ULOG #15: Cricket Saga And The Crowne Plaza Hotel

I'm still so grossed out and I can't seem to take enough showers! So, I'm at this hotel, which is a Crowne Plaza. Now, keep in mind, I've gotten CONSISTENT BAD service from the Crowne Plaza chain of hotels! To the point that the one in Orlando gave me absolutely horrible service, and I posted an honest, unemotional review of their hotel, and their answer was for one of their employees to find my old business on Facebook (that's been closed for 3 years now), and post a very personal, very nasty review. I have kept quiet about it, but, after my experience at the Crowne Plaza in Dallas, Texas, I just can't keep quiet about it anymore!! And the worst part is, none of their employees seem to actually care! Which tells me that usually there is an issue with upper management. More on that later, but first, let's get to the Crowne Plaza in Dallas, TX.

So, we had actually stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Dallas, Texas on Elm Street before. The last time we stayed there, we showed up late at night as a group, and when we got into the lobby, there was a guy screaming at the poor guy at the front desk. We felt so bad for the front desk guy. But, what he was screaming about was that after the screaming man checked in, the front desk guy had given his room to another person. Some random person just walked into the screaming mans room and caught his wife in some compromising positions. I understand the distress. So, we all checked in and added the extra locks on our doors. GOOD THING WE DID! Because both my room, and my friends room was given to someone else AFTER we checked in! This tells me that this is the norm, and not the exception when it comes to this hotel.

When I found out we had gotten booked there again, I was appalled! But, Travon and I muddled through. Upon arrival, the lobby smelled ATROCIOUS! Apparently, they were fixing the sewer, so, the hotel smelled like baby diapers, and it was gag worthy. And, our other friend Chris who had arrived the day before us late at night went to get into his bed after a long day of travel only to find that his sheets were completely dirty. Like, disgustingly dirty. So, they moved his room and then upgraded him. Back to this saga later ........... let's get to the cricket!

So, the very first night in the hotel, I'm done working, and I'm exhausted. I'm trying to get into the shower, and I stepped on this cricket............. with my BARE FEET!! I actually screamed and Travon in the next room heard me scream. I called the front desk, and they told me they'd send maintenance up to get their cricket. A half hour later, no maintenance. An hour later, still no maintenance. So, I had put a glass cup over him. And stuck him outside my room. This is the cricket in the bathroom.

So, I get up the next morning and go to leave the hotel, and maintenance STILL hadn't come. On top of that, someone decided to give this poor little cricket a french fry. Come to find out later, it was my neighbor Travon! Yes, we deal with some crazy stuff on the road, but, we still have fun! LOL!

Also, I have posted a little movie I took later that night so you can actually hear the crickets ..... I'M ON THE 19TH FLOOR!!!!

And on top of that, I was afraid to sleep with bare feet, because I was afraid of waking up in the middle of the night and stepping on little critters. So, I slept in my tennis shoes!

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Okay, so that was the ongoing cricket saga at the Dallas Crowne Plaza. Now, let's go back to the dirty room. Because, seriously! So, on the last day, I was at the front desk getting some labels printed for our print. I overhear the lady at the front desk saying, 'The people that just checked into 1746 (or some room number on the 17th floor) said their room was dirty and hadn't been cleaned. I don't know how that happened'. UGH! GROSS!! So, again, the dirty rooms and giving other people your room keys is the norm at this hotel, and not the exception.

What I will say about this hotel, because we worked with banquets, is that Melissa from banquets was the ONLY saving grace at this hotel. She was AMAZING! And she belongs at a much nicer hotel, because she goes above and beyond the call of duty to try to compensate for a horrible hotel! Give that lady a raise! FOR REAL!

So, now, I'm going to show you what the Crowne Plaza in Orlando did. This was ..... well, crazy! Their service was really bad. The banquets people were just, not very hospitable. Anytime we wanted to get water or anything, we had to ask 5 or 6 times. They made our weekend working there super rough. And we tried to get them to fix it. We gave them every opportunity. So, on the very last night that I was at the hotel, I went to go get some ice from their ice machine. But, it was broken and the floor was really wet. So, I slipped and fell on my hip and my hand, like, really hard. It's been so messed up ever since then, and they would not let me post any sort of review about it because there was an injury involved. I called the front desk, they offered to get me an ambulance, but, I didn't really feel like spending the last few hours in the hospital when I had to catch a flight. I just asked for ice and ice packs. Which, they went and got me. They told me that their manager would call me the next morning. So, that was Sunday night. Monday came, no call. Tuesday came, no call. Then, I got an email from IHG asking for honest feedback, which I gave. Again, unemotionally, and very matter of fact. So, then, about an hour later, I get some feedback on my gym that I owned that is in Washington State and has been closed for 3 years. I was a little shocked when I saw it at first, and thought for SURE someone had meant to review a different gym in the area or something. But, then, he used my first name of Amy. So, I did some further investigating and found out that this guy on Facebook actually worked for the Crowne Plaza in Orlando! Wait until you see this review and my reply below!

So, they ended up giving me 100,000 bonus points for IHG, which gets you about 1 night in a decent hotel, and they refunded my room. Minimal compared to the injuries and their employee attempting to ruin my business that didn't exist anymore, but, it's still my personal reputation he was trying to destroy.

In conclusion, you decide if you want to stay at Crowne Plaza's!! LOL!!!