I often drive to Michigan for work, family events and traveling for pleasure. In the course of my travels, I’ve stayed in dozens of hotels. I’ve had great, bad and so-so experiences. One of the worst experiences I’ve ever had was with the Homestead Studio Suites in Southfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.
I decided to book the hotel online since they offered a small discount for repeat customers, and having stayed in other hotels owned by the company, I qualified as a repeat customer. After booking a two night stay, I checked for reviews on the hotel, and found nothing but complaints. Out of five stars, most reviewers stated that they wished they could have clicked “no stars” or half of a star. Since I’ve seen the same reviews for hotels I’ve actually liked, I decided to give the Homestead Studio Suites in Southfield a chance. The hotel was close to a few things I planned to do in the area, and the price was unbeatable.
Upon arrival I was forced to wait nearly ten minutes to check in. There was a large amount of people who lived in the hotel, and one resident was complaining about his key not working. Apparently the desk clerks had frequently explained to him not to place his key near the television, microwave, or a credit card and he kept doing so, which causes the key to become deactivated. After finally checking in, I paid the additional $4.99 for internet access.
Later that night I ventured out to find a drugstore for those few things I forgot at home like toothpaste, and to find a restaurant for dinner. After nearly two hours of driving around in circles, and finding nothing but industrial complexes and one way streets, I gave up and drove back to the hotel.
I logged onto the internet, checked my email, and logged off. When I tried to log on just an hour later, nothing happened. I had to call the 1-800 number listed in the room, as the desk clerk had no idea what was wrong. After spending twenty minutes on the phone with a technician, she discovered that the problem was not with my computer, but with equipment in my hotel. She informed me that I would have to wait 20-30 minutes for her to call someone downstairs, and have them fix the problem. It was actually over an hour for the internet to return, and an hour later I was back on the phone with the same technician. Apparently the desk clerk kept unplugging the router downstairs, but I had to call a 1-800 number that went somewhere overseas to have them call the hotel directly, and explain the problem.
The next day when I logged onto the internet, I discovered that the hotel had charged me four separate times for the $4.99 Internet fee. The cost is $4.99 per stay, and I was charged for four visits in less than twenty-four hours. After an hour long conversation with someone from the corporate office, the charge was taken off my credit card. To top it off, the internet went down again that night.
The room itself was clean, but in desperate need of an update, evident by the 1980’s mirrored closet doors, and old fashioned lighting fixtures. In the middle of a ninety degree heat wave, the worst was the barely functioning air conditioning system. The hotel had removed the buttons and knobs from the window unit, and forced visitors to use a new “updated” wall thermostat. I set it for the coldest temperature allowed (65 degrees), and at no point during my stay did it not feel sweltering in the room. After complaining to the front desk, I was assured that someone would fix the problem, but no one ever came to the room.
By the time I went home, I was a little discouraged with the Homestead Studio Suites in Southfield, but I thought that I was overreacting. The room was clean, and they included some utensils though not enough for even a short stay. I checked out on a Friday morning at nine am, well before the eleven am check out, and drove home planning to never think about the hotel again. Instead I discovered that the hotel charged me an additional charge for Friday night, and had charged me full price, not even my discounted rate. My credit card was nice enough to cancel the charge after some arguing, but it was still irritating. Homestead Studio Suites had proof that I checked out on time, and still charged me for an extra night.
Be wary of staying at the Homestead Studio Suites in Southfield, Michigan. Save your money and go to a different hotel.
