One of the first things you see on the Econo Lodge literature is their claim that "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" and they have a "Mr. Clean Housekeeping Program."
This was not reflected in the room I was given on August 18th.
Upon entering the room, I was overpowered with smell of stale smoke, and saw flies all in the small room. I found a light and quickly went to turn on the air conditioning. The unit was sagging open on the right next to the controls. I pushed it to close it (it was catching on my clothing) and the whole thing fell open revealing dust and crud inside the a/c unit. Yuk. I closed it, chased a few flies out and inspected the rest of the room. Two dead bugs were in the bathroom. The toilet had a large yellow stain inside. The mirror was dirty. The walls were splashed with something and not cleaned, and many other stains around the commode were unsanitary. The tub/shower area had mildew spots all around. The bathroom floor was dirty. There was used tissue on the floor the cleaners missed. I called the front desk. While he had me on hold, I had to fight pesky flies. I could see the chair next to the bed so badly stained, no one would want to sit in it, let alone touch it. The pillows were flat and uneven.
The harried desk clerk, Bill, responded to my complaint by saying "Sorry, no other rooms." No offer to send someone down to clean or inspect the room was made. Since he could offer no remedy, I told him I would rather leave. He then curtly informed me I would be charged the full charge of $121.00 for the room even if I left, even though I had not been there 15 minutes. It could be considered a "late cancellation." I tried to reason with him to no avail. So I tried to tough it out, but the more I saw, the more I knew I could not stay. The room was nasty. I was afraid of what I would see if we pulled back the spread on the beds or dared to look underneath them. Still fighting flies, We gathered our belongings and left. However, Econo Lodge still charged my VISA card for the room.
The manager says he came down and checked the room himself and says he did not see any of the things I complained about, an absolutely ludicrous claim. (Job security, I guess.) I was in town for a speaking engagement and couldn't deal with the matter in full until I returned home and the weekend was over.
The Econo Lodge staff was cold, uncaring, untruthful and determined to charge me the full price for the room although I did not use it. It was not MY fault that I could not use the room, Econo Lodge did not provide a clean, comfortable place to rest.
Econo Lodge GUARANTEES a clean guest room. That was not provided, so what good is their guarantee if they don't provide it and still insist upon charging me when I left the room feeling too uncomfortable to stay there?
I was extremely disappointed and will never stay in another EconoLodge. That particular one is a dive and the health department should do a surprise inspection.
Rev. John Johnson
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