Comfort Inn Dickinson

The water park and pool were closed, which we only learned after checking in. We’d chosen the hotel specifically for the water park and hot tub. I’d tried calling first about the water park and dog policy, but the numbers on the Choice app and Google website didn’t work. Staff said new management had left the pool closed for a while because of maintenance issues, and they didn’t know when it would reopen. Our pet room cost an extra $25 a night, but my dog sniffed around for ages, and it was obvious extra cleaning wasn’t being done. The door bumper was jammed into the wall, wallpaper was missing, and the tub needed a good scrub and a new shower curtain. At the fitness center, the water dispenser was empty, the used towel bin was full with no clean towels available, the machines needed cleaning, and the floors were dirty. I wouldn’t recommend staying here.

We left at 4 a.m., only about eight hours after arriving, because the room was so unpleasant we needed to get out. We’d booked one night in a pet-friendly room and paid $50 extra for our two clean, well-behaved dogs. The front desk clerk was friendly, but the customer service afterward was awful. Our dogs wouldn’t lie on the carpet, just sniffed and paced, so we had to use our own blanket. The room smelled horrible, the floor was stained, cabinet sides were dirty, the couch had a hole, and the sheets were worn thin and had holes too. My husband woke up with severe allergies. I understand a pet room may have some wear, like the couch hole, but it still needs cleaning. I asked only for the pet fee back, since the extra charge clearly wasn’t going toward cleaning, but support refused any refund and offered points for a future stay. I didn’t accept because I’d never stay again, even for free. Maybe regular rooms are better, but I wouldn’t risk it. I should have paid another $20 somewhere else and perhaps gotten some sleep.

We ended up leaving the key at the front desk and not staying, then found a clean room at the Holiday Inn Express a few miles away. The woman there said people often leave Comfort Inn and make a last-minute booking nearby. We’d reserved for a family road trip mainly because the pool looked suitable for small kids, but at check-in we learned it was closed for maintenance, something not mentioned on the website. They said we should have called ahead to check. The kids were disappointed, but we tried to continue. On the way to the room, the hotel laundry door was open, with dirty laundry all over the floor. At the room, cigarette smoke hit me immediately, despite it being non-smoking, as if someone had smoked a whole carton. The room was dingy and dirty, and my son spotted bottle caps and other trash on the floor. I knew it wouldn’t work for us. I tried calling Comfort Inn the following Monday to raise the issues, three times, but nobody answered and there was no voicemail. How was I supposed to check whether the advertised pool was open?

The pool and big slide were the best part, though the water felt pretty warm. The room itself was okay, but the air conditioner made a constant noise all night and I didn’t sleep well. Breakfast was very low quality.