Sonesta Simply Suites Orange County Airport

The room we were finally given, 334, hadn’t been cleaned. The kitchen bin was full, the toilet was dirty and hadn’t even been flushed, and it was obvious nobody had checked the room before handing us a key. When I reported it, the front desk agent only said housekeeping would come “tomorrow.” That came after a disastrous check-in. We arrived around 11:50 p.m. with our four-month-old baby for a three-night booking, January 29 to February 1. I’d also paid extra for late checkout. The front desk agent took an unreasonable time to open the door and seemed careless from the start. He sent us to Room 214, where another guest was already asleep. She woke up, opened the door, and was understandably furious. I hadn’t paid for that. Back at the desk, he kept insisting it was our room until I told him to open it himself. Only then did he admit his mistake and look for another room. Checkout was just as bad. Front desk agent Jose called rudely while we were getting ready and told us to leave immediately. I said we’d be out in five minutes, but he kept pressuring us. In the parking lot I tried to explain the check-in problems, but he dismissed them, asked what time we’d checked in, and sarcastically said, “Check-in time is 3 p.m.” That’s not how hotels work. I’m a hotelier too. He also repeated that we were already five minutes over, as if that excused anything. Then, despite the awful stay and the late checkout fee I’d already paid, they charged me $28 for being ten minutes late. This was a disgrace. The employee showed no professionalism, accountability, or understanding of hospitality, and the property felt neglected and unsanitary. Management needs to address this so other guests aren’t treated with the same incompetence and disrespect. That employee needs serious retraining, or shouldn’t work in hospitality.