Comfort Inn Willow Springs US 60 and US 63

The room itself was comfortable, and the inside of the hotel was pretty nice, but the stay felt unwelcoming from the start. My husband and I both travel with service dogs. I’d booked a king room, yet at check-in they tried to put us in a double queen pet room. After I said that wasn’t legal, they did give us the king, though it took nearly 40 minutes to get checked in. We got snowed in and booked another night. The next day, I went out to smoke and stood by the left side of the front doors, tucked toward the corner to get out of the wind and falling snow. The front desk manager asked me to use the smoking area, which I did. She then explained at length that smoke could come around the corner and through two sets of closed doors. Later, after a nap, I was halfway through the lobby when she told me guests needed to use the side door. I turned around and went back out that way without arguing. When I came back in from smoking at the designated area, she called after me, “mam, mam, mam.” I was waiting for the elevator, and she again explained that guests had to use the uncovered side door because they were worried people could slip near the covered entrance. I told her we weren’t bothering anyone and asked what her problem was. She was talking down to me as if she were scolding a child. She said I seemed annoyed when she’d told me to use the side door, even though I’d just woken up, and kept repeating an explanation I hadn’t asked for. When I asked who she was, all I got was “the front desk manager.” She stayed rude until I walked away. I was the only woman staying there during that time, and I didn’t see her speak to the male guests that way. I also saw several men smoking right by the doors without being bothered, and saw her and other staff use the front doors after directing me to the side entrance. I left a review in the Comfort Inn app, and her email response kept defending her actions instead of simply apologizing for being so rude. She said other nonsmoking guests might complain, but during our three-night stay we met most, if not all, of the guests outside smoking, and half were working with us. I suspect the only nonsmokers were staff. My issue wasn’t being asked to smoke elsewhere or use another door. It was the long, unsolicited explanations and the condescending way she spoke to me, as if I were too stupid to understand. Staff also seemed to follow you around downstairs, which was disturbing. I can’t tell whether she singled me out because I was the only woman or because she disliked my service dog. You can be respectful and still explain what guests need to do, but she didn’t manage that. I don’t recommend staying while she’s the front desk manager. Looking back at other reviews, I’m apparently not the only person who’s dealt with her rudeness.