Extended Stay America Select Suites - Grand Rapids - Kentwood

We were traveling out of state for a friend’s mother’s funeral, six of us split into men’s and women’s rooms for religious reasons. A couple in our group wasn’t married and couldn’t share a room or bed. I’d booked through Priceline on April 17th &18th for two rooms, two nights, with two queen beds in each. When we arrived around 7 p.m., the motel told us one room had only one queen bed. That would leave someone sleeping on the floor. They had no other room with two queens, no cot, and no couch or pullout bed. They couldn’t meet our needs or honor the reservation for that room, so we had to find another motel at the last minute and cancel. Priceline confirmed the cancellation and refunded us. The extended stay desk member said we wouldn’t be charged on their end, but the next day I saw two separate $97 charges from extended stay on my card. I disputed them, and Extended stay responded that it would still uphold the charges. I’ll never use extended stay again.

The staff were all polite, professional, and friendly. The property outside, especially the little pond area, could be very nice, but trash and other garbage littered the landscaping and property and floated on the pond’s surface, where local wildlife use it. One night there was a man passed out in the lobby in only his underwear. Two nights later, a different man was sleeping in the stairwell with his phone plugged into an outlet. He appeared to be homeless, and it was very cold outside. He was gone the next morning. Inside, we didn’t get the room we reserved. They put us in a single, then moved us to a double, still not the one we’d booked. The kitchen light cover fell off and hit me in the head. While I was cooking, the vent fan and hood came crashing down onto my hands, dinner, and stove. The curtain rod and curtains fell just from closing them once. There were visible holes in the walls, and insects and roaches kept coming out of those same holes. We asked to move again and were denied. We’re still in that room with the roaches and falling objects.

The people here rock. They were gracious, friendly, and helpful, and accommodated me without a problem. They replaced my TV remote when it gave me trouble and moved me when I asked for another room. I already have a landlord and health department dispute going on, and my vehicle has electrical issues after driving through water during the recent flooding. Hotel problems were the last thing I needed, and the staff made things easier.

Vana at the front desk and the cleaning staff were extremely nice. That’s the good part. The rest made for a really uncomfortable stay. The advertised amenities weren’t there: no breakfast, and they charge to use utensils and pans. The bathroom was very old and rusty, the floor was dirty, and I only noticed yesterday that the curtains had a big splash of blood on them. It wasn’t comfortable. My partner told them she had a service dog. Under ADA law, as I understand it, they aren’t supposed to demand a license or charge a fee, and the license is voluntary. The general manager, Ray, backed down after I told her what she’d done was illegal, but kept saying the dog had a license. It left us feeling like they’d break the rules just to charge a pet fee for each animal. If you have a Service Animal, read your rights before they try to hustle you. Also, don’t expect room cleaning or trash removal, even though those were among the amenities they promised. I usually give places a second chance after seeing bad reviews, but this wasn’t a good place to stay. For the same price, you can find a better, more efficient, less shady hotel. Do yourself a favor and stay somewhere else. I don’t need apologies from the company, just fix what’s wrong with the place.