MainStay Suites Raleigh North

We’d booked two nights and left after the first. The lobby looks nice and seems to have been remodeled, but the hallways stink and the rooms feel cold and grim. They looked nothing like the photos. Our suite had a full kitchen with no utensils, plates, or cups, not even a disposable one. There was a coffee maker but no coffee or cup. The TV did work, at least. Someone asked me for money outside, then I saw him hanging around with the desk clerk in the lobby later. Signs everywhere laid out rules for “guests,” including that everyone had to register at the desk, and this was the first hotel I’ve stayed in that asked my wife for a copy of her driver’s license. It gave me a halfway-house kind of vibe. The hotel wasn’t for us.

The room was clean and arranged well, with enough space to unpack and move the luggage we weren’t using out of the way. That’s a real plus. I’d rate it around 3.5 as it is, but a few small cosmetic touch-ups would make it a 4.

I left without staying, but the refund became a problem afterward. A manager verbally assured me I’d get the full amount back, then the hotel reversed course after speaking with Expedia. The hotel and Expedia kept sending me back and forth, and Expedia eventually advised me to dispute the charge. I had booked through Booking.com, and the property still hasn’t honored the refund. I’d confirmed a week before booking that a check-in after 1:00 AM was okay, and the hotel approved it. My arrival time has nothing to do with the condition of the rooms. I was assigned three different rooms, and every one was unsanitary: brown, visibly dirty towels, hair on the bedding, dried residue on surfaces, and an unclean toilet. Those problems were already there before I entered, whether I arrived at 3:00 AM or 3:00 PM. I left within minutes. The conditions were alarming, and the lack of accountability made it worse. I documented my interactions with staff and management at the time, and I stand by this review so others can make an informed choice. The property doesn’t match its online ratings, and I’d advise people to stay elsewhere.

We were exhausted after a 14-hour drive, so we stayed, but this place was awful. The room door wouldn’t close properly, the lobby was sloppy, and the whole place smelled strongly of what seemed like insecticide. One bed wasn’t fully made, and it made me wonder if someone had napped in it. There were two TVs stacked in front of each other, with no remote, so they were useless. Turning on the AC made the whole floor shake and vibrate. They advertised the hotel as pet friendly, then said no pets when we arrived. I have an emotional support dog, and they finally allowed him after I paid an extra $75 on top of the standard fee. The outside and parking area were dingy and sloppy, and there was nothing good to say about the elevator. The insecticide smell really unsettled us. A huge waste of $175.