We paid $72 for 2, but overpaid for this well-worn Comfort Inn. Why doesn't the franchise enforce standards? We like ChoicePrivileges and hate to see these older hotels miss their needed updating.

My family was in Bessemer, AL for our annual family reunion. I knew the stay was going to be VERY interesting when we first checked in. We booked a total of 5 rooms at the comfort inn & suites. Our problems began at check-in. I must say the young lady that checked us in on the afternnon of July 27th was very pleasant and we can't blame her for the inoperable conditions she was working in. The first problem was that the computers went down which left her to manually track rooms on a notepad. As we waited for our rooms, we noticed that several customers were standing in line complaining about the cleanliness of the rooms. The lobby was immacualate so we assumed it was an isolated incident..NOT...After checking in... husband noticed that there was water on the floor in the bathroom, it wasn't a lot but enough to notice..since we were off to family activities we simply dropped off our bags and headed out...little did we know the "little" water on the floor was a result of an inoperabel toilet. After about two trips to the washroom the water began to overflow..we immediately called the front desk and they said someone would be right up (of course no one came for over an hour...leaving us w/an inoperable washrrom)...we had to go to other family members rooms in order to bath or use the restroom (mind you we were all on separate floors!!)..After numerous calls to housekeeping and the front desk i decided to pay the front desk a visit....The young lady at the front desk told me that they were unable to locate a plunger (UNBELIEVEABLE) I've never heard of a place w/a large amount of toilets not to have a plunger!! (correction, I was told there was only ONE on the premises and they couldn't find it). I was told to wait until the guy from housekeeping can go over to Wal-Mart to purchase a plunger. While in the lobby my 92 year old grandfather goes to the washroom on the main floor and he's showered w/water from yet ANOTHER stopped up toilet...now, we've lost the option of using the washroom in the lobby!!! While sitting in the lobby, I witness a couple at the front desk that checked in while I was waiting. They immediately returned asking the front desk clerk why there room didn't come w/a television? The front desk clerk stated that each room came tv's and that someone must have stolen it???????? Obviously, no one is checking these rooms after each checkout...believe it or not...another complaint re a missing wallet was waiting to be reported....Luckily this was only a two-night stay...b/c I don't know if my bladder could've taken another day.....I wouldn't recommend this facility to anyone UNLESS you have a safe deposit box and shower shoes!!

Three weeks before our trip we made reservations through the Choice Hotel web site. At ~16:00 hotel time on the day of arrival, we phoned the hotel directly and confirmed the reservation. They made a handwritten note that we saw on the reservation form when we got there. However, the hotel has a policy that it runs the credit card at 18:00. They claimed it was denied, so they cancelled us and gave away our room. Need I say more? Of course the hotel was full when we arrived about 23:00, nearly an hour ahead of when we said we would be there, and the card worked fine while we were standing there. To keep it short, the desk called the manager who spoke with my wife for a minute or so, and then he hung up on her. Wow, what customer service. I don't plan to stay with any of the Choice Hotels again.