Brandywine Plaza Hotel, SureStay Collection by Best Western

The front desk was great, and housekeeping was pleasant too. My room was roomy and clean, comfortable enough, though it had that stale smell of a former smoking room. The pool wasn’t filled 😞. I might have booked a senior room.

The staff were polite, even though they didn’t seem to have what they needed to do their jobs well. Our room smelled like urine, and the bar had no air conditioning when we tried to get away from it for a while. It was August. The stay might have gone better if some basic hotel expectations had been met.

I’ve known this hotel from a distance since I was growing up, and stayed there on a visit after we moved away. The pool wasn’t cleaned out for guests to use, even though it was advertised and included in the room rate. It also needs more than one towel per guest, more luggage carts, and a working ice machine. The elevators and air conditioning are good when they’re all working throughout the hotel. Sometimes the staff are on the ball, but usually not, and the prices vary a lot. I understand seasonal rates, but they take it pretty far.

The carpet was stained, and the room had a nauseating cat urine smell, so we kept our shoes on. The hotel information said it wasn’t pet friendly, but the odor made us wonder. One of our adjoining rooms barely stayed in the 70s with the AC on, and we had to clean the toilet ourselves. There was exposed metal sticking out of a bed, a serious tripping risk for our 2 year old. Both elevators were out when we arrived. The service elevator worked, but took forever, and its entrance was dirty and cluttered, clearly not meant for guests. With our 2 young sons and a room on the 5th floor, that was inconvenient. We ended up taking the stairs. This is a stay we won’t forget, for all the wrong reasons.