TownePlace Suites Lakeland

There was no hot water anywhere in the hotel, and the shower floor still had black shoe marks from someone before us. I hadn’t used the shower, but the marks hadn’t been cleaned before we got the room. We came to town for an event and booked Quality Inn Lakeland North expecting a decent, clean place. The renovation work looked as shoddy as the water heater, with poor quality and no attention to cleanliness or detail. I can’t recommend another hotel nearby, but I can say not to go to Lakeland. The city seems to put little effort into improving itself, and the hotel reflects that. Quality Inn is quality in name only.

Our mini-fridge poured water onto the floor when I opened it to put in some cold food. I asked the clerk to send maintenance, but no one came. After about an hour we fixed it ourselves and blotted the carpet with towels. The dining room was closed, too, so there was no breakfast buffet. Getting checked in took 30-40 minutes. We had requested an accessible room when booking, but the clerk said there was no record of it and wouldn’t give us a clear answer beyond saying they had those rooms. We didn’t get an ADA-compliant room. While we were paying, we were told about an extra $100 hold on the card until they could make sure we hadn’t smoked, even though we’d requested a non-smoking room, plus a $4 daily cleaning charge on top of the other fees. When we made the reservation, we told the agent we had a service dog and asked whether we needed to do anything. We were told no. At check-in, the clerk said there’d be an extra $20 a day for the dog. Our reservation was non-refundable, otherwise we would have gone elsewhere. Never again.

The outside looks great, and the staff were polite. I even saw someone vacuuming, though I felt the carpet needed replacing. Our room smelled musty, and there was mold on the ceiling. My son and I both have asthma, and I believe the mold or mildew made us sick. Maybe the place is headed for a complete makeover.

I was surprised they wanted a $100 deposit at check-in after I’d already paid for the room online. I wouldn’t recommend staying here until major improvements are made. The room looked partly under construction, with important things missing, including parts of the fire safety system that had been visibly taped off. There was no hot water or heating during our stay. Service was poor: only one of the two beds had been made, and there wasn’t even a trash can in the room. The place felt badly put together and badly in need of maintenance.