Just came back from a trip to a cousin's wedding in Albany, and I feel it has opened our eyes into checking hotels before booking them. I won't name the hotel in question, but some of you may be astute enough to know which one I'm describing as it's recently been in Albany's local news.
When we got to our destination in Albany, we had trouble finding our Booked Hotel, which was supposed to be part of a major chain. There was no sign, and the address didn't look right, but we went into the building anyway, found out it was still operating, but was in the process of switching over to a different company. Well, get this.
When searching for the address via my kindle, I happened upon some reviews that mentioned bed bugs. Well, no big deal, right? Probably happened a long time ago. It's probably of no concern. In retrospect, that was our first warning sign. Still, we went in and made inquiries because we did have reservations. Well, right at the front desk, they have a notice about the water having been tested for legionnaire's disease. Uh oh. We talk to the girl at the desk who gives us a fact sheet and we ask more questions. According to her, it's not contagious if you don't have a hot shower as it's transmitted via steam. Hello, if you think we're not going to have a hot shower after having driven all this way for a wedding, you're sadly mistaken, lady. The hotel was also according to her, under transition to new "ownership and management", which explained the lack of sign. Things were only going to get more interesting, however. Thankfully next door there was another hotel, a Days Inn which was only too happy to take us in and had lots of rooms available which we later decided to book and cancel the reservations anyone in our party had made with the Booked Hotel. Cute girl at the desk tells us she's not surprised at all, that the Booked Hotel had been in the news several weeks earlier due to its health scare, that it had a bed bug infestation as early as about a week ago on top of the legionnaire's disease. Not good. Not good at all, and then we realize how lucky we were in having made our decision. She told us that a customer had photographed some bed bugs crawling on the curtains. So, it's perhaps no wonder that Booked Hotel's chain didn't want to do anything with them anymore as it apparently had a terrible reputation. Later up in our room at the Days Inn, I decide to do a bit more research and found out that the Booked Hotel was in the process of being condemned, and that some people had ended up in the ICU with an IV drip. What's surprising in all this is that they're still doing business and accepting new bookings. Unbelievable.
They were being rather deceptive about it and not going out of their way to inform those who've previously made bookings with them before this, and the only way to know is to go to the front desk. So, for out of town people who haven't heard the news, not good at all. Almost felt like they were preying on ignorant customers and only concerned with making money. Why this place is still allowed to operate under these conditions is a mystery to me, and I don't expect them to last very long under their new name due to the reputation they have. Next time we'll make sure to check reviews before booking.
When we got to our destination in Albany, we had trouble finding our Booked Hotel, which was supposed to be part of a major chain. There was no sign, and the address didn't look right, but we went into the building anyway, found out it was still operating, but was in the process of switching over to a different company. Well, get this.
When searching for the address via my kindle, I happened upon some reviews that mentioned bed bugs. Well, no big deal, right? Probably happened a long time ago. It's probably of no concern. In retrospect, that was our first warning sign. Still, we went in and made inquiries because we did have reservations. Well, right at the front desk, they have a notice about the water having been tested for legionnaire's disease. Uh oh. We talk to the girl at the desk who gives us a fact sheet and we ask more questions. According to her, it's not contagious if you don't have a hot shower as it's transmitted via steam. Hello, if you think we're not going to have a hot shower after having driven all this way for a wedding, you're sadly mistaken, lady. The hotel was also according to her, under transition to new "ownership and management", which explained the lack of sign. Things were only going to get more interesting, however. Thankfully next door there was another hotel, a Days Inn which was only too happy to take us in and had lots of rooms available which we later decided to book and cancel the reservations anyone in our party had made with the Booked Hotel. Cute girl at the desk tells us she's not surprised at all, that the Booked Hotel had been in the news several weeks earlier due to its health scare, that it had a bed bug infestation as early as about a week ago on top of the legionnaire's disease. Not good. Not good at all, and then we realize how lucky we were in having made our decision. She told us that a customer had photographed some bed bugs crawling on the curtains. So, it's perhaps no wonder that Booked Hotel's chain didn't want to do anything with them anymore as it apparently had a terrible reputation. Later up in our room at the Days Inn, I decide to do a bit more research and found out that the Booked Hotel was in the process of being condemned, and that some people had ended up in the ICU with an IV drip. What's surprising in all this is that they're still doing business and accepting new bookings. Unbelievable.
They were being rather deceptive about it and not going out of their way to inform those who've previously made bookings with them before this, and the only way to know is to go to the front desk. So, for out of town people who haven't heard the news, not good at all. Almost felt like they were preying on ignorant customers and only concerned with making money. Why this place is still allowed to operate under these conditions is a mystery to me, and I don't expect them to last very long under their new name due to the reputation they have. Next time we'll make sure to check reviews before booking.
Just giving everyone the fact sheet doesn't seem like nearly enough. Given that my Dad has had pneumonia in the past along with some of my other family that were booked there, it wasn't something to risk.
