Comfort Suites Boone - University Area

“Be Sure the Maintenance Person Is Not on Vacation”

I can see a vision of the time when Comfort Suites in Boone was an excellent hotel. Alas, that time appears to be in the past. We stayed five nights, March 12-March 16, 2024. Although our stay was, for the most part, pleasant, some nagging frustrations and observations put a big damper on it. O… more

I can see a vision of the time when Comfort Suites in Boone was an excellent hotel. Alas, that time appears to be in the past. We stayed five nights, March 12-March 16, 2024. Although our stay was, for the most part, pleasant, some nagging frustrations and observations put a big damper on it. On our first evening, I stepped into the tub for a shower, only to discover the large shampoo bottle mounted on the end wall of the tub surround was completely empty. I subsequently took the empty bottle to the front desk and asked for another. "I don't even know why this bottle was there," exclaimed the gentleman staffing the front. He went into the back room and promptly returned with three minuscule bottles of cheap shampoo--hardly enough for thick-haired guests anticipating almost a week's stay. Also on our first evening, I discovered the sink faucet lacked an aerator, resulting, of course, in a wild, unrestricted splattering of water. I immediately put my pants back on and strolled down to the front desk to report the problem. The friendly front desk gentleman immediately reached for a work order and promised he would submit it to maintenance right away. After we returned to the hotel on March 13 from our day's activities, the first thing I did was check the faucet. I was met with a wild, unrestricted splattering of water, prompting me to return to the front desk to check the status of the work order. The friendly young lady shuffled through some paper, found the work order, and reported that the maintenance man wasn't there that day. "Well, let's get this taken care of as soon as possible," I urged. March 14 dawned, and we once again set off for a long day of activity. When we returned to the hotel late that evening, I washed my hands in wild, unrestricted, splattering water. This time, the front desk lady reported that the maintenance man was, in fact, on vacation all week. "I can insert the aerator myself if you happen to have one," I pleaded. She disappeared down the hall and returned some minutes later empty-handed. Apparently, she tried in vain to remove an aerator from a vacant room's faucet. To her credit, she offered to move us to a different room, but we were completely unpacked with our clothes in the closet and in drawers, our espresso machine and Waterpik hooked up, our drinks and restaurant leftovers in the fridge, etc. We were entrenched. Moving was not an option. I gave up. One of the last things I did on our stay on the morning of March 17 (day 6) was to rinse out our espresso equipment in a wild, unrestricted splattering of water. I suppose maintenance issues can be problematic in an aging facility. Moving in with the luggage cart was a big challenge with front glass doors that didn't automatically open. I had to back through and move with vigor to keep the doors from closing on the packed cart. When I reported the problem, front desk personnel indicated they hoped to have the doors fixed soon. Surely enough, the problem seemed to be corrected on day two, but on day three, they once again did not work. Fortunately, this was only a minor inconvenience. A bigger inconvenience was the non-working ice machine on the first floor, which necessitated trudging up the nearby stairs to the second floor machine. I wanted a bit of ice only on the evening of day one and the morning of day six. Obviously, the machine was inoperable for the entire week. These issues probably caused me to look more carefully at other small things than I otherwise would have, and I noticed the place, in general, looked a bit tired. I got the distinct impression that it is a hotel in decline. It's not bad, mind you, but the signs are there. To add insult to injury, and this really IS a minor thing, one evening a load of mulch was piled into my favorite parking place. *SIGH* But by the end of the next day, it was gone, and the landscaping looked fresh. Also on the positive side, the free breakfasts were generally quite good, and the selection of items changed just enough each day to prevent boredom in our multi-day visit. We chose the Comfort Suites for two reasons: 1) Because of a promotion offering four nights for the price of three, it was a bit cheaper than other suite hotels in the area, and 2) I was accumulating points in my Choice Hotels loyalty account for a free night on our drive home. This was offset more than a bit by gouging the hell out of us when I extended our stay one night on a Saturday, when the nightly cost doubled. That was both unnecessary and rude because the demand obviously didn't really justify it. On the whole, our stay was actually good. The location was excellent, and the one-room suite was spacious and well-appointed. But the problems were enough to warrant looking elsewhere on our next trip to Boone.

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