Red Roof Inn Norfolk - Portsmouth

After more than 37 years in hospitality management with Marriott, Renaissance, Red Roof Inn, and Clarendon Hotel - SE London, in the USA and England, this Red Roof Inn made me question how the people responsible could disregard cleanliness and upkeep of the brand. A nice woman at the front desk first greeted me and honored my request for a room that didn’t smell of smoke, but the attached pictures show the room’s condition. I also asked the man at the front desk for a late checkout. He said no, even after I asked whether the hotel was full and he said it wasn’t. I’ll never again risk my health at a property like this.

The sheets were stained or had holes, the bath towels had long dark hairs hanging from them, and the TV remote only worked with the cable box, so we had to operate the TV by hand. The one good thing was the gentleman who checked us in. He was very friendly and polite, and we had a nice conversation. I don’t know if they’ve just bought the place and are trying to get by or what, but I hope they can improve.

I paid $115 for a two-bed room, but was given a room with a king bed that smelled of mold so badly I couldn’t breathe. The front desk man tried to flirt with me and asked where I was from, which felt like an invasion of guest privacy. Towels were dirty and stained, there was no phone in the room or bar soap in the restroom, and the toilet was difficult to use because of how it was installed. The hotel is in what felt like the most dangerous part of the city, even during the day. The ATM didn’t work, and you couldn’t use the vending machine without cash. At midnight, when I asked to charge water to my room, they refused. I couldn’t get late checkout or connect to Wi-Fi either. It’s overpriced, and I don’t recommend it.

The room was filthy, the sheets were damp, and it smelled musty and moldy. The smoke detector had been ripped out of the ceiling, and the chair and desk were dirty. When we asked for a refund, the front desk man was rude and defensive. He said he had to check the room, then claimed it was clean and refused to refund us, saying an investigation would take 3 to 5 days. The fire department needs to inspect this place because the missing detector is a code violation. I can’t understand why it has three stars online. Absolutely don’t stay here.