Comfort Inn & Suites Brattleboro I-91

I arrived at 10:50 PM, four hours from home, and was told there was no room despite my reservation. When I booked, I told the hotel I’d arrive between 10 and 11 PM, and they approved that through Booking.com messaging. Staff said they’d realized earlier that day they had overbooked, but no one contacted me. If they’d let me know then, I’d have had more time to book elsewhere. Instead, I had to search for another hour to find an available room, since most hotels were already booked. Whoever manages this hotel clearly doesn’t care about customers.

The pool was the best part of the stay. The worst was dealing with confrontational staff who didn’t seem to understand hospitality, and a property that, despite being fairly new, isn’t well maintained. I requested a first-floor room because of my mobility challenges, but none was available. I arrived right at 3:00 p.m. during the shift change, and it took about ten minutes to sort out the next shift’s paperwork. The room was nice, but there was a concerning gap between the door and its frame. The phone wasn’t connected, and I couldn’t reconnect it because it was behind the heavy desk. None of the four phone numbers listed on Google, including a Comfort Inn Call Center number, reached the front desk, so I used my cell. I couldn’t get the heating working for a long time. There were no instructions on the floor unit or anywhere else, and none of its buttons turned it on. Eventually I found a separate wall unit that somehow connects to the floor unit. It was in the 40°s when we arrived. Nobody mentioned we needed a separate key for the fitness room and pool; the room key doesn’t open the pool. Breakfast was hearty, with eggs, sausage, bacon, bread, bagels, mini danish, a fresh banana, coffee, and juices. The place was packed, so I’d suggest having two waffle irons for efficiency. Someone spilled milk in a huge puddle reaching the front desk. When I asked, staff didn’t hurry to put up a Wet Floor sign or clean it, and someone could have fallen. Our third-party booking said pets were allowed. It was shocking that the front desk clerk insisted on a $250 fee and was adamant that only certain rooms were set aside for pets, despite Choice Hotels saying pets are allowed and signs at the front desk reiterating that. I’m guessing the ADA would investigate further.

The service was so poor that it brought down the whole stay. One front desk employee was on duty throughout the long weekend and made us feel like we were bothering him from check-in on. He was dismissive, discourteous, and unwilling to help. When the shower’s wall-mounted liquid soap ran out, we called and he said only housekeeping could access it, and they wouldn’t be back until the next day. I had to insist before he reluctantly offered that we could pick up a bar of soap in the lobby. Every interaction left us feeling unwelcome, and the service fell well below basic expectations.

The room was clean and roomy, and breakfast was better than I’ve had at other Comfort Inns. It feels like a somewhat upscale Comfort Inn, though the “group rates” were higher than I expected. One tip: housekeeping comes every three days, but you can ask them to make up the room more often.