La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Winston-Salem

The staff were great and very accommodating. The hallways were warm, the bed was comfortable, and the bathroom was nice. Breakfast was the usual motel spread: scrambled eggs, sausage, waffles, cereal, and yogurt. The orange juice was horrible.

The location was convenient for visiting someone at Novant Rehab Hospital, but I won’t return. I was there with my 11 and 7 year old children, visiting my partner, who has been in the hospital for nearly four months. After all the stress of that, I’d hoped for a relaxing place to rest. Instead, the hotel didn’t feel welcoming, and they haven’t made an effort to put the problems right. Please stay somewhere else for your own mental health. I booked through Booking.com and paid in full before check-in, then paid a $100 damage deposit on my debit card. The hallways and elevator smelled strongly of stale cigarettes and weed. My spacious king room wasn’t what I booked: it was meant to have a sofa bed, but there was only an armchair. We were tired and the front desk woman wasn’t welcoming, so I didn’t complain. The three of us fit on the king bed. The room smelled faintly of cigarettes too, though it may have drifted in from the hall. Breakfast didn’t look appetizing like it does at other La Quinta hotels, so we went out. The front desk woman made me feel like I was inconveniencing her both at check-in and check-out. She asked whether I had a card on file, and I said yes. The $100 deposit was refunded right away, but she tried to charge my card twice for $148.50 for no reason. One charge went through and the other was declined by my bank. I left the room spotless, don’t smoke, and had prepaid, so I shouldn’t have been charged anything. I called to ask about the charge. A woman answered, then hung up when I explained. I called several more times, but no one picked up. Later, I got through to Elizabeth, who said they’d charged my card because they couldn’t process the payment from Booking, so my card was “accidentally” charged. Instead of contacting Booking themselves to sort out the problem, they made me do it and have Booking reach out so they could start my refund. Elizabeth said they couldn’t refund me until Booking said they could. Booking told me the hotel never tried to use the correct payment they’d sent and that there was nothing wrong with it. Booking contacted the hotel multiple times and got no response. Then the hotel told me they couldn’t refund me because only one $148.50 charge, not two, had gone through. They seemed to ignore that I shouldn’t have been charged that amount at all.

The room was spacious, and I liked the hotel at first. Breakfast didn't have enough choices for me, though. What really changed my opinion was the $100 deposit. It's been weeks since my family and I stayed, and I still haven't gotten the money back. I'd rate it higher if they hadn't taken so long to return it.

The woman at check-in recognizes me every time now, which makes this place feel like a home away from home. My son has to go to the hospital pretty regularly, so I book a room here whenever we come. It's affordable and comfortable. There are hotels a little closer to the hospital, but I pass them by because I like this one so much. I don't plan to stay anywhere else.