V Khadivian

Review of Renaissance Houston Hotel

Sadly disappointed. My little family was having to...

Sadly disappointed. My little family was having to hop around hotels in the city to accommodate our housing needs during the Hurricane Harvey evacuation. We had stayed at a Comfort Inn and had overbooked us with other victims. We were super excited to find a reasonable available room here as we had stayed at other Crowne Plaza Hotels in the city, even more stoked because this one sits in the middle of the Higher end areas where service and quality is made a priority which was exciting after what we went through during the storm.

First, I couldn't believe you need to pay for parking your own car - not just valet service. There is not another option to park elsewhere so I think it's poor taste to charge self parking vehicles a fee to park in the same hotel you are paying to stay in. I'm thinking are they really hurting for money so much they can't include this somewhere in the room rate? Not that I'm being cheap but it's poor taste. Valet, sure. People come to this hotel for first class service such as this and expect to pay to be extra pampered.

The entrance is beautiful, so my family gets very excited while I check in. Very professional manager trying to train a new person. First impression, cold manager but professional with good manners. Was given my keys, no offer for help. If selling extra pamper services, some impression of this hotel would think the bellhop could be offered even if there would be fees involved for better upswell of more pampered services. Plus it was obvious that we had very heavy bags and an infant. Was never directed to where the elevators could be found and had to wander around several times with my infant and heavy bags until we found it on our own.

As we get in the elevator, I started thinking this building and elevator are showing big signs that this hotel isn't being well cared for and is long overdue for a renovation. It is vey outdated, and shows age and poor quality of maintenance. Basically, nice entrance area giving the illusion that you are being welcomed to a very comfortable time but once you check in it's obvious this building is in need of serious investment of care.

Enter the room and you get slapped in the face with a odor that smells like cat pee. Initially dismissed it and thought maybe the air conditioning needs modifying as it felt damp. Taken my shoes off and while my infant found a lamp that had a short and wires exposed on the floor, the carpet was very moist. The air conditioner was not working at all and not blowing. Called the front desk and they said they would send maintenance. Giving it some thought, my infant starting crawling around and went straight for the cords. Decided, better off cancel the room and get a refund. This was too dangerous and even the bed was wet.

The manager quickly refunded us but did find it disappointing that he did not offer to either provide us with an invitation to win us back and try again or to switch rooms and upgrade .. something! I felt though that would offer us the chance To change my mind by a better experience.

Being that said, it's the reason for the poor rating. This hotel did not meet or exceed my expectations and felt my business was valued. Mind you, I am not seeking a free room, I was looking for this hotel to value my experience as word of mouth is powerful and even one small family let others know it left us with a feeling of major disappointment and will not return.

In the end, we are one family but luckily word of mouth catches on as quick as fire. So, maybe our business isn't so significant after all!