifically given access to my room by you? A: Yes. That will pretty much end his case right there. Yes, he can fairly and definitively state that SOMEONE smoked in the room, but unfortunately he has no idea who or when, and is just taking the easy way out by sticking it to you. You are repsonsible for you and your guests. You are NOT responsible for all of the other possibilities. So, I have two suggestions for you: (1) dispute the charge, state the circumstances, and feel free to point out the scenario above; (2) next time move up to a better class of hotel. Am I a lawyer? No, and I definitely did NOT stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night! Good luck!

Come on, every business has their share of penalties that just don't make sense. In the hotel business if a smoker smokes in a nonsmoking room, it could potentially effect guests for numerous days. No as the second poster pointed out, each time someone complains to the corporate guest realtion line for something such as smoke smelling nonsmoking room, the hotel gets dinged a $75.00 fine! 3 guests at $75 can add up quick. The guest know the consequences, if they choose to smoke that's what they pay. Our registraion card that guests sign upon check clearly notate the amount they will be charged and each front desk clerk explains the policy at check in. Guest that smoke in nonsmoking rooms don't have an excuse, they just want to weasel out of payment.

I just find it kind of hard to believe that a smoker would bring their butts back into the room to be disposed of. I have never in my 47 years, seen a smoker do anything other than pitch a butt unless an ashtray was available. They are biodegradeable so what's the sense?

In the customer's explanation he said that one of them smoke, but not around the person with asthma...and also that they got the non-smoking room because it was the only one with a hot tub. I have been in his shoes. My husband smokes, but not around us (at home or elsewhere) due to respect of our asthma and that we don't like the smoke. I always get a non-smoking room when we go anywhere. The reason is that I don't like the smell of a smoking room, especially the bedspread. However, he does go out to smoke and brings his cigarette butts into the room to throw them away so he doesn't leave them lying around outside. SOLUTION: I think the only plausibel solution is for the hotel to make clear that no cigarette butts are to be left there either. Putting myself in the hotel's shoes, how do they know if someone actually smoked in there or not? And they have the liability issue of someone is asthmatic, or allergic, to smoke (which includes the residue.) On the other hand, the person stated they did not smoke in the room, which is plausible to me, as this happens each time we go away. And the hot tub part....if I wanted to get away with a hot tub (have done this) and the only room was a non-smoking room, I would certainly reserve it. One more thing...if the hotel is going to make such a charge ($200) then they need to make it clear...not just in fine print. $200 seems like a lot, but they cannot rent that room out until they have it cleaned. This may be one or two days or more...so with the charge for the professional cleaning to meet standards, plus the loss of room rental, the $200 is not sounding like so much.

In the customer's explanation he said that one of them smoke, but not around the person with asthma...and also that they got the non-smoking room because it was the only one with a hot tub. I have been in his shoes. My husband smokes, but not around us (at home or elsewhere) due to respect of our asthma and that we don't like the smoke. I always get a non-smoking room when we go anywhere. The reason is that I don't like the smell of a smoking room, especially the bedspread. However, he does go out to smoke and brings his cigarette butts into the room to throw them away so he doesn't leave them lying around outside. SOLUTION: I think the only plausibel solution is for the hotel to make clear that no cigarette butts are to be left there either. Putting myself in the hotel's shoes, how do they know if someone actually smoked in there or not? And they have the liability issue of someone is asthmatic, or allergic, to smoke (which includes the residue.) On the other hand, the person stated they did not smoke in the room, which is plausible to me, as this happens each time we go away. And the hot tub part....if I wanted to get away with a hot tub (have done this) and the only room was a non-smoking room, I would certainly reserve it. One more thing...if the hotel is going to make such a charge ($200) then they need to make it clear...not just in fine print. $200 seems like a lot, but they cannot rent that room out until they have it cleaned. This may be one or two days or more...so with the charge for the professional cleaning to meet standards, plus the loss of room rental, the $200 is not sounding like so much.

In the customer's explanation he said that one of them smoke, but not around the person with asthma...and also that they got the non-smoking room because it was the only one with a hot tub. I have been in his shoes. My husband smokes, but not around us (at home or elsewhere) due to respect of our asthma and that we don't like the smoke. I always get a non-smoking room when we go anywhere. The reason is that I don't like the smell of a smoking room, especially the bedspread. However, he does go out to smoke and brings his cigarette butts into the room to throw them away so he doesn't leave them lying around outside. SOLUTION: I think the only plausibel solution is for the hotel to make clear that no cigarette butts are to be left there either. Putting myself in the hotel's shoes, how do they know if someone actually smoked in there or not? And they have the liability issue of someone is asthmatic, or allergic, to smoke (which includes the residue.) On the other hand, the person stated they did not smoke in the room, which is plausible to me, as this happens each time we go away. And the hot tub part....if I wanted to get away with a hot tub (have done this) and the only room was a non-smoking room, I would certainly reserve it. One more thing...if the hotel is going to make such a charge ($200) then they need to make it clear...not just in fine print. $200 seems like a lot, but they cannot rent that room out until they have it cleaned. This may be one or two days or more...so with the charge for the professional cleaning to meet standards, plus the loss of room rental, the $200 is not sounding like so much.

In the customer's explanation he said that one of them smoke, but not around the person with asthma...and also that they got the non-smoking room because it was the only one with a hot tub. I have been in his shoes. My husband smokes, but not around us (at home or elsewhere) due to respect of our asthma and that we don't like the smoke. I always get a non-smoking room when we go anywhere. The reason is that I don't like the smell of a smoking room, especially the bedspread. However, he does go out to smoke and brings his cigarette butts into the room to throw them away so he doesn't leave them lying around outside. SOLUTION: I think the only plausibel solution is for the hotel to make clear that no cigarette butts are to be left there either. Putting myself in the hotel's shoes, how do they know if someone actually smoked in there or not? And they have the liability issue of someone is asthmatic, or allergic, to smoke (which includes the residue.) On the other hand, the person stated they did not smoke in the room, which is plausible to me, as this happens each time we go away. And the hot tub part....if I wanted to get away with a hot tub (have done this) and the only room was a non-smoking room, I would certainly reserve it. One more thing...if the hotel is going to make such a charge ($200) then they need to make it clear...not just in fine print. $200 seems like a lot, but they cannot rent that room out until they have it cleaned. This may be one or two days or more...so with the charge for the professional cleaning to meet standards, plus the loss of room rental, the $200 is not sounding like so much.

I am still amazed on how people out there still believe that Hotels are STILL 1000% profit makers! It is this same ignorance that makes them state complaints or demand services and/or compensations when the reality now adays is that, due to overwhelming competitors is the market, plus the rate-wars between brands, TA's and E-locators, the profit margin is, sometimes, really close to actual operating cost. In fact, some properties decide to run their ops AT cost on their slowest days during the week and make up a little during their busy days. $200 for deep cleaning? This is just about right, a lot of times hotels don't perform the deep cleaning process themselves, but they have a contractor take care of it. Of course the hotel still has make some money over this! Say spend $160-$200 cleaning someone's mess over an $80-$100 rate or less? Of course Tim from Valparaiso is in the wrong business! Otherwise you'd be heading to bankruptcy if you went cheap or to the bare-minimums with it! Piece of advice owners?: Make sure your housekeeping really keeps the house by better controling the maids and have them readily notify the guest or the front desk about these mishaps to stop it timely. General advice: STOP SMOKING! I run one of the very few smoke-free properties out there!

Dennis, I see your points, and I don't really buy that the original poster (or his wife) didn't smoke in the room (didn't get the smoking room because it didn't have the hot tub, but can't be around smoke anyways due to asthma, it doesn't exactly ring of truth). However, it seems to me that this charge is more a way of squeezing out extra profits from unsuspecting consumers than it is a way of paying for the cost of smoke. It would seem that most of the time the smoke can be cleared out with the ozone machine or various other sprays etc. The remainder of the time, when the room requires deep cleaning, cannot possibly cost anywhere near $200! You're talking about an area that's probably between 300 and 400 square feet. The cost of material for cleaning the walls and cielings is probably under five dollars. The cost of dry cleaning the blankets and drapes is probably between 20 and 50 dollars. Carpet shampooers can be rented for around 25 dollars a day. At the most this is three hours of labor, and knowing what maids get paid, you couldn't convince me that the labor cost exceeds 30 dollars. All told, you're talking $110 at the most. Nice 90 dollar profit for something that, let's be honest, you could never prove that a particular client even did! My advice: if you ever get hit with this charge, take them to small claims. This fee is so absurd that the hotellier doesn't deserve to collect it even when it's legitimate.

I own a small Holiday Inn Express in northern California, and we too have a $200 charge for smoking in a non-smoking room. To explain, many more travelers today are either more sensitive to cigarette smoke or are more fussy. In fact, many smoker's want to rent a non-smoking room. Anyway, at check in, we have a short statement on the registration card with a place for customers initials explaing this is a non smoking room and if anyone (guest or guest of guest) smokes, we will charge his credit card. So, they know if up front. Some smokers (although, not all by any means) either do not realize the power of their smoke or underestimate the way it waifs back into the room from the corridor, or underestimate the lingering odor detectible to the next incoming guest, who smelling any smoke at all wants a discount on the room. Anyway, as the to effectivness of Ozone machines... we have had one on property and I've used them for more than a decade... however, a ozone machine creates oxygin3, which nuetrualizes most odors effectively, this is true. But not all the time.. if the tobacco is in the rug, or if the room has been heavily smoked in, the residual odor is almost impossible to clear... The most effective way to clear this kind of smoke, incidently, is to open the outside windows and door for several days... but, this is a privelege we don't have during heavy occupancy periods. And, people sensitive to smoke or with allergy's still detect the odor... So, and a long time getting to this, I know and apologize for, is that when we have this situation and still can't get rid of the odor, we end up washing the walls and ceiling, sending the draperies and bedding out for drycleaning and shampoo the rug. This may seem excessive to some of you but this is the only way we now know of quickly and effiectiently getting rid of the careless or intentional results of those that do not respect the 'no smoking' demands of some non smokers... Now don't get me wrong... I'm not angry with smokers, although I sometimes think it must be Karma that because I smoked myself until the age of 30, and that because this is my elected profession, I'm destined to spend the rest of my life picking up the butts of others, cause I'm not, just resigned instead. However, it does irratate me when some smokers try to stiff the hotel with the effects of their smoking while refusing to pony up for the costs of removal for the next guest of their self-centeredness.

Larry, The first step here in getting your money back is to dispute the $200.00 charge with your credit card company. A lot of the time, a hotel won't have the time or desire to spend hours on the phone and fax machine with a credit card company trying to prove the validity of the charge. After you have formally disputed the charge with your credit card company, it's a good idea to call the hotel and let them know that the charge is being disputed with the CC company, and you are unwilling to pay for something that you did not do. Credit cards companies are quite effective at taking care of erroneous charges for their customers... they don't want to lose your business, as you stand to pay them a lot of money over the course of your lifetime, whereas hotel chains may or may not ever see you again, and the loss of one customer here and there isn't going to completely destroy their business. The very next thing that you should do after you contact your credit card company and tell the hotel that you have done so is to call Holiday Inn's corporate headquarters. You can reach them at this phone number: 1-800-621-0555. You can also reach them at this website: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/guest_relations , and this address: Guest Relations Dept. PO Box 30321 Salt Lake City, Utah 84130-0321 . I recommend the telephone number, as it's always best to have someone actually LISTEN to what you have to say. A little industry secret is that many hotel chains are charged a fine by corporate if they are unable to successfully resolve a guest complaint sent to them. I'm curious... did the hotel charge you simply because they found butts in the room or were their cigarette burn marks in the room? It's extremely common for a person to rudely smoke in a room that they know is non smoking, and and hotels have good ways of cleaning up after them, including the smell. All that needs to be done is to place an ozone machine in the room to completely replace the air. It takes about an hour to cycle through. Any hotel that doesn't have an ozone machine really needs to purchase one. I hope this helps you get your 200 dollars back!