Complaint Review: Townplace Suites by Marriott - Ft Worth Texas

So this weekend was supposed to be a getaway for my kids for their birthdays. My son is turning 12 and my daughter 8. We had a really bad start to the day as we were supposed to have reservations at another hotel, and they decided to "give our reservations away" because they were overbooked. Then it began to pour rain as I searched somewhere nearby that could accomodate my husband and I, my two kids and 1 friend each they were allowed to bring for a sleepover. Normally I would have done this at my home but we recently moved in with my parents so that I could take full time care of my dad who is in the end stages of Alzheimer's. So sleepovers can be very stressful for him, and it ends up stressful for me because I am trying to keep the kids in check at all times from doing normal kid things, and in turn it's not much fun for them either. So this was meant to be a let loose and relax stay where they didn't have to whisper and tiptoe. (Not that intended to let them scream and stomp, just to be clear). Anyhow, we ended up at TownPlace Suites by Marriott, and we rented the largest room they had with two bedrooms and a pull out couch to accomadate us all comfortably. We checked in about 4/5, and got our things into the room, and the kids wanted to go swimming. I turned down the a/c (which was set at 76) and we went to the pool which was yucky and full of leaves, which I nicely asked and waited patiently while the front desk worker tried tons of keys and then handed me the head of a skimmer so I could clean out there pool. Ok, no big deal, clean out the pool, the kids swim and we came back, made dinner, and realized the a/c was not working at all. I called the front desk and the same worker took forever and I had to call back to remind him that we were sweating (nicely still). He came up, realized I was right the a/c did not work, and tried to call maintainance, which refused to come out. So he said our only option was to switch to two SEPARATE rooms A FLOOR UP at 9PM. So we packed up (which sucked), and moved to two separate rooms where my husband stayed with the boys in one, and I with the girls in the other. This was not going the way I planned it at all, but at least the room had a/c.By the time we got settled in it was 11pm, not much time for family time especially now that we were separated.

So the next morning, I asked could we be comped a free night because of the incident, and they agreed. I thought okay, tonight we will just all hang out until bedtime then separate, and we can watch movies together and play games, this will be okay after all. We had my kids party Sat so we left and came back much later than I had hoped, at about 7pm. So we did convene in my room and let the kids watch a movie, eat junk food, and play games. I thought okay they got to have a good time, all is well. That is until we checked out the next morning, and got home and recieved a call from my bank about possible fraudulent charges... from TownPlace Suites. I looked it up online and it showed that they had attempted and failed to charge 108.00 but they succeeded in putting a $248.00 charge on top of our stay charge. So of course I called the hotel to find out what had happened.

The desk worker informed me that we were charged because the room was smoked in and there was a no smoking policy in their hotel. Upon arrival I had been told it was non-smoking, and there were signs saying no smoking. My husband and I are smokers, but we are used to smoking outside anyways at home, so it wasn't a big deal. We would swap the kids for a few minutes and take turns going out to smoke, and then coming back up to the room. However, there were no trash cans near the door were we were encouraged to use (as it was closest to the elevator and there was construction in the lobby area). So after smoking we would snub out our cigarettes, and bring them up in hand and I always douse mine with water in the sink because I like to ensure they are completely out, and then threw them away in our trash cans. So I informed the desk worker that we DID NOT smoke in our rooms, and that I assumed she was referring to the butts, I explained that I didn't want to just throw them on the ground outside. She became very rude and told me, no you smoked in there, there was strong evidence, and that is why you were charged. I again explained that the evidence (the cigarette butts) were not smoked in the room, but brought up afterwards to dispose of because there was no trash can. She got very snooty and said there are designated smoking areas you should have gone to! I wasn't informed of any smoking areas so I was just stepping away from the building to smoke, as I figured no smoking meant there was no smoking areas as well, and since I wasn't told about them, with 4 kids in tow I didn't get to wander the hotel in search for smoking areas I assumed didn't exist... I said, look, I have not had the best experience with my stay with your hotel to begin with, and now I have less than a $100 in my account because of this crazy charge you've initiated, I would like to speak with your manager (because I was having a hard time keeping my cool with this lady). She told me she would pass the information along, and I said no I would like it if you could either give me a number to reach him, or call him while I'm on the line so that I can get this matter situated, at which time without saying a word she put me on hold. I was assuming she thought that I would wait a few minutes, give up and hang up, but I was like "Oh no she didn't!"

So I waited about 7 minutes, then hung up and called right back. She didn't answer, so I just put it on speaker and let it ring and ring, until she finally answered. I said, umm I was just talking to you and you left me on hold without saying a word so I called back. She (rudely) said, I'm on the other line with the manager now! I said, well if you would have simply said hold while I try and reach him, I would've known what was going on... she said I'm about to connect you to him hold on. At which point I lost it. I started sobbing like an idiot (I'm not good at confrontation) as I waited. The hotel manager talked to me, not necessarily nicely as I explained what was going on, and that if he would look at his cameras he'd see both of us had stepped outside to smoke. He said, and you're sure you did not smoke in the room? DUH.. I think I'd remember that... I said No, sir we did not smoke in our rooms. He said, well I'm not at the hotel I'll be in in the morning I'll look at the cameras and I'll give you a call...

So I hung up and cried some more because this was a bday present for my kids that I had to save for, not something I do all the time, as we are not wealthy people. So it's a big deal when our family has bills to pay and $86 to last all week now... I looked up some information about what to do in this situation and landed on this page. I'm not sure what is going to happen, as I've never been in a situation like this, and I'm not sure what can be done in a he said/ she said against a large hotel, and am worried that I will get railroaded and charged at total almost $400 in all for what I had hoped to be one night of family fun and memories. I feel like perhaps the reason that this is happening is because they did have to comp me for the prior night's mishaps, and are trying to gain back their money, and that makes me aggravated because I was the one who had to unpack, pack, unpack and pack up all 6 of us into 2 seperate rooms all because a maintanance man refused to come out to recharge our a/c or see if there was a simple solution to the problem, and if there had been, we would have happily stayed in the first room we were in to begin with because it was a very nice room. But in Texas when the days are humid and running at 100 degrees, sleeping in a room without a/c is just not very relaxing. I don't understand how my throwing away cigarettes in the trash can constitues proof that there was smoking in the room, especially if the cameras show otherwise! My stomach is in knots because I'm not sure I can trust them to actually look for proof that supports them having to refund me, or if I am just charging headfirst into a brick wall.

One thing I do know, however, is that I would not recommend this hotel, as the staff members were unknowledgeable, irresponsible, and rude in handling this so far. Not to mention when we checked into our two rooms, my room smelled yucky (like something rotten sort of), and I had to bring in a can of air freshner, and I guess that was acceptable to the housekeeping dept. One last thing, do they get paid extra to dig for potential "evidence" in people's trash cans? I'm guessing they must since a rot smell is ok for checking guests into, but cigarette butts in the trash mean SOMEONE HAD TO HAVE SMOKED HERE= this room is not occupiable for further guests= $250 extra bucks in the big man's wallet. Just saying... seems a bit fishy to me.

If you are looking for a nice hotel to stay at, I would suggest checking out Holiday Inn Express and Suites off Cherry Lane by Ridgmar mall, it is brand new, nicely decorated, and the staff is excellent and very polite.

-bmblbee22