I had the displeasure of a terrible and unforgettable experience recently, where our room developed a very strong mildew and mold problem over the course of an evening. This post reflects on that time and makes recommendations for both travelers and hotels on how to address the problem.
Situation: Mold?
We needed a cheap hotel near our target destination, where my lady was training for a triathlon. I had credit from Orbitz from previous stays, so found a hotel* that fit our needs. Everything started off normal, with no issues, as we checked in early afternoon, dropped our stuff, and headed out. We did notice a mild mold smell in the air upon entering the room, but thought little of it. Big mistake…
Complication: Mold!
When we returned early evening, the smell had intensified significantly. We brought it up to the attention of the front desk agent, who informed us that unfortunately their hotel was sold out for the evening. We spent a couple hours in the lobby before attempting to sleep, but by that time the smell had so permeated the room that simply stepping one foot inside the room was an issue.
My lady refused to sleep there and I agreed with her, me having medical issues that would be exacerbated by such airborne pollutants. We asked to switch rooms, but the hotel was full. We asked to be refunded & put up in another equitable hotel in the nearby area, but the agent refused our request and said he did not have the authority to do either. No manager was present and apparently nothing could be done, other than a mild spray to odorize the room. This was neither helpful nor useful for us.
Our Response
I tried calling the corporate customer line, which was *inconveniently* only open during normal business hours. I left a very angry voicemail, where the prompt said I would hear back within 24 hours. That obviously would not work for us and our timeframe, as it was after midnight at that point.
This continued for a bit, before we finally surrendered and drove back home – an hour in the opposite direction of the next day’s destination. It was a miserable and disgusting experience and one of the worst hotel stays I have ever had. The service and lack of empathy, compassion, or willingness to help was abysmal. I’ve placed the hotel and chain on my blacklist of companies, and had to spend time to drive back towards our destination, as well as deal with their insufferable and unhelpful corporate agents.
They did refund our money as we did not stay the night, but it was with great hesitation and argument – as they said that we spent some hours between checkin and checkout there. We spent those hours outside the hotel, as the mold festered. Our arguments were sanitary and health-related, and I debated calling the public safety and health services line of the township in question. (Upon writing this, I did call about this issue, as it’s a public concern).
Their repeated insistence to call the next morning and speak with the manager and owner (without actually giving us any phone number, simply telling us to call the hotel) was unhelpful.
Additionally, they offered as a last resort a refund and 20% off the next stay, or 20% in points towards a next reservation. We found this incredibly insulting. Our first stay in your hotel and chain, with such a terrible experience, and here is a 20% coupon for next time?
Question
How could this fiasco have been better handled by both parties?
What can either side do to both avoid the situation and ensure it does not happen again?
If it does happen again, how can it go more smoothly?
Answer
My lady and I discussed this further and thought heavily on how this could have been better.
On our side, we could have immediately brought the mold to the attention of the attendant upon checkin. We did not expect the smell to be so powerful in the evenings and it caught us off guard.
However, on the hotel side, there are so many flaws in their operation that I could discuss.
First, it’s not too difficult to avoid these issues. Thorough cleaning of the rooms or checking on them on a regular basis (when unoccupied, of course) would prevent many of these health issues and concerns.
Empower your employees. Hotels where agents are limited in their actions invite angry and upset customers, as agents have no flexibility to improve their experience. If you’re not going to have a manager on staff at all hours, then your front desk agents should have the ability to make adjustments/refund/put us up in another hotel.
Revise or replace corporate guidelines. The stringent adherence to impossible guidelines – no putting up in alternative arrangements, etc. – defeats the purpose of customer service.
Understand the point of view of the guests. Don’t offer insulting forms of compensation (20% off the next mold-filled stay? Really?!) Don’t tell them to call the corporate line when they won’t respond for a day or two.
Establish protocol. Plan for emergencies and have established operating procedure and stick to it. This hotel must have had issues previously, but they were clearly unprepared and did not handle the situation appropriately.
Conclusion
This is an experience I’d like to forget and one that I hope never happens to any reader. That being said, it was a good learning experience (I am sure) on both sides. Speak up early about issues, and make sure they’re resolved. Otherwise, vote with your dollar!
*because this could happen anywhere, hotel name will not be used. Also, the experience was so mind-numbingly frustrating, and I don’t want to feel the anger when the name is used.
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What do you think of my response? Any other advice? Got any horror stories of your own? Let me know in the comments, or reach me directly at TheHotelion@gmail.com! Like my posts? See more here, on TravelUpdate! Follow me on Facebook (The Hotelion, if searching, use a space!!) or on Twitter and Instagram: @TheHotelion
If it was a Hilton, then I experienced the exact same situation at Hilton St Petersburg Room 909. Musty initially around 5:30, very strong at 7 and overwhelming at 10. Had to bunk with counterpart from another state I hadn’t met before. GM never called next morning as promised, and after two trips to front desk the following morning -was told at 1 pm I could stop by and pick up new room keys.
After asking if they could deliver key cards (as I was I trying to get ready for conference in limited mirror space with female counterpart), 45 minutes 2 calls later and tracking down personnel in hallway —bellman showed up.
Was asked if having dinner in restaurant which I would not have eaten there if last place on earth. It asked if bar credit was possible for colleagues as we couldn’t get sick from that. Front desk reported they would need to check with GM. Never heard back..of course.
Don’t plan on visiting a Hilton again.
Negative it was just a Best Western. Shame on them but note that it could just be that hotel. Thanks for reading!
I had the same thing happen to me at a hotel I was booked at in Granada Spain titled, Rooms Vita and Bar. AVOID IT at all costs. They denied the horrendous odor of mold that made me and my family member wheeze and have an asthmatic attack that we noticed the second we stepped into their poorly ventilated room that had no window to the outside. Not only that but the room was right to the bar and had no sense of privacy. I immediately stated that the room was unacceptable and wanted to be placed in another room and they claimed to be fully booked for the night AND they refused to refund me even though I was charged minutes before!
Yeah crazy how some of them just can’t seem to keep it clean. I definitely would push for a chargeback / complaint to your card!
Most hotels actually cannot refund you if you book through a website like Orbitz, Hotels.com, Expedia etc. So I doubt that they just did not want to refund you, but you literally cannot do that. It’s in the hands of whatever third party you booked with. Source: I work at a hotel.
Did the public health and safety services do anything about it? I am currently experiencing a similar issue (mold not quite as bad, but still a horrid acrid smell, moist carpets, etc) , was finally able to change rooms as I did not have the option to leave, although I looked into that. I was considering whether or not I should report it to public health, as after experiencing the issue I went to look at their reviews and noted a number of other people have experienced this as well. It seems unsafe, but I’m unsure if that’s the appropriate action.
Thanks!
I got nothing. No call back or message.
You should make this public, post it on their Facebook page. Atrocious that it happened, and very poor customer service subsequently.
Hi GrabAsia! You’re more likely right. However I would rather not drag it out further, as it was both traumatic to experience and to write about. I have made it very clear to their corporate that it was unacceptable, and left messages for the local health department. I would rather put it behind me at this point, but it was something I felt I should write about (due to the absurdity).
Thanks for the comment!
change hotels,
Absolutely right – but what if that’s not possible? I wouldn’t want to pay for a room at the current hotel, and would want them to put me up for the night in another room nearby (because it is their fault). Unfortunately they were very obstinate and did not do either, so we were forced to drive home. Nothing nearby was reasonable in price and it made more sense for us to go home. However, I was thinking about the health concerns – if it was an old person who maybe did not have such a strong sense of smell, which could aggravate their breathing problems, what then?
I would expect the hotel to be more on top of it and prevent such problems, but if they do occur to have a robust operating procedure to fix the issue right away. This place had neither, and thus fails.
Thanks for your comment!
bad reviews in the media will be costing them much more than making things right in the first place.
overall, good to have your credit card company on your side when there is a valid dispute.
Oh absolutely. This one was paid mostly through Orbitz but I have good standing there, and I have no problem disputing the charge. Thankfully, I was able to get a full refund without *too* much trouble, but it was still such a major inconvenience.