Jacob Cox

Review of Emory Conference Center Hotel

Not great, shady upgrade practice, and spiders. I ...

Not great, shady upgrade practice, and spiders. I am really disappointed and frustrated with my stay at Emory Conference Center Hotel. I reserved a room at this hotel to attend a conference nearby. My travel requires me to request government rates for billing purposes. ECCH took my reservation over the phone. At that time, I requested a government rate room. They had a room and I made the reservation. However, they subsequently upgraded my room to an end room, which carried an upgrade charge and exceeded my government rate cap. I stayed there without knowing of the upgrade.

Unfortunately, I didn't notice the overcharge until I went to file my reimbursement paperwork the day after departing. When I called the help desk to get assistance with correcting my bill, I was told rather rudely that my room was upgraded and I should have noticed this when I checked out. They said, and I quote: "That's on you." I've also included a copy of the receipt they gave me. Notice it says nothing about an upgrade--just an inflated charge. Government rate was $159 at the time of my stay. I called several times and left several messages, but to no avail. As a result, I absorbed the extra cost.

I usually operate from a position of trust, so when companies like this take advantage of that, I go out of my way to make sure others know about it. My upgraded room also came with living Halloween decorations, i.e. live spiders and webs that covered my room's entrance. I've included the pictures. Originally, I took them to share with my wife, since I was mildly annoyed that one of their staff members pointed it out to me, said they would notify management, and two days later (when I checked out) it was still there. Obviously, I'm much more annoyed, since I learned I paid extra for it. Another bonus I got with my room was an already opened coffee packet, yuck!

If you stay at Emory Conference Center Hotel, watch your bill and bring something to take down the webs, otherwise, "it's on you."