Best Western Plus Newport News Inn & Suites

The room seemed clean, though it smelled of air freshener, and the bed was comfortable. The AC worked well, it was quiet, and I slept very well. But the desk chair was missing an arm, both ice machines were broken, and the TV remote hadn’t been programmed for the TV. That last issue came up after we’d washed up and gotten into bed, and I wasn’t about to get dressed and go down to the desk. No one apologized about the ice machines, either. I’d made the reservation online and got a confirmation email right away, but no pre-check-in message on arrival day. Since I wasn’t getting in until 9pm, I called. The person who answered said a late check-in was fine and I didn’t need to notify them, but I asked him to confirm the reservation anyway. The front office staff at night and in the morning were robotic, with few words, no greetings or thanks, and no asking how the stay was. They had no customer service skills. This was my second Best Western Plus stay in less than a week. In my review of the earlier one in Waynesboro, Va, I said they should rebrand as BW Minus, and I still stand by that. We both decided to avoid this brand in the future.

The price was good and the room was large, but it didn’t feel especially clean, and there was a strong fragrance throughout the hotel, as if something was being covered up. The showerhead had two settings, a pressurized hose or a dribble. I got the impression this place might attract 'by the hour' guests, and I didn’t feel my family was very safe. I slept badly. At least my car wasn’t broken into, I guess.

I’m really worried. We’re supposed to check in tomorrow night, and the reviews I’ve seen, including ones from just a few days ago, are bad. I hope our stay won’t be like that. Customers apparently aren’t compensated for the inconvenience or the filth they’ve had to deal with. And if there are bed bugs, so help me. For the money we’re spending, and given the reviews that were available before booking, this better be good. You already advertised a spa hot tub, and that’s a lie!

I finally left because I’d had enough. On Easter morning, the coffee machine was putting grounds into the coffee, and the desk clerk, though polite, didn’t know how to fix it. I had no coffee pods in my room for the Keurig, either. The clerk didn’t seem to have any urgency about finding help, so I got the hell out of there. The night before, I needed change to use the washing machine. The ATM couldn’t connect to the Internet, though apparently it had worked for someone a few minutes earlier. The polite desk clerk couldn’t help. I got change at another ATM, came back, and washed my clothes, only to find the dryer wasn’t working. At 9 o’clock at night I had to take two loads of soaking wet laundry to a laundromat because I couldn’t travel with them wet. There were other problems, too. The TV in my first room didn’t work, though a very polite front desk person tried and eventually moved me to another room. The second room wasn’t as nice and lacked supplies, including coffee pods. Then the Internet wouldn’t connect, so I used my cell service the whole time. The front desk clerk was polite but had no idea how to help with that, either. I suppose it was better than sleeping in my car.