My husband and I called from the road the morning of Thursday 9/1 after a wonderful stay in the Pueblo, CO Hampton Inn. Usual great service, good people and a great suite. The State Fair was going on, so we were lucky to get a room. Paid $157 for a King Suite, only King room they had that evening. Thanks you to guys! We always choose Hampton if they are available.

Avoid Longmont Hampton Inn - Unstable Personnel
But the atmosphere changed when we arrived in Longmont--We called the Longmont Hampton Inn from the car after we left Pueblo and over an open mic asked about availability and received a quote. The information given by the man who answered the phone was that the King room was $103 with AAA. Military discount only applied to a double queen room. We were surprised it was so reasonable and happy about it. In fact, we discussed how much less it was the night before. I said I didn't know if we'd make it there before 6pm, but the guy said not to worry they had plenty of rooms available that evening. So, I didn't make a prior reservation for which I''m VERY happy now.

We arrived between 3pm and 4pm. My husband is a disabled vet in a wheelchair, so I went in to get the room. I walked in smiling saying I was happy we were able to get there cause I didn't know if we'd make it. T I said this to the bleached blond girl behind the desk who was not that friendly to begin. I told her I'd called ahead for a King room and she asked if I was quoted a price. I said yes, it was around $100. She repeated $103. I said yes. Then, she changed the price and said no it's $139. I said, Oh, I have AAA. She said it was $139 anyway. I told her I'd spoken to a guy earlier that quoted the same $103 to me and asked if she sure she was looking at the regular King room? This was all a typical exchange, nothing unusual, just trying to confirm the pricing. Then, this guy comes from around the back and stands beside her. He says rather authoritarian like that it's $139 and that he was the person I'd spoken with. I said good, we'll you remember I called and you said it was $103 with the AAA. He said, 'No, I didn't." in a very non-customer oriented bullying voice. I said well, that's what I heard. I handed my card to the girl and said that $139 was fine. He must not have heard that. He was concentrating on bullying me instead and kept talking. He said I should stop yelling. I didn't know what to say to that. No one was yelling. I was simply trying to confirm if there was a mistake in the pricing with AAA card. I said, I'm not yelling. He said something to the girl like, if she doesn't like the price then we have the right to refuse to serve anyone give her back her card. I repeated that I'd said $139 was fine. I asked if this was the way he treated all his customers? He didn't answer. I said if anyone is yelling or doing anything here that's ugly, it's you. He took the AAA card I'd given the girl who also got involved in backing him up that he was not yelling. A wonderful shill in her own right. Actually he wasn't yelling he was being a bully to a customer instead of saying he'd made a mistake on the quote and was sorry about it--which was have been fine with me. He slap the card on the counter and looked at me. I asked for this name and he yanked another card from under the counter and slapped it on the counter top, too. I took it and left. I've never been treated so horribly in a supposedly customer oriented business in my life. His behavior was absolutely bizarre.

It was so surreal I could barely explain to my husband that I'd been thrown out of the Hampton Inn because of a pricing discussion, accused of yelling and so on. The only thing I could compare it to was an old Saturday Night Live skit years ago when Federal Marshals began riding airplanes after 9/11. The passenger asks for a pillow and the fight attendant says she'll get to him in a minute in a rushed authoritarian voice. He waits. She walks by again and he asks once again if he can get a pillow and she tells him he has to calm down. He's like What? I'm not upset, I just want a pillow. Then, she begins getting frantic saying he needs to lower his voice (he's not upset, she is and begins to raise her voice). Then, she calls the Federal Marshall over, to whom the guy says he just trying to get a pillow. Before he can open his mouth again he's face down on the floor with a gun at his head. That was this experience. It was truly surreal. And if they armed this man, I'd have been face down on the floor being cuffed by the nearest cop. He simply wanted a fight and I was there at the right time, I suppose.

Of course, since I was thrown out, I'll never stay there. But, if I were the Hampton Inn/ Hilton people, I'd pull the security tape from the desk and the phone for the times/days mentioned and see what I described is accurate. I'm sure I'm not the first person to have to deal with person, Robert Mitchim or be bullied by him. Such individuals have personalities they can not control once given any authority at all.

I've been in customer service for 35 years. I can say without hesitation that if I found any employee had this type personality I'd fire him and his bleached blonde accomplice. However, these things begin at the top, so whoever hired him is problem.