290briar
Google
During the last week of June, I stayed at this hotel for a local staycation while awaiting updates to my new apartment—and I had a great experience. Mubotu, the front desk supervisor, was kind, patient, and extremely professional, even while handling the chaos of soccer match traffic. Lawrence, the bartender, made excellent drinks, and the atmosphere was vibrant and welcoming. I truly enjoyed getting to know the staff. That first visit was so pleasant, I decided to return just a week later.||||Unfortunately, my second visit was a complete contrast—and honestly, a huge disappointment.||||I had booked my room online and was told via email that there might be a delay with the reservation appearing in their system. When I arrived, I explained this to the front desk attendant and even showed her proof of my confirmed booking via email and phone. She initially said it was fine and asked me to wait nearby, which I was more than happy to do. I understand technical issues happen.||||However, after a 15+ minute wait, I asked if I could quickly check on my car from the nearby restaurant window instead of leaving the building completely and being buzzed back in—especially since my car had been broken into at a different hotel just two nights earlier. I also mentioned I wasn’t ready to pay for valet yet, considering this was my second hotel attempt that night due to earlier reservation issues.||||Instead of showing understanding or continuing to troubleshoot, the tone of the interaction took a turn. She suddenly told me, "I don't know what you're trying to do, but you need to go," implying I had bad intentions. I was shocked —especially since she had just looked at my phone and seen that I had already paid for two rooms at two different hotels that night. I calmly tried to explain again that I simply didn’t want to keep charging my card after the earlier mishap, and that I was just here days ago without issue.||||She refused to let me wait any longer and essentially kicked me out—at 1:00 a.m. A young Black woman, alone, simply waiting for a confirmed reservation to appear, treated like a threat. I asked for her name to report the incident, and she refused. I then took out my phone to take a photo of her for reporting purposes, as I was completely disrespected and dismissed without cause.||||Minutes after leaving and going to yet another hotel, I finally got a notification that the reservation had gone through—for this same hotel. I returned to show her, and she was suddenly smiling, but still gave no apology for the way she treated me.||||What made this experience even more painful was that this woman looked like me—and yet chose to treat me with suspicion and coldness rather than empathy and professionalism.||||After such a positive first stay, this was incredibly disheartening. I will not be returning, and I cannot in good faith recommend this hotel based on how inconsistently they treat guests—especially when technical difficulties are involved.