Howard Johnson

I'm writing on behalf of my boyfriend, Bernie, about our dilemma. We stayed at HJ, in Dothan, AL on Thursday, May 3, 2012, on our return trip to Florida. The desk clerk accepted our coupon, but told us we could not receive our Wyndham rewards. We would like that problem cleared up. Furthermore, it was in the middle of the week and business was very slow. We asked for a first-floor room, being I have a problem with steps, but she abruptly told us all first-floor rooms were full and sent us way in the back of the complex on the second floor. We later discovered there were rooms available on the first floor.

I stayed at the Howard Johnson in Lawrence, Kansas over Mother's Day weekend. No consequences have been taken into account. They also have caller ID, which means they are not accepting my calls. My room and my sister's room were disgusting. The conditions were abhorrent. The bathroom's walls were stained and the sheets looked soiled. The light next to the bedroom did not work. The trash can was full of mold. I spoke with both Tom **, director of operations, and Randy **, general manager, who listened to my complaints but have not taken appropriate actions. I am appalled and words just cannot describe how sub-human their environment is.

The parking lot was terrible, room was filthy, toilet ran all night, shower had hair in it, gum stuck in carpet, air conditioner had one setting (ice cold or nothing) and windows had so much water scum you could not see out. All in all, thank God, it was only one night. It was way overpriced for what I would rate as a hell hole. I have stayed at many hotels and this was by far the worst and the nastiest I have had!

The worst experience ever! Not sure why rooms in the Howard Johnson hotel are being rented to people! My party booked six rooms and this hotel should not even be open and then they charge $70 per night ($80 with tax). Roaches, gnats, spit on the wall, water stains on the ceiling of the room, holes in the ceiling in the corridors, mold in the bathtub. This place needs to be condemned!

Police needed to be contacted about this hotel - My stay was 3 nights. The doorjamb was falling off the wall and there were what appeared to be coffee stains on the bathroom floor, feces (yes I said feces) on the toilet, and beds were remade, not changed sheets. The thermostat did not work and worst of all I was sexually harassed for 3 days. The front desk person had access to my cell number and constantly texted me. The RCMP was notified.

The owner/assistant was very rude. I feel we were discriminated against because we are white people with kids. I have never been so humiliated in my life. Rooms were gross and beds were awful. Sleeping on the floor was actually better than the floor. The breakfast—if you didn't get there by 7, just turn around because nothing is left. Unfortunately, we got stuck in this hell hole for 2 days since we already paid. I own a big blog and will differently posting my experience at the Howard Johnson in South Portland, Maine. Never again will we come here. Never in a million years will I ever suggest anyone to come here.

Howard Johnson Opryland Nashville, TN - We checked in at 2:30PM and went out for dinner at 5:00PM. We came back to the room around 8:30PM to watch a movie and relax. The nightclub across from our ground floor room (Club Sensation) was quite busy and loud. We tried to sleep, but could not because people from the club were revving the engines of their motorcycles for 3 hours! It was horrible! I called the night clerk and she said the only thing they could do was call the police and that they have done so before, but the police did nothing. She said there was a patrol car at another hotel and he wasn't doing anything about it so he must not think anything is wrong.

We decided to drive home and went to the desk to ask for a refund and the clerk said no. I asked for the manager's name and number so I could call him. We called him on the next business day and he said it is not their policy to refund and he would have to do an "investigation" and we could call him back in a few days. In my opinion, they know this goes on but did not give the customer the opportunity to cancel the reservation and did not put the customer's needs first since we could not rest. I don't feel that as the owner/manager, that he is practicing good service. I just don't see how the guests can put up with this and it is obvious that the police have been notified before.

The PM desk clerk was very nice, however I stayed 3 nights this time at your establishment, and every morning, I felt like I was not a customer, but a hindrance. I had a job interview on 02/15/2012 at 9:00 AM, that ran over until just before 11:00 AM. When I got back to the room at 11:00, I asked for a 12:00PM check out. They spoke rudely to me. They said "no, you need to get out now". I said, "excuse me?" I asked for their corporate office's number, and Ariana ** said, "no, I will not give you that number, they don't have one". When I took the key card down, I was hoping to receive a little hospitality, however, I just received more unprofessional-ism. This is the first complaint I have ever filed. I don't feel good about filing this one, because I prefer Howard Johnson, but someone needs to step in and correct your management problem. I will not stay at that hotel, until changes have been made, and I have been notified that you have new management there.

It's probably the worst hotel we have every stayed in. The hotel was prepaid so we could not cancel. When we checked in, we were told the elevators weren't working. We had to walk up four flights of stairs. The stairwells and hallways were filthy. The thermostat in the room wasn't working. The temperature registered at 85 degrees in room 410. We were suffocating. We had to sleep with the balcony doors wide open. We were given coupons for breakfast but on Sunday morning, we waited nearly an hour for the restaurant to open. We were finally told the cook didn't show up. This compounded by the fact that there were drunks in front of the hotel all night making noise made this the worst experience we have ever encountered in a hotel..

I had a very bad conversation with the general manager. We were asked to leave our hotel at 3 in the morning because of my radio which she thought I was having a party which there was no party taking place. First, I never got a warning nor was I informed that the music was a problem. I spoke to Lara and it was almost as if she didn't care. We slept in the cold for the rest of the night and they were items left in the hotel and she told me I couldn't get it. I really didn't deserve this kind of service and this really needs to get taken care of. I would like my stolen property returned and see that she be fired. Thank you.

We stayed in room 247 in Battle Creek, Michigan and someone tried to break in our room. We checked in at 11:30 and checked out at 2 because we felt unsafe. The gentleman I dealt with said last night that I could get a refund on my debit card but when I called this afternoon the lady was rude and very nasty. She said I couldn't get my money back. I felt unsafe and it was the worst service ever. We only stayed 2 hours. I want my refund I was promised.

I had reservations with my grandson for 12/31/2011 until 1/2/2012. I got ill so they cancelled my room and paid the $50.00 cancellation, and paid cash for the other two (2) rooms. Now, Howard ** is still holding the money for the three (3) rooms and yet to this date have not put the money back on my card, which should have been the same day cash was paid for the (3) rooms.

Now, they have double payments which I know is illegal, so I am very tired of the run around. I have no other choice but to take legal action. I am on a fixed income and don't have time for the games. In other words they stole the $808.56 that was paid. They used the debit card and the cash. I wouldn't never refer any friends, relatives or organizations to this hotel. It seems like a big same.

We have stayed at the Howard Johnson at 11632 Beach Blvd., Stanton, CA 90680 several times with no problems until 12/30 through 1/2. We arrived Friday night to noise, noise, noise. The room was not clean. Towel racks actually hanging off the wall. The shower was leaking and it had mold all around it. Hey, at least the bed was made.

With that aside, Saturday afternoon (New Years Eve), we came back to our hotel room to find a prostitute standing up on the second floor balcony. We tried to take a nap but there was too much noise. Afterwards, we were interrupted by other "so called" guest. They wanted to use our cell phone. Saying no, was just not good enough for them. They continued to keep bothering us.

And the cherry on top of the trip, on Monday morning, another guest from two doors down just walked right into our room. Woke me up! The door was locked, bolted and the gold latch was over on top of the door. The man just put "his" key into our room and walked in. After screaming at him to get out, I walked over to the management office to complain.

The manager stated it was impossible for another person to just walk into my room. He basically told me I was lying. He would not take my word. Now, the man who walked into my room did apologize and he really did seem to be sorry, but Howard Johnson should have stepped in to re-key the room or something. I do not feel safe at this hotel.

On December 9, 2011, I checked into Howard Johnson's in Colorado Springs on the north end of town. They advertised a seasonal rate of approximately $50 total for a room with a Jacuzzi. I booked it through Wyndham and arrived with a lot of luggage, planning on seeing how it looked, and possibly making the stay for three days instead of just one. There were two clerks, neither of whom offered to help with all the luggage I was struggling with through two double doors and onto the elevator. They had no customers other than me, yet they just sat there, watching me try to maneuver with all the luggage. I was later told one was a trainee, and the rude one was supposedly an assistant manager 'to the CEO'.

I got to the room to find it had a remote control that didn't work. I called and was told to bring it down to them. Any other motel would have brought up a replacement or come up to help see if they could make it work. But I brought it to them, and was handed another. I then found it was probably the TV, as it did not work right either. I asked if one could come up and see if perhaps I was doing something wrong, but this was refused. And the 'assistant manager' told me it was maintenance's problem to handle in the morning. I returned it, and was told there was nothing else they could do. There was no offer of another room (they had plenty of openings), no apologies for the inconvenience, just a glare and attitude.

So, I asked if I could have a similar room. I got one on a higher floor. Again, I had to drag all my stuff without any offer of assistance, or apologies for the inconvenience, etc. I got there. It was ice cold with the back door wide open to the outside (Colorado winter weather at night). One main light was burned out. It looked dingy and smelled like a filthy vacuum cleaner bag. The 'heater' I turned on put out almost no heat. The room remained extremely cold. I told them in person about the room. I was told 'the door blows open when they don't latch it'. There was no offer to move me, no apology, nothing.

I asked to speak to the manager and was told she did not come in till Monday. And when I asked the manager's name, I was given only a first name. I asked if I could have the last name. The woman pointed hatefully behind her, at some framed paper on the wall I could not read. I then asked if she would mind writing the name down for me, as I could not read that far or that small of print. She wrote it on a brochure. I later found from corporate it was not even the right name. It was very late by then. I was tired and now very cold. I tried to sit in the so-called Jacuzzi, which had warm but not hot water, and a leaking drain, with one jet that would suddenly shoot up in the air and pick up pressure and speed. The worst was that the suction inlet for the water had no cover and I didn't see this till it nearly ripped my skin from my body sucking me into it.

I was miserable and ended up sitting in this stupid tub with their hair dryer blowing on me, trying to get warm. Finally, I laid on the ice cold bed wrapped in my winter coat till morning. I could not stop shivering as I checked out. I told the girl in the morning what happened. She sounded shocked and was apologetic at least, but said she was not allowed to refund me (I had insisted on a refund by then). I would have to get that from the manager. The manager has yet to contact me, and it is now the following Wednesday. I contacted corporate office and filed a complaint. They said she has till Friday to contact me. This is outrageous. I would never stay in a HoJo again with such policies and amenities. And I would warn anyone else against staying at their hotels as well without really checking the room out first, at the very least.

I had to go to the Tampa on an emergency. I stayed at the 3314 S. Dale ** in Tampa. It was dirty. I did not like the signs in the rooms about recycling towels. I looked for bed bugs immediately. They are real run down. I could not hook my laptop up either. That really upset me. Shame on me for not asking about that before I checked in. Then when I asked if I could get a senior citizen discount, the girl today asked me to show my AARP card which I did not have on me. That almost began an issue. I am looking for another hotel to stay in. I travel to Tampa a lot. This will not be a hotel I will stay in again.

I am so upset, I don't ever want to stay in any hotel again! I stayed in Maryland with my family for a early Thanksgiving dinner this year. I reserved a room at the Howard Johnson hotel in Pikesville, Maryland. The staff was very nasty and rude. The hotel was dirty, the room had not been cleaned, towels were dirty from the prior guess.

I thought I was being pranked on by my brother, since he lives up in Maryland and is a Maryland cop. This was no prank! I didn't get a refund back and had to ask for a receipt. Please stay away from this ho and tail! It is very nasty and I would not even stay if it was offered for free!

We ended up having a wonderful time with my family, but talked about the Howard Johnson hotel quite a few times during the visit. I was so glad to get back to Westpoint, VA. I kissed my bed, it clean and clean at last. Stay away from this hotel or you will regret it!

I went to Howard Johnson at 3314 South Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33629. This is a hotel from hell. We arrived on Saturday, Oct. 8th ,2011 around 6 pm. We paid for our room. We paid for our friends' room also, next to each other. My daughter and her husband were to meet us there and they booked a room. We wanted to be close to Tampa Airport for travel next morning. They said it was newly renovated and looked nice on the outside. We got into our rooms. It looked okay. I should have never forgotten the rule of roaches! I've seen one on the fridge. I killed it. I was not happy.

I went next door. Quietly I looked around their room. I didn't see anything. So, I was thinking okay, maybe that was it. Back to our room, I snuggled into bed watching TV. It was raining very bad outside. My wife found another one on the microwave. I couldn't get that one. On my return to my bed, there were roaches all over it! The security came and saw them. They offered us another room. Like I said, where there is one, there are more! I said, "No thank you. We are out of here and our friends are with us in our car." We left. They had to leave and trust me, when they had seen our room, which was next to theirs, they packed up fast.

I called our kids and told them to cancel. They gave us a partial refund because they offered us another room. That's comforting, not really. They would not refund our friends' room that we paid for. And we had a verbal fight about them not wanting to cancel our kids' room on their credit card. Our friends were with us. We left. They had to leave, period! I would love to know who takes care of these matters. It seems like these managers are the only ones that exist when you have a complaint. If anyone has a higher number to call, let us know. This shouldn't go unattended for future guest. I don't have to worry about us and Howard Johnson ever again!

On September 14, I rented a room for a week. The person I spoke with on the phone told me the price is $299.00 and informed me they don't take bookings as it is first come first serve. So I went there to book it. The man at the desk was rude to me, by talking on the phone without even showing that he noticed me standing there for 10 minutes. He charged me the $299.00 for the room, then he charged me $250.00 deposit. I've never heard of such a large deposit. He informed me the room service was not included for the week.

While in the room, the toilet was plugged. I called the front desk and they told me I could borrow their plunger. The power went out every time I used the microwave. There were cockroaches everywhere. The room smelled like vomit and feces. No plug for the bathtub, garbage all outside my door. Upon checking out, the same man who checked me in told me there was a paw to whiskers fee of $100.00 for having my 2 small dogs staying with me. He didn't tell me about these fees when I checked in. When I complained about this fee, he told me to never return to the hotel. He told me to get out. He was the rudest person I have ever met. Awful service. I will never recommend that hotel to anyone and I feel sick thinking that I may have carried those cockroaches with me.

This was the absolute worst hotel I have ever spent the night in. The room wasn't properly cleaned. There was hair on the sink and air conditioner. The refrigerator didn't work properly. I had to call the maintenance guy to look at it. The carpet was filthy and sticky. The shower nozzles didn't properly fit the faucets. The carpet leading to the room was ratted and torn in several places. Only one elevator worked. But there was not a sign informing customers that the other elevator was out of service. The one working elevator had no air conditioning. It squeaked. And the maintenance guy generally stayed close to it just in case it got stuck. Those were his words, not mine. Howard Johnson should be ashamed to put their reputable name on a nasty, filthy dump like the one located in Hot Springs, AR.

I have been calling the Howard Johnson Hotel in Hot Springs since Tuesday to voice my concerns. Gina, the person that answered the phone on Tuesday, put me on hold forever. I finally had to hang up because I was calling from my job. Over the next two days, I tried calling. But everyone I spoke to told me that I needed to speak with Gina, who was not in the office. I finally spoke to Gina on Friday, September 9. She told me she was putting a letter in the mail, offering me a 20% discount off my next stay. I asked her if I could get a partial refund, because I was never going back to that hotel. She told me that she could not do that, and the best she could offer was the 20%. I asked her if I could speak to her supervisor. She told me that she didn't have a boss to answer to.

I rejected Gina's offer because that hotel is a dump! It's unfortunate that my first stay in Hot Springs was a disaster due to this hotel. I think someone from corporate should go check this hotel out. I am sure they would be as disappointed as I was. Please, can someone help me?

I just moved to Florida with my lil' Yorkie from MO, three months ago. I work as a waitress around the corner from HJ so I picked there until I got on my feet. About a month after staying at HJ, Luis, the manager, started letting me pay the weekly rate daily if needed which came to $32 per night; before was $50 per night or $199 per week. I told him how much that helped me because it was hard to come up with the whole week sometimes. Then, after two more months, he changes it back to the regular.

I am very quiet, keep to myself, never have anyone over. I'm just trying to get on my feet and it's so hard, especially when, for no reason, Luis decided to start charging me, a good customer who has been here for three months and never once asked for room service! I like to clean my room. I even use my own towels every day. Then he starts charging me regular price. I'm outraged! Why and how can he do this? I feel so stuck and helpless.

I made a reservation for July 6 - July 9, 2011. At that time, I had said over the phone that this card is just to hold the room and I am paying cash when I get there. I showed up with my mom and we were there to see my niece. When we arrived, we saw that is was a run-down and just about empty. The handicap room was good for my mom so we stayed. But we both wanted to leave. At this point, I wished that I followed my gut feeling.

At the time of check in, the oriental manager lady had gotten my card number wrong but that was already corrected. I had again stated that I was paying cash and I didn't want my card charged. I was presented with a receipt saying that I was paying by Visa but I insisted that I am paying through cash. I was told at 6:00 p.m., after driving all day through the 100 degrees heat, that it would be fine and that I can pay cash. It was my mistake to sign the receipt and not mark "cash" on it myself.

We checked out on a Saturday morning and I paid Nadine $249. I remember getting some change back from $250. She did give me a print out and I foolishly thought that I did not need that piece of paper. I am an honest, hardworking small business owner. I have learned through this experience not to trust folks. I have made a few formal complaints about this. But because I did not keep my receipt and did not amend the paper I signed, I have paid at a high cost to learn how to be on guard as a consumer. My card was, in fact, charged the Tuesday after we had checked out (12 July 11) when I already paid in cash.

After being on the road for 8+ hours, we stopped in Flagstaff, Arizona. We knew that the Howard Johnson hotels had a good reputation. Being 9:00 at night, there were rooms available. We decided to take one that was available - 2 queen beds for 3 people. Upon looking in room, it seemed presentable. However, the room did have a smell (which we overlooked) and only had 2 bath towels. The room needed additional towels that were given to us upon request. As we needed to get on the road early in the morning (6:00 AM) and wanted a morning shower, there was no hot water at all after having the hot water run for 10 minutes. There were 3 of us, so we each had a sponge bath.

At 7:00 AM, we promptly went to the front office. There was a basket with a note stating "leave your room key here". There was no attendant on duty. When we checked in, they told us that there was a $10 key deposit, which was returnable upon checking out and leaving the key at the front office. If we had decided to leave our key in the basket, how were we to get the $10 refund?

There was a phone which had a note to dial "0" for the operator. After 5 minutes of no answer, my husband went to the restaurant to inquire about the front desk. But the restaurant has nothing to do with the hotel. My husband knocked on the inside door of the office. The person who helped us check in the night before came out and asked what was wrong. We told her of our complaint. She didn't know where the front office attendant was, and could not believe the "boiler" for the hot water wasn't working again. I also told her that the housekeeping department needs to clean the room, as there was dust on the towel racks. And it looked like the room wasn't cleaned for several weeks. Not to mention, 2 light bulbs were not there. The TV wasn't working properly. And the underneath of the beds needed to be cleaned as I'm not sure what type of clothing was under there. The front office lady did refund $40. However, my mother-in-law is quite traumatized from this experience. I will never stay at another Howard Johnson's. And I will not recommend it to my family and friends.

This has been the worst stay I have ever had at a hotel. I am not one to complain, especially when the cost per night was cheap enough to not expect much. Upon check-in, we were informed that the elevator was not in service. We weren't offered any help with our stuff to our rooms. We had a lot as it was my wife, 9-month-old daughter and myself staying. We were however handed a $10 coupon for either of the two restaurants located within the hotel.

After climbing three flights of stairs, we were disgusted to find the hallway to our room a complete mess. The carpets looked as if homeless people had slept there for years, accompanied by a smell to match. There were garbage bags sitting outside most rooms. I will say though that once we opened the door to our room we were surprised at the cleanliness as well as the decor. It was a very nice room considering. We stayed two nights and both nights were horrible. The doors to other rooms were squeaky and slammed repeatedly all night long. The door to our room didn't close unless slammed either so I understood why it was happening but completely unacceptable. I have a 9-month-old daughter that slept very little both nights due to the noise in the hallways as well as the slamming doors. The balcony that our room boasted was something that should have been ripped from the building and replaced. It was lined with a rotten wood floor and surrounded by rusty metal bars. Our room was on the second floor so our view was nothing more than the hotels' AC units. The view wasn't much of an issue, but the ground on the rooftop was horrible. It was covered with cigarette butts and garbage.

On Sunday morning, we decided to head down to breakfast at Albert's. One of the restaurants within the hotel, which we had received a coupon for. This was by far the largest mistake we made. The food was inedible. My wife and I both felt nauseous for the rest of the day. The parking was also at the back of the hotel which forced us to either walk around the building to the front of the hotel or go in through a back door which was dirty, dark, and lined with garbage bags and again, a smell to match.

This is the worst experience my wife and I have ever had in our lives. We do not have high standards as we generally stay at a hotel that simply allows for a clean and quiet place to lay our heads for the night. We will never ever stay with this hotel again.

This is the third contact online, and I have made three phone calls, to no avail. We stayed at your hotel in Williams, three rooms for two nights on July 8 and 9, 2011. The pool advertised was milky and foamy the first night, but on the second night they were draining it. When asked, the manager said it had something to do with the city water. It was 8 pm and we had children with us. He offered to let us find another hotel. After contacting your customer service, I was called, supposedly by a supervisor. I was told I would be refunded one night's rent, as we did not get the room as advertised. This was on July 21, and I was promised a refund within two weeks. I called customer service this morning, and they have no record of this refund I was promised.

On June 26th, I made reservations for my family (daughter, son-in-law, and 4 kids) for 2 nights. They were supposedly reserved for the nights of July 24th and 25th.

When they arrived from their long and tiring trip from Baltimore, MD, they were told that there were no reservations for them for either that night or the following. Nothing was showing on their computer system. They never gave me a confirmation number when I made the reservations which I should've insisted on getting one. And I don't know the name of the person that I talked to either, BUT that shouldn't have ever happened. They were tired, hungry, and if you've ever travelled over 5 hours with 4 kids aged 6-14, you would know what I'm talking about!

First, they were told that they had no vacancies at all. And after I demanded to talk to someone, 2 rooms were found! They were told they could stay there for both nights, only to find out the next morning that they couldn't and had to get out! What kind of service do you call that?? Not only was it infuriating, it was embarrassing to me, to say the least. They were given 20% off upon checking out. What a miserable and lousy experience we all went through and I would never, ever get a room at a Howard Johnson's again. I think the least you could do is give us some kind of monetary 'reparation' for this very unfortunate and bad experience! I am also contacting the Better Business Bureau about this experience with you.

I had called Wyndham rewards to book a free night with my points at the Howard Johnson in Romulus, MI, on night of May 3rd. But morning of May 4th at about 2:30am, I was told that the system was down until 6 am so I should call the hotel directly since it wouldn't let me book online or over phone. So I went to the hotel where he booked my free night for 6000 points and charged me $20 for early check in. So come time to check out of the 5th, a general manager and front desk lady and a big bouncer type gentleman were pounding on my door. It was about 20mins after checkout so I yelled through the door I need 10 minutes and I'd be gone. The girl said okay, she would wait. Then three minutes later, the general manager was pounding on the door saying that if I don't open the door, he's opening it and coming in. So I opened and asked what's wrong. He told me I owed $50 for the room and he tried running my credit card for the amount and it was declined.

I told him what happened when I checked in and he admitted that the clerk at the front desk made a mistake and booked me for Wyndham travel something. So my points weren't applied as a free night. So the manager is blocking me and my friend in the room saying that we can't leave until the police get there so I literally had to push him out of my way to get outside the room. I felt like I was in jail! So manager and bouncer had our truck blocked in with golf cart. And as we tried to reverse and then go forward, the manager steps in front of car and then he yells that we hit him and he had witnesses to prove it!

So then the big guy starts yelling at my male friend that stayed with me and was threatening him, and tried to open his truck door. He was screaming at him to pay the bill which oddly enough went up to $60! So manager said he called Wyndham and they couldn't do a thing and he called the police. So I also called police and Wyndham, which Wyndham was able to use my points to reserve the room for today so the manager was able to get paid. I just don't understand, if the manager called Wyndham why couldn't he fix the problem? I have never been treated like that at any hotel I've been to! No more Howard Johnson for me! Thank you.

I made reservations for a room at Howard Johnson for June 24-26. My sister was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer on April 29. So I called to cancel my trip on Apr29 and was told that I cannot get a refund.

I stayed at the Howard Johnson's at 20 Frontage Rd in Newark and left with bed bug bites down my arm and back. I have seen many complaints online of this issue and wonder how this is still continuing to happen. I called the hotel numerous times with promises of a call back from a manager, which I have yet to receive. The hotel was in total denial when called. I now have called the Environmental Health Inspector in NJ and he promised me that he would Inspect the premises as soon as possible.

I made a reservation from the HOJO web site after punching in the geographical area I wanted to stay in (Drummondville Quebec Canada). The above address and contact information was displayed. It gave a local number to call for reservations I called the hotel and placed my reservation. After driving 7 hours to get to the hotel I found that there was no property under the Hojo banner. I then drove around the area trying to find the Hojo property, but to no avail. It does not exist, what I did find finally was a motel called Htel-Motel Le 4 Saisons - 1262 Sortie 191 auto route 20, I decided that I would stay at this location as it was getting late and I was exhausted from driving. While there I searched on my l laptop to try and figure out what went wrong and in doing so found that the local phone number I called originally for my reservation which I got from the Hojo website and the phone number of the Htel-Motel Le 4 Saisons - 1262 Sortie 191 auto route 20, Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Conseil, QC was the same.

My concern and dismay is this, is this motel trying to pass itself of as a legitimate Hojo location and the Howard Johnson chain aware of it. It was very run down and dirty, it gave off a rent by the hour place of business complete with free ** on the TV. I am not a prude but if a family were forced to spend the night there I suspect they would be outraged.

Because of this SNAFU I decided I should call the next Hojo location I had booked for the next part of my journey. This location was in Woodstock, New Brunswick Canada and I called your toll free number to check on my reservation and to see if it truly existed. I had my conformation number in hand and was told there was no reservation in the system. I then called the location directly and after some investigation on their part they found my reservation .We arrived in Woodstock spent the night and the next day went on our way.

To say the Hojo experience was less than stellar would be an understatement indeed. For our trip home we did not book any Wyndham properties in fear of experiencing another debacle. I do not want to paint all of your properties with the same brush but as in all service industries one bad experience can undo all the good

As a follow up to my concerns I did receive a very timely response the next day. The individual I spoke with was very indifferent to my plight instead choosing to play the blame game with the individual locations. I guess the pass the buck business ideology is alive and well within the Howard Johnson corporate walls.

We checked into our room at noon. I understand that it was cold outside (30 degrees) and the parking lot was covered with ice. We turned on our heat before going sightseeing (it's an air conditioner/heating unit). When we returned at 5:30PM, we had to wear our jackets because it was so cold inside. If you sit on the side of the bed, the bed flips on top of you. Room #119 is not a very nice place.

There was a water leak in the room. I was stuck in the NE snowstorm that's why many people like me tried to contact our relatives. I could not get the phone card to work and the Wi-Fi was working 1/3 of the time (then ceased working all together towards the end of my stay). The computer at the business center quit working after the first two days so I couldn't contact the outside world at their hotel. On top of that, the staff failed to communicate the status of my reservation.

I had a reservation for one night and I was quoted a price for the extension for my stay. I was told to come back to check on that reservation and no one explained to me why. So, the second day, I spent the whole morning going back to the front desk to check on my reservation and they kept telling me to come back within 15-30 minutes.

Eventually, the last staff I spoke with that morning gave me a totally different price (which was twice the quote given), and after I pointed out that the quote was different, he kept saying that the computer was down and I had to come back. At that point, I got frustrated because that was what I was told all morning. That person eventually took care of my stay but he kept wanting to prove how right he was and how I simply did not understand.

I also noticed that other walk-ins during the snowstorm had to pay $149 and even $199.99 for their stay. That was way more than the service was worth. The restaurant staff handled service very poorly. The guy staffing the cashier took 60-90 minutes to take orders the day the airport was closed. The cooking actually did not take long. It was the cashier/waiter who was slow. Instead of trying to do everything at once, he simply could give everyone a sheet of paper and have everyone write down their orders and hand that to the kitchen. It was simply a bad system on their end. On a different note, the staff for the graveyard shift seemed quite friendly.

They have horrible customer service. I made a reservation through booking.com. The reservation guy Bruce was in a bad mood, and started taking his frustrations out at the customers checking in the hotel. I had to wait several hours, and the customer service is so bad. No one was helpful. I made the mistake of checking in on Sunday, so I was told I couldn't speak to the manager. As he was only available Monday- Saturday. I have never had such a bad experience anywhere. I highly recommend you take any hotel, in place of this one. Check in was at 3. I arrived at 3, and checked in after several hours, and passed out. The flight getting there was shorter.

I had a problem with the Howard Johnson - Detroit Metro Airport and the shuttle bus service they use for their Lodge, Park & Fly package. The shuttle bus company, Hotel Connection, Inc., made off with a piece of my luggage and both it and the motel were unresponsive to my complaints, made by phone and certified mail. So I complained to the parent company, Howard Johnson International, Inc.

A Ms. Tara ** in Customer Care merely referred me back to the unresponsive local motel because "Each Howard Johnson facility is independently owned and operated by licensees." So travelers beware: HoJo's doesn't stand behind their product despite the fancy sign out front. Their brand name seemingly means nothing to them. And as for any Detroit Metro Airport motel that uses the Hotel Connection shuttle service, my advice is to stay somewhere else and use a cab instead.

I have filed a complaint with the (BBB of Metropolitan New York, New York, NY), xx *** *** ***, New York, NY 10016 Phone: *** *** ****, Fax: *** *** ****, Email: ***@***.bbb.org, web: www.***.***.org. The fact that a poor quantity hotel is able to offer enticing rates on the internet, to unsuspecting tourist is unacceptable, and has nothing to do with the fact of a low rate. Any reputable business would gladly offer a refund, as no services or product have been provided. From what I hear over the telephone of the hotel manger on duties, when your operator called the hotel, shows that the reviews live up to what has been documented concerning their carcass attitude. My next complaint will be filed today with the New York Attorney Generals, Consumer Affairs Division, as this form of business is no more than theft and an internet sham. I also have notified Discover concerning this matter.

New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center

On November 30, 2010, I made hotel reservations for a stay from 12-7-10 until 12-11-10, at the Howard Johnson Hotel Brooklyn. I called Hotel.com back within five minutes of making the reservation to cancel them based on numerous negative reviews concerning this hotel. The Hotel.com representative advised me there was nothing they could do for me. I contacted my Discover credit card company and was told that no action could be taken for 15 days.

I called the Hotel.com representative back and advised him to read the negative reviews concerning the Howard Johnson Hotel Brooklyn. The representative advised me that he read the reviews and would note the matter in his computer and have this hotel removed from their website. The representative made three telephone calls to the Howard Johnson, with me still on the line. Someone answered the telephone on the first call and acted as if they could not hear the representative, so he hung up.

Again, the subject answering the telephone acted as if there was a bad connection. The representative called back a third time and asked to speak with the manager on duty. He asked about cancelling a reservation which was made with in the last five minutes. When the manager on duty hollered that he was not going to cancel the reservation for anyone and hung up.

I realize that I should have read the reviews prior to making the reservation but a reputable business would agree to a full credit but this is not the case. The fact that a poor quality hotel can entice unsuspecting tourist via an internet with low room rates and refuse a refund or credit within minutes of making a reservation is no more than theft and a scam. As they would be out nothing, no service or product was provided. Any reputable business would gladly credit or refund in such a matter.

The idea that this room rate was so exceptional is a lame excuse, for not refunding my charge. I have since made a reservation with a Comfort Inn & Suites in Maspet, NY and will fight this charge, until I get a full credit on my Discover card. The reservation number with Hotels.com is 15787391034 and 53077388, with Howard Johnson Hotel Brooklyn. My next complaint will be with the Howard Johnson Headquarters Office concerning this matter. Thanks for your time and I await your reply.

A horrible experience. No one in their staff was nice at all. Our sheets were not changed ever! I know this because my daughter had an accident on her bed and the sheets were still dirty. We could not get a light to go above the sink and mirror. We had no iron. The trash wasn't changed either. The pool was shut down for a couple days by the health department.

I have just returned to the UK after a well earned break in Miami. Having searched the internet, I decided on the Hojo at Hialeah. On arrival after a long flight, I joined the short line at the front desk. Behind the desk was a girl (Liz) who had a face that looked like thunder. She took ages, worked slowly, and any questions were met with one syllable responses and with no eye contact. She was clearly not interested in her job, let alone showed any customer service skills. So, there was no feeling of "welcome"!

I was eventually given a room card key for room 213. Tired and weary, I made my way to the room which had a sign "Meeting Room" on the door. On entry I can only say that I was totally shocked. The room was awful with make-shift 'bed' which had some kind of construction contraption on the concrete floor behind the bed. This defies description but I took some pictures. There was no guest information regarding facilities, amenities, etc. There were no night stands. There were 2 small horrible lumpy pillows.

Being late and tired, I stayed in the room, but next morning I asked for a room change. I was made to feel like I was a nuisance. I was offered another room but this amazingly was the same. I was finally offered a third, room 301 which I accepted. There is a serious lack of customer service skills in all areas apart from two staffers in the restaurant. However, the food served was cold and not very presentable. Whilst I accept there is a huge Spanish speaking population in the area, I feel that hotel staff should at least have a working command of English language. It was very difficult to communicate with so many non-English speaking staffers. The shuttles were useful, but due to lack of English it was difficult to ask questions.

On my departure for the airport, the driver just couldn't understand that I needed a drop off at Virgin Atlantic. He had to stop several times at the airport to ask directions and circled the area a few times before I was able to get to the right terminal. The room's safes were not working. On the last night, I placed a room delivery order request for breakfast on the door handle to the room for the following morning. The form was collected, but the next morning nothing arrived. After waiting way beyond the time, I rang room service only to be told that the request never reached the kitchen. I work for a major airline so I make notes on hotels I use, as passengers always ask for hotel recommendations. And I'm afraid this one will not be on my list. As well as the other problems, the most essential ingredient for a successful stay was totally nonexistent, i.e., no customer service skills whatsoever.

The room had roaches, bathroom was not clean (toilet had mildew stains and towels were dingy and stained), shower temperature regulator/gauge was broken so water was either scalding or freezing. I complained to front desk at checkout. The manager was not on duty and the clerk said she knew about the roaches, they always have that problem and people always complain but there's nothing they can do. She was not authorized to offer anything to compensate for the terrible stay. She said she would advise the manager and they would contact me, but no one has contacted me in 2 weeks. I tried to reach the manager, but they were not on duty at the time I called. Still, no follow-up from the hotel. I am extremely disappointed and feel like I am entitled to a refund. I am praying that none of my luggage had any bugs in it when I checked out.

We made our reservation over the phone on Saturday, August 14. We were told and complied with the fact we could not cancel our reservation for the 2 days we would be there - Saturday night and Sunday morning. This was the worse $80 I have spent on a hotel room! First of all, there was no available electrical plug by the bed without unplugging the light, clock or coffee pot. My husband has a C-pap machine to help with his breathing at night, so we unplugged the coffee pot and clock as there were only 2 outlets.

The clock was firmly attached to the desk so we couldn't move it to another area of the room. We had to crawl under the desk to reach the electrical plug. We then found the electrical plug by the microwave was not attached firmly and if you pulled the plug, the electrical box came part way out of the wall. The cover over the fan in the restroom was not attached to the wall firmly and hung out from the wall. The bed was so flimsy if you sat on the edge of it, it had no firmness at all.

We had to ask the front desk how to use the TV as there were 2 controls and we had no instructions in the room to help us understand how to use them. Needless to say, there were other things we were disappointed in with this being a Howard Johnson so we have learned our lesson. We will not use Howard Johnson again without inspecting the room before we pay for it. Besides, there are plenty of other chains we have stayed with and not had these problems. I hope there is something that can be done to make this room #120 safer for other. I have photos to prove what I have described if you are interested in receiving them.

The company for which I work sent five of us from our area office to help attend to the oil spill in Marshall, MI. After a couple of nights of confusion and switching hotels, our safety supervisor and I ended up at the Howard Johnson in Battle Creek. There are very few amenities as with more modern facilities but the rooms are clean. The following day, after returning from an 18 hour shift, I realized that I had not been provided clean towels. I had one bath towel and one wash cloth though all of the dirty linen had been removed. I informed the front desk. The following day, I had my full set of bath linens, but there was trash left in my room as well as a bottle of toilet bowl cleaner. I, again, informed the front desk. The day following that everything was in order.

Now we come to the following day which is Thursday. Again one bath towel, one wash cloth, and a bottle of Mister Clean. The lady at the front desk was apologetic and brought me some clean towels when she came to my room to retrieve the Mister Clean. Feeling that I am expecting no more than what I am due, I asked her to have the General Manager call me on Friday. She failed to do so. Today is now Saturday and I had to call the hotel to speak to one of the rudest people I have ever encountered in the public service industry. As I am trying to explain the situation to her, she rudely interrupted me and asked me what I expected of them and if I wanted to change hotels. Then she hung up on me! I immediately called her back and asked her if this is the way she treats all of her customers.

She then tried to justify her attitude by accusing me of using profanity to her front desk staff. I told her that her front desk staff have all been very kind and helpful and that I no more used profanity on them than I did on her. She apologized for falsely accusing me. I told her that all I am asking for is what I am due. No more.No less. She agreed that her housekeeping staff has failed to provide adequate service. She again apologized and assured me that the situation would be rectified.

I paid for a room. A few days later, I saw an additional $150 charge on my bank account. I called the hotel and corporate, they were very uncooperative and initially denied charge. I had to prove with a bank statement. Then they claimed that there was damage to the sink in the room. They fraudulently used the card and refuses to prove the damage. Refuses to send pictures, insurance claims, etc. I am sure they are doing this to other out-of-towners. I feel that the hotel stole $150.00 through my credit card. The bank did take off of the account pending investigation, however, since there does not seem to be any policy body, the hotel could be doing this to others. I would require going to small claim court and that costs more than the $150.00.

My daughter and I stayed at Howard Johnson's in Nashville, TN on the 15th and 16th of July 2010. We were there for American Idol auditions. I made reservations through Priceline. I called the hotel to reserve refrigerator and microwave. I was told they would be in our room when we arrived. They were not. We did not receive them at all. I brought with me lots of food and drinks, which I had to buy ice for my cooler and it did not all fit in my cooler. I had to spend extra money I did not really have for ice and food. Some of our food that did not fit went bad. There was no attempt to fix this problem with management. I don't feel like I ever want to stay at another Howard Johnson's again.

Howard Johnson's took my money wrongfully. They have admitted that they took my money wrongfully, but they won't give it back and have since cost me even more money. Some people might call that theft. I call it blatant inexcusable incompetence. Here's the story, you decide.

On June 08, 2010, I booked a hotel reservation online at hojo.com for a reservation at the Howard Johnson's Hotel in Beaumont Texas on June 14th. I received an email confirmation of the reservation and also printed the online reservation confirmation at the time I made the booking. On the day of scheduled arrival, June 14, I called the Howard Johnson's hotel in Beaumont Texas a half-dozen times beginning around 2 p.m. to attempt to cancel the reservation before the 6 p.m. cancellation deadline specified on my reservation confirmation email and receipt. Their phone rang repeatedly, off the hook. Nobody ever answered at the property. I finally called Howard Johnson's national reservations to cancel around 5 p.m. I received a valid cancellation number at that time as well as had an immediate email confirmation of the cancellation sent to my email address for my records.

On June 18th, four days after the cancelled reservation, my credit card was charged a cancellation fee by the Howard Johnson's Hotel in Beaumont Texas. I called the hotel immediately that morning, but was informed by the hotel they needed to wait for the general manager to arrive and he would call us. I called the hotel back repeatedly until approximately 2 p.m., at which time I finally reached the general manager. The general manager proceeded to yell at me, talking over my attempts at communicating, yelling that it was the reservation center's fault, that we needed to call that number, that he did not charge us the cancellation charge, that he could not refund us the cancellation charge, that he had been a GM "for 31 years" and that I did not understand how his business worked.

So, I called Howard Johnson's national reservation service. This was still on June 18. I was told that their computer reservation system showed both my reservation and by valid cancellation number, but that a refund of my money would take 3 business days to "research" before refund could be processed. I requested and finally spoke to a "Supervisor", who had zero supervisory authority to do anything other than apologize and reiterate that it would take 3 days to "research". ("Supervisor's" name was Jennifer, who also transferred us to voice mailbox of her "Supervisor" to leave a message to call us back - a Mrs. **, maybe first name was Charlotte). I never did receive that call back.

Because of this unforeseen and unauthorized charge to my bank account, my account was overdrawn and I experienced $90 in overdraft fees - all for an $80 room reservation that I cancelled properly and even received a valid cancellation notice for.

At no point has anyone from Howard Johnson's ever called me. They sent me an electronic "please tell us about your stay" guest questionnaire, in which I documented everything I've documented here. Still, I haven't heard a thing. All I've experienced is finger-pointing and no willingness to accept accountability or authority to try and be of genuine service.

As of today, June 24th, we have still not received the refund, although we have been told repeatedly we would. A call placed to Howard Johnson's about 30 minutes ago was met by yet another very rude person, who informed us that "their internal processing procedures" mean that it will be another 4 business days before we receive the refund - even though there is no question that it is due to us.

Somehow I have the feeling 4 business days will come and go and we still will have no refund, but if they do what they say -- for a change - our refund should be received on June 30th - fully twelve days after they took our money from us, costing us $90 in additional overdraft charges.

In the meantime, I'm sharing this experience everywhere I possibly can.

This man was the most hateful and disrespectful person that I have ever met. I will never again because of this experience use a Howard Johnson. I don't believe that you are so hard up that need to sell franchises to people like this. The service was bad to say the least. The proprietor was hateful to not just myself but everyone that he came in contact with as I have previously stated. I will never again use a Howard Johnson in my travels. He charged us for a week that we did not stay there.

I check in at Howard Johnson Hotel on May 28, 2010 at 4:30 pm.The room that was given to me was room 147. When I opened the door, the room had been used, not clean, so I went back to the front deck to get another room, 107. I entered that room. There were bad carpet stains, mold in the corner by the door. The furniture was dirty with dust. There were insects in the tub. There were bed bugs.There was no refund if I had wanted to leave. Howard Johnson is one hotel I will never use again.

I was ripped off $90.68 by hotel. Corporate office customer service said that I'd have to deal with the individual hotel, since I booked directly through Rome Ga hotel.

I booked a room at Martha Berry Blvd Rome Ga. for the Annual Johnsons Bulldog Show. I cancelled by phone with the hotel in Rome directly on 4-22-2010 via telephone. I was reassured by a female clerk that funds would stop on my debit card, not charged due to I could not get away from my workplace to attend the show.

On 4/30/2010, $90.68 was taken from my account. I called and got a male foreign clerk and got the runaround about who I talked to, cancellation number, etc. and would not refund my account $90.68 they took from my account. I wish to have a pleasurable experience here and hope Howard Johnson feels the right thing to do is replace the money into my bank for future business with my family.

We plan to attend events in your area on a yearly basis and would like to do business with your organization, but we also feel this transaction should have been stopped as we were reassured it would be. My bank account should not be at the expense of your desk clerk who did not do their job in stopping payment on a cancelled room. My booking confirmation was all that was ever given to me as a reference, and we did not receive a cancellation number or were even aware any such number existed. Do the right thing, because we can find other hotels for the Bulldog show which will gladly have out-of-state visitors and treat them fairly..Thank You, rich foreman.

I checked into our room in the evening and went out to dinner. I got back about midnight and unloaded all of our things into the room. I went to pull the cover back on the bed and the sheets were dirty with yellow stains all over them. The mattress covers were ripped and hanging down, and the room was filthy. I made a complaint to the front desk and they didn't care so I made a complaint to Howard Johnson customer service. They said that they would investigate.

I got a call from the Beaufort owner/manager and he stated that he personally inspected the room and "big deal, there was a little stain on the sheets." He then proceeded to chew me out for contacting Howard Johnson customer service. That since I had stayed, he wasn't refunding me a dime. I called Howard Johnson customer service back and told them how bad I was treated by him and chewed out for making a complaint. They said that they would look into it. I told them not to have the same manager call me back and, of course, a few days later, he did. He again told me he wasn't giving me a dime back and ended up hanging up on me. I called Howard Johnson customer service back again and told them what happened.

A few days later, an account manager called me and told me that the hotel had refunded my credit card. I said that I had paid cash and the lady was very rude and said, "Well, they faxed me your refund sheet showing your credit card was refunded." When I told her that I never gave them a credit card, she said that it was their policy to get one and mine had been refunded--very rudely. After I hung up, I realized that I did not even have a credit card! I was so flustered because of the way I was treated that I had forgotten! I called back and told another Howard Johnson customer service rep what happened and she did some checking and came back on the line and was outrageously rude and said, "I don't know what you want me to do. You've already talked to two managers and you've already received a refund."

When I explained everything again, she said that she would have another manager look into it. I got a call from the Beaufort Howard Johnson a few days later from the same manager that had chewed me out--saying that he would give me 25% back and I told him no, that after the way I was treated, I wanted 50% back. He chuckled and said, "Whatever."

I just received a call from a Howard Johnson customer service account manager saying that the Beaufort manager told him that they had offered me a new room and that I had refused, so they weren't getting involved. I told him that the Beaufort manager had lied and he said that they were getting conflicting information, was cold as ice, and said that I should have just accepted the 25% that I was offered.

My wife and I had a problem at this hotel when staying on December 11,12,13 of 2009. On Dec.12, when coming back to our room after being out all day, we noticed the curtains all opened and all the lights on and our luggage in plain view, the room was not cleaned. The only thing the housekeeping staff did was throw a blanket on the bed, nothing was cleaned not even the trash was emptied, we had no towels.

We talked to the hotel desk, and were told how sorry they were, they told us that the house cleaners don't speak English and it's hard to communicate with them, and I said that's why you have a manager, it's his job to make sure the rooms get cleaned, and were told the manager would be told. We traveled back home and we then received a letter from the hotel manager, saying he was sorry and to give them another chance, next time we visit New Jersey. Well, we were going back down in January, so we called this Howard Johnson hotel and book room 119 for January 28. 29, 30, 31,and Feb.1st, our daughter was having surgery. We traveled the 270 mile ride, upon getting to the hotel we talked with this manager, Mr. Roger ** and I told him I received his letter, and that we would give the hotel another chance, and to make sure the room is cleaned.

Mr. **, looked at the letter, and then with a smile told us he was going to decline our stay. I looked at him and said, "Excuse me? You mean we can't stay here?" He said, "No, you can't stay because I cant guarantee you a clean room. We were appalled at this man callous way of handling this issue. First, we had traveled 270 miles knowing we had reservations at this hotel. I am a diabetic and needed to rest and eat and take my medications, we have been on the road for 5 hours traveling, and this man just smiled and said no, we had to get back into our vehicle and travel around trying to find another hotel.

I can't believe that this hotel manager can legally do this to paying customers, we have done nothing wrong. I was absolutely outraged, does he have the right to do this? And for the reason he gave? because we wanted a clean room, we were giving this man the benefit of doubt, by believing he would make our stay right next time, but to lead us into believing that we had the reservations, and then to tell us this when we got there was just wrong. We are both in our 60's, we have family in New Jersey, and it was very important that we had a place to stay, our daughter was having surgery at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital the next morning. This hotel took our credit card information and booked us, we had to find another place which was not easy. We made the reservations in advance before we got there.

COME TO FLORIDA AND ROB TOURISTS

CALLING ALL THIEVES, PICKPOCKETS, AND DRUG DEALERS

You do not even have to check in with Sanjay Patel at Howard Johnson Enchanted Island Resort in Kissimmee . You can just hang around the parking lot to take care of business. Because of Sanjay's mishandling and lack of attention, I was robbed. He even breaks laws, but why should I be angry? No one in Florida cares who gets robbed, certainly not Sanjay, nor Howard Johnson Corp, nor Osceola County Manager Michael J. Freilinger, nor Florida's Attorney General Bill McCollum. As long as they get their salaries, why answer phone calls, why answer letters, why do ANYTHING? It certainly does not affect them.

So boys and girls, if stealing is on your mind, come to Kissimmee as soon as possible and take whatever you want. Who says Christmas comes just once a year? At Howard Johnson Enchanted Island Resort in Kissimmee , it is everyday.

The only good thing out of this is that Orbitz gave me a $200 voucher just because I booked this flea bag hotel on their website. At least they do care! Thank you, Orbitz.

I decided to go to Arlington to see the Dallas Cowboys, so I traveled 1500 kilometers driving, it took me 17 hrs to get there. Days before I made the reservation in the Hojos hotel. I made my reservation in the internets page that the Hojos has for it. When I made the reservation, I put the dates, and then the page asked for my credit card number, so I put it, but at the moment of the confirmation of my reservation, the page didn't displays any information, something happended with the internet page, cause it changed to an other page that said...The page has expired, check your internet connection.

So I did it again, and the same thing happened again. After that I sent them a mail again and they said the same words. I did the whole procedure again, and finally my reservation number appeared. The next day I received 4 confirmation e-mails, with different confirmation numbers, it looked like I needed 4 rooms.

So I sent them a mail explained my situation and my wish to keep one of the reservation, not 4. They sent me a mail telling me that the reservation request was made positively, and regarding the others reservations, will checked, informing me about it, in a term of 7 days. The days passed and they didn't contacted me. So I called them to talked about my problem. They said there was any problem.

As I mencioned, I traveled to Arlington to see the Dallas Cowboys, so i was in the Hojos hotel one hour before the game. And when I asked for my room, they said that I have to pay for 4 rooms. I explained to them for may situation, the manager was screaming, and was very angry, I told him that it was not my mistake so I showed him the mails they sent me, and he said that they will pay me for the three rooms, but he says...It is necessary to sign the bill of your credit card for the amount of 640 dollars. And he said...If they don't pay you I'll do it. So I trusted in him. What could I do at that moment? The game was starting. So I decided to sign.

The next day after several calls, some supervisor of the Hojos said they will not give a refound. I think this is an abuse, they cannot treat the clients like this. I paid 640 dollas for something that I didn't use. I spent the whole day waiting for a call. I didn't enjoy the game, thinking about it.

We checked into the Howard Johnson in Branson, Mo on 8/9/09 and checked out on 8/11/09. After staying there the first night, the following morning my son had the sheet on his bed get caught on his suitcase and when he pulled it, the sheet came off the bed revealing a huge urine stain on the mattress. This meant that the mattress pad and possibly sheets had not been changed from the previous guests before we checked in. I contacted the fron desk immediately around 9:45am and was assured that somebody would either remove the stain or the mattress would be replaced.

We left the hotel and returned around 4:30pm that afternoon and the room and mattress had not been cleaned. I contacted the front desk again and they seemed bothered that I had called twice and was assured that housekeeping was still working and they guaranteed that the room would be cleaned.

We went out and saw a couple of shows and got back to the room just a few minutes before 11:00pm and found that the room nor mattress had been cleaned. I contacted the front desk for the third time and explained that the room had not been cleaned and the mattress was still stained. She told me that on the check list for housekeeping, it was checked that the room had been cleaned, at which point I asked her to come see it for herself which she denied. She proceeded to tell me that there was nothing that could be done since housekeeping had already left for the day, only after I got extemely persistent did she agree to bring me clean sheets and towels for the room. She got to our room around 45 minutes later and dropped the sheets and towels off but had to get back to the front desk. We had to flip the mattress ourself and make the bed and pile all of the used towels and dirty sheets and blankets ourself.

The next morning when I asked the Asst. Manager M. Wingard for a card for J. Wilson whom I was told is the owner of this Howard Johnson due to a complaint of bad service we had received, she gave me his card and said J. would be the one to talk to and she then proceeded to walk away without even attempting to hear what I had to say.

I did contact J. Wilson at the number on the card and M. Johnson answered the phone. I asked her to have J. call me back and explained to her why and even after explaining the problems we had, she did not offer any empathy whatsoever. I have not heard back from J. Wilson, even though I explained to Manya that I would be filing a BBB complaint.

This is the 2 nd time I've stayed at a Howard Johnsons and they are invested withy bed bugs different locations 1st incident ..I have video and pics to prove it this time ..The 1st time i thought it was just one incident I didn't make a make a big deal of it but did send a complaint ..this time I saw it and was tramatized ..didn't sleep there all night in total shock That I took pics /video of it with my camera phone ...My fiance was bitten in the face body and head by bedsbugs in rm 217 at this facility..they were in the sheets and bed he(my fiance) has bite marks all over him..

the hotel mgr wasnt on duty at the time he jumped up feeling the bite marks after inspecting the bed throughly we found a nest of bed bugs in the crease of the pillows and bed... we called man on duty at front desk and he switched us to a rm that was worst and said we have to wait until morning for a refund no mgr on duty at the time morning comes he refunded our money but was very nasty and saw video and pics we even have one of the bugs ina container that we caught to prove it..

please contact me asap as we plan on persuing this further with a attorney..i am attaching the video and we still have the large bug we caught in a small box to priove it please watch the video ...I never recieved a response from the 1st complaint I made months earlier about bed bugs at HOJO in Parsippany nj

Below is a copy of the letter that HJ required that I email to HJ regarding poor service:

8. Finally, when I did finally contact Customer Service, I was told that they would contact the hotel management and they would have them contact me within seven (7) days. However, I was never contacted and had to contact Customer Service by telephone eleven (11) days later."

This email is sent at the instruction of the Howard Johnson's Customer Service Department when I called. I was told that the Corporate Customer Service would contact me within 24 hours. Their Corporate Customer Service never called me. I did call them 4 days later. I was told that I would receive a 50% refund. A week later, I had not received the refund on my credit card.

I called Corporate Customer Service and was told that they would send a check; they could not credit my account. But, as of today, 2 weeks since I sent the requested email, they had not sent the check. Furthermore, I was told that they would send the check within the next three weeks from today. Not only was the hotel poorly managed, their corporation is obviously poorly managed as well. I run a small business and if there is a problem which requires a refund to a customer, I do it immediately, not three weeks later.

We scheduled a family reunion there for June 26 & 27. We were told that the hotel had just recently undergone renovations. The lobby, front desk, front restrooms, the lounge (bar) and the atrium all looked nice. The rooms we rented however were another story. Over crowded with old beat-up furniture, the drapes were old, dirty and barely hanging on the rod; four and five hooks were missing or not hanging on the rod, which let a lot of light in, both in the day time and at night time. There were ants, and terrible odors. The ceiling tiles were loose and some cracked and did not fit properly.

The problems in above paragraph were not just in my room but at least 8 rooms used by other members of our family there for the reunion. My cousin had to try 3 rooms before she found one that she would agree to stay in. I am not sure if we had ten rooms reserved or just the eight I mentioned. When the plans were made with the hotel, we were told that we could not have our meals catered in, that we would have to let the hotel prepare our meals. They gave us prices for sandwiches and finger foods for Friday's supper, for lunch Saturday that would include a meat entree, two vegetables, a salad, dessert, rolls and tea and we were offered the Continental breakfast (free) or a breakfast buffet for $6.00.

We certainly did not mind the hotel preparing our meals and all were looking forward to the breakfast buffet. When it was time for supper, Friday evening, they brought in a deli meat tray, fruit tray, and cheese tray and no bread, my cousin had to go buy bread and condiments and we had to ask 2 times for tea. None of the food trays were prepared by hotel staff but purchased and brought in to us. Instead of the $6.00 or $7.00 a person quoted to us, they charged $11.00 even the children had to pay $8.00. When we questioned them, they said it was because we had ordered for a certain amount and that is what we received and the fact that we had to divide the cost among less people that made the cost higher for us. Well, we would and did understand that, but the amount of food they brought in would have not fed but one or two more people, certainly not the number we had planned for. There was no breakfast buffet available for the guests, we either had to eat the Continental breakfast or find a restaurant. Now for Saturday's meal, one entree: (grilled chicken, very good) two vegetables: (canned green beans, okay, mashed potatoes, so thin that they poured them from a pitcher, really they did) salad: (none was available) rolls: (the roll itself was good, but it was served cold) dessert: (none available).

We were upset that they had the facilities to prepare our food on Saturday because they could not offer the breakfast buffet. The most upsetting thing of the whole stay for us, occurred Saturday night. The hotel had booked an anniversary party for Saturday night and had posted a sign on the front desk, it was behind another sign, however, if you had to wait long enough to get checked in and I did, you might have seen it. I saw the sign, finally after waiting at least 20 minutes to get checked in. The sign said "There has been an event scheduled for Saturday night in the atrium and there will be loud music and may disturb some guests, but there is absolutely nothing we can do about it"

I thought that was strange, but did not think too much about it since I did not realize that all the rooms outlined the atrium on three sides and would be very near the party. We had to go through the atrium to get to our rooms. Well, when my other family members saw the staff decorating the atrium, Saturday, they were surprised when I told them about the party, we were discussing it at our noon meal Saturday, and all thought we certainly should have been advised about the party before we checked in. They had not seen the sign and had not been told when they checked in. I told them that a sign was on the counter when I checked in Friday, just not where you might have seen it easily. Absolutely no one else had seen the sign. I took them out to see the sign and it had been moved to front and center on the check in counter. Also, I did not remember seeing a portion that was on the Saturday sign, being on the sign I saw Friday afternoon. It said on the Sat. sign that there absolutely would not be any refunds for Saturday night's reservations. Well, let me tell you, this made some of our group pretty angry, because they had not seen the sign.

My sister and her husband said it positively was not there on Thursday when they checked in. They were the only ones that made reservations for Thursday night, and we think the hotel staff did not put the sign up until Friday. We asked the lady on duty what time the party would start and be over and we were told it would start between 7:30pm and 8:00pm and would be over around 10:00pm. Some of us thought that wouldn't be too bad, we would just stay in our meeting room and play games until it was over. We kept waiting for the music and party in the atrium to start, well it finally started after 8:30, we were told that it would still break up around 10:30 or 11:00. Around 10:45 a couple of people in our group went out to see if they were starting to close down the party and they were told that the party would break up at midnight. All of us were upset about that, we had some in our family that are in their seventies and eighties and had already gone to their rooms and they were unable to sleep. I think this was very rude and unthinking to not tell us verbally when we checked in that this event was scheduled and give us the chance to stay or make other arrangements for Saturday.

When we checked in we were told we had to pay in advance, we have never paid in advance at any hotel we have ever stayed in unless it was our idea. We have always paid when we check out. Of course now we understood why they wanted us to pay in advance, they knew that there would be many of us wanting to make other arrangements for Saturday night. My sister and her husband said they were not staying and I told them that the sign says no refunds. He told the desk person that the sign was not up when he checked in and that he wanted his money back because he was leaving. They told him they could not refund his money, but they would check with management and if they could they would mail him a check. Needless to say, none of our party will ever stay there again.

As we played games waiting for the party to break up in the atrium, much to our surprise the noise and music from the lounge (bar) was so loud it was annoying. We thought that we would never get to go to bed. To add insult to injury, I was going over my receipt for my room and guess what was at the very bottom of the receipt? This is what it said ---"The Atrium area is closed for public gatherings between the hours of 10:00pm and 8:00am. Please keep noise to a minimum during these hours!" So they violated their own policy. It could have been a much nicer stay and the staff could have been more accommodating.

I had made a reservation to stay at Howard Johnson Hotel Newark from the 29th of April to the 5th of May 2009. However, I cancelled the reservation 3 weeks before my travel date. I had received confirmation reply for the cancellation of my stay from Howard Johnson and they still deducted USD 258.98 from me. I had been sending several e-mails to them, and they replied to me, feeling apologetic and sorry; but nothing has been made to refund me.

It has been almost 2 months now. Despite my reminders to them, they are not taking any action. This is unfair to me, as the money was deducted, even before I traveled and they could not refund me till today. This is annoying me. I sincerely hope the relevant authorities can look into the matter and help me to get my refund. I appreciate your help and many thanks.

I booked 2 nights at this hotel because of a work related training. Nonsmoking/King bed. Very apparent this room was used for smoking or nonsmoking either, as there were ashes in the drawers, and the room smelled of smoke. Lots of mold on the bathroom walls.

Reported this to the front desk, who said they would pass it on to housekeeping. I paid with a company check when I arrived at check in, or I would have never stayed a second night.

My family and I were driving 800 miles to New Jersey and decied to stop to rest. At 0154am we checked in at the front desk of Howard Johnson hotel. I had trouble sleeping because the pillows and blankets smelled as if they were not changed. At 0300am, I went to the bathroom to my surprise to find a cockroach crawling on the bathroom floor. I placed a garbage can on top of it to secure it. I got dresses and went to speak to the front desk manager to tell him I was leaving and would like my money back.

We checked out at 0320am and the gentlemen told me he could not refund my money. Nevertheless, we were so awakened that we decided to get back on the road and follow up with the General Manager. It was the worst ride home ever, we were all sleep deprived and delirious on the ride back.

The following week I called and spoke to the front desk and left 2 messages for Vick Shah (GM) and never recieved and calls back. One time I called the female whom answered the phone told me I stayed for an hour and a half and that he probably would not refund my money. Another time a pleasant female answered and promised me personally that she would ensure he calls me back, still no return call.

I spent $50.00 on the room for an hour and half. From 0154am to 0320am.

I went to the front desk to ask for a refund and showed the woman what i found so i could go to another hotel during my stay in Nashville and the woman at the front desk began arguing with me telling me that the penis pump box was obviously mine and that i was just trying to get my money back. After checking out a night early and finding another hotel without a refund from Howard Johnson i called back every day for a week in order to talk to management and every day they told me to call back because the manager was not there. DO NOT STAY AT HOWARD JOHNSON! If you do and something goes wrong you will just be given the run around.

the week of jan.12. My girlfriend went to howard johnson to apply for a job the lady at the front desk said they are not hiring, so she went to surrounding hotels all said howard johnson is hiring so she call back there and talk to a lady and ask if they were doing any hiring she said yes and to come in so she did when she got there it was the same lady that told her they wasnt she then gave her an application an which she completed. This is discimination plan and simple, I want to make sure this does not happen again because nobody should do this to someone who simply looking for a job to earn an honest pay.

We checked in to our room near Disneyland in mid Dec.08. I went to the onsite store to get some pop and when I paid for the six pack the clerk (fem) said she did not take Canadian money.I was puzzled because I had given her U.S D's but I had accidently given her a Canadian PENNY !She made me break a U.S. 10 to get the penny and told me that they don't take any Canadian money and when they see it , they throw it in the trash because it's worthless,,,amongst other things! I saw the Mgr.,,,,a kid,,that said she took care of it but no appology and she didn't really do anything or talk to the clerk at all! I emailed HoJO and told them and they said the same stuff and told me the hotel had untill Dec,30 to talk to me. Now they tell me to phone the Mgr.,long distance. So,,I'll say this !!

STAY AWAY FROM HOWARD JOHNSON HOTELS

She not only didn't take my money,,she told me that all Canadians are not welcome to her store etc.

Hey,,this is a block from Disneyland,Anaheim,Ca., and international theme park! Would you be happy about this ??

A detailed time line and police report can be supplied if requested. Basically, I and an Ukrainian friend, checked into Howard Johnson, Enchantedland Resort on August 22, at 1051PM. The electronic keys given to our room, 276, did not work, so we were given keys to room 275, which did work. At 1130PM, we left to go to Denny's for dinner. Coming back at 1230AM, on August 23, my friend goes upstairs to the room, but the keys do not work. He comes back down and we tell the night clerk who discovers that no one is shown in room 275.

Also, he tells me that because the computer showed the room vacant, he had given keys to someone else who checked in while we were out. This person noticed that there was a bag in the room, and when the clerk was notified, given another room, 281. When my friend went up the second time he found his bag still there, but his laptop and carrying case missing.

He and the night clerk went to the person who had checked in earlier but he was not there. Since I am an American and live here, it was decided that I should file a police report, which I did. When the police came and I gave the facts, they went upstairs to this individual again, but because they did not have a search warrant, could not enter.

Besides, it was now after 3AM and he had a wife and 2 children sleeping. In discussion with the night clerk, it was determined that when our rooms were switched, nothing was changed in the computer system indicating that room 275 was now occuppied. Secondly, our check-in file was not in the current room list, but had been found in the accordion file for those who had checked out and left the hotel. A complete comedy of errors.

The following morning I contacted the owner who said he was not liable because there was an inroom safe. I told him that he was indeed liable because this was not an ordinary breakin (door or window smashed/forced entry), but a lack of he and his wife to follow their own procedures. In doing so, unauthorized access was given to our room, resulting in the theft. Since I hold the owner liable for inept handling of our room switch, which resulted in unauthorized access given to someone unknown, he should pay for the laptop and carrying case (value $615.00).

This is the worst Hotel to stay at and work at. I was working there and was fired for telling them the wrong things they were doing.The Hotel is full of mildew. they have the maintence dept. to just paint over it instead of getting the mildew out of the walls because that is where the problem is. the carpet is filthy. the beds have holes and mildew on some of them.if a guest come in and they look like they have money they tell us to charge them extra.

the owners are really cheap and was arrested for stealing cable tv for the rooms because they didn't want to pay the money for the county/city cable lines. the owner of the hotel went on the cable lines and did it themselves.the hotel gets alot of hookers there and the owners sleep with them. they also wanted me to ask one of the housekeepers to sleep with them. I asked them for her to keep my job.

I got tired of doing the wrong things for them and reusing the same dirty sheets on the beds and when I told them I was fired.they also use to let mexicans work under the table. they would pay them cash until I told them they were wrong and could go to jail.they also have people that have been staying there 2 years or more in the rooms and they don't have them in the computer. they use the money they pay for the hotel rooms to pay for their home.one of the employees that they were sleeping with has HIV and when they found out this week they fired her.

alot of guest that stay in the rooms always complain about they can't breathe in the rooms. they just put them in another room.

On November 21, 2008 I phoned the hotel to make 4 reservations for other family members due to the death of our aunt's brother. The reception was horrible. The young woman put me on hold, told me very rudely that she was the only one working because they don't hire enough people and I would just have hold the line. When I arrived in West Virgina and called the hotel to find out if they were located to the left or right of Exit 44, the same young woman was rude and nasty again. Needless to say, when I arrived, she was even more evil and nasty.

For example, the hotel did not have an elevator and I inquired only because my elderly mother who is slightly disabled was with me. Why did I inquire such a thing. The young man snapped at me do you want me to count the steps. By this time, I had all I was going to take. I had to snap at her and tell her do not speak to me like that any more. She started to cry and after making my transaction with cash, I told her she needs customer service training and I was sorry that we got off to a wrong start. The young woman did apologize.

I was given another discount for securing 4 rooms. My mother was placed on the first floor (away from me though, my husband & I were placed on the second floor, therefore, I had to go up and down the stairs to give my mother her insulin injections. I did tell the Hotel Owner. He said he would speak to the young woman and apologized somewhat for her actions. A complete or partial refund for the 4 rooms that were not great accomodations.

My mother's room had an odor. The linen on the first bed in my room had dingy linen with undesirable green spots. The second bed in my room was sunk down in the middle. At any rate, my husband and I got a good laugh about sinking in. This was my first time staying at a Howard Johnson facility. I was there because my family from Ohio was staying there for the funeral as well. Never again. I should have known better. In my travels around the country, most of the Howard Johnson facilities appear to be run down. May be I just haven't seen or now experienced a good one.

stay killeen was 15/18 sept.08 note the follwing: one bar of soap, one towel for two people, toliet seat broken, bed spread very bad shape, rude personal at front desk, room was clean only once, carpet in elevate black also smell of smoke----all of this was reported many times NOTHING was done to repair or fix any problems all of this for $70.00 per night-I would like a 65% refund of my money or better

very bad conditions results of stay at this hotel--both myself and wife came home with head colds, this without a doubt was the hotel from HELL

Where do I begin. There a 3 - 4 spot 0f dry blood on the comforter. There was what appeared to be hole punched in the bathroom door. Tub nor shower curtain was clean. The base if the bed has wood trim (appox. 2*4* bed length)along each side of the bed. The trim piece closest to the door was flush against base of bed while the trim closest to the window lay at a 45 degree angle. It could easily be tripped over. I also had a family member in room 105 on 08/02/08 and her bed trim was the same way. In addition, her mattress had holes in it. We did not complain to management, though I wanted to advise HoJo that this property was unacceptable.

Drugs being dealt out in the open and was approached as went to my room. Hookers working the parking lot. What a place to stay. The staff was no help would not refund money I had paid for the room. Was afraid to stay the night. Makes me wonder about the other Howard Johnsons

Lost my money as I had to go to another hotel

we requested smoking were given non smoking rm. returned to desk reasigned smoking. Next rm. a/c not working. called front desk was told to come to desk for relocation. we refused (tired from long trip. manager come and was going to reasign to another rm., but t.v. not working. at this point we checked out. this was the first time we have stayed at a howard johnson and after this expierence it will be the last. I will tell my friends and relatives not to stop at any of [their] motels

I booked this hotel because i was on my first vacation ever and wanted to go not too far and close enough to six flags because that was one of my primary stops along the way. however upon arrival they informed me that the jacuzzi in the smoking suite i had reserved was broken and i could be transferred to another suite but it was a non-smoking. right away that ruined my whole mood seeing that was one of the major factors why i even considered this place. Anyways I took the replacement room now for a non smoking room this place reeked of cigarette smoke. my nose burnt me for the entire time in this suite i decided to soak in the jacuzzi after filling up the tub i discovered the tub was broken the power to supply the bubbles didn't work so i decided to inspect the room before i did anything else...low and behold the bed lining was filthy i mean dirty pillowcase!

next thing the cabinets were broken the TV remote didn't work so i decided enough was enough. I went to the front desk and made my complaint but they seemed used to the routine. Anyways seeing that i was unaware of the area and didn't know how far another hotel would be i took yet another room. It was still not up to standard but i tried to make the most of it this time the jacuzzi worked but seeing the condition of the first room i was scared to even sit in this tub not that this room was any better because the drawers were broken the carpet was dusty the toilet rocked. gave us coffee but no coffee maker there was no hairdryer like and all these things were advertised on the website. i couldn't wait till the morning to leave.

We left the hotel for most of the day trying to spend as little time as possible in this place. At about 2:00am we heard a big bang on the room floor above us that woke us up it seemed as though these people were having a recording session making beats banging on the table or whatever they were doing at 2:00 in the morning they were loud. FINALLY morning came and i couldn't wait to leave i asked for an iron from the night before because there were no iron in the room they told me to come for one in the morning so i did - tell me why i had to go back three times before i got a working iron - each time i think about the $117 i spent it makes me mad and if i could get back my money that would be the greatest thing in the world.

On Saturday May 10th i was attending a party for a friend being held at a nightclub downtown. It was a theme party with strict dress code. I had to work early the next morning at London Drugs cosmetic department on Granville which was just down the street. I arrived and Marina was at the front desk. She was not friendly at all. I asked if rooms were available and she said yes with a credit card and vaild picture ID which i had both in hand as well as cash for the room. She looked at me then looked at my ID and asked if i lived in Vancouver. I said yes and then was told that she would not rent me a room.

I was stunned and taken aback- clearly it was that she did not like the looks of me or worst assumed i was an escort, which i am not. I was so embarrassed since there were other people around. I left but once outside my embarrassment and shock turned to anger at not only the disrespect and horrible customer service but also at the clear discrimination based on looks. I went back in to ask for her name and another male employee said i could ask her myself (he too was rude) She came out from the back and identified herself as Marina. I took a business card and called to see if i could speak to some one in management and was told that a Lucia was in charge but not there that night, but i could call the complaint line,

Besides my embarrassment and humiliation it was getting late and i then had to spend a good hour trying to find some place with vacancy. I had a cab drop me off at the Howard Johnson as i was told there was vacancy earlier on the phone. So i had to go on foot in the pouring rain with my bags and my costume trying to find a place to stay. The rain ruined my make up and hair. I was so upset emotionally and physically i was a mess due to the poring rain. There was no vacancy at any of the hotels close so i ended up going home. I lost money for cab fare there and back, it ruined my evening, my friends were exremley upset i was unable to make the party. Not to mention the cost i had invested in getting ready for the evening

We made reservations on the internet for two nights of our stay in Orlando. When we arrived after checking in we went to our room, but was unable to access it because the security lock was keeping us out. A maintenance tried for about 1/2 hour while we waited. We were then given another room. We checked in, unpacked our luggage and got ready to take a shower after a very long day. To our surprise NO WATER. we contacted the on duty manager who sent over another maintenance person, who looked and said he would be back in 10 minutes.

After about 20 minutes I went to the front desk and spoke with the gentleman at the desk. I went back to the room to wait with my wife. The manager showed up and told us they had a broken under ground pipe earlier in the day, but had repaired it and this might have something to do with the previous problem. Again we packed up has he was taking us to another room. I went in to check the room out. I immediately came out and said someone has sprayed the room recently with some type of air freshner and the odor was so powerfull you can not stand to be in the room. He then found yet another room. The odor was still bad in the new room, but not as bad.

We decided to accept this room as it is now getting very late and we are exhauted and just want to get a shower and retire for the day. After showering and finally getting a chance to relax I turned on the television to catch up on the latest news events. The television worked but the picture was all in red. At this point this was not really a big surprise. In the morning my wife and I both decided we would under any circumstances spend another night, and would sleep in the car first.

A further discussion with the manager led to him comping us the room for the night. We then spent another several hours getting someone to refund our credit card as the reservations were made on the internet. I might add that in addition to the problems we incurred the rooms were very unkept and tattered. The carpet so soiled and worn, a person was afraid to walk on them with out shoes on.

I certainly did not expect 4 star accomodations, but I did expect clean and useable. I have learned a valuable lesson, Also I will never spend another night at any Howard Johnson facility, anywhere. By the way the photo used on the internet was of the front of the hotel and did depict the actual facility from that view. But any other view of the premises or building would be a turn off to any potential customer. We lost a day of our vacation, And the experience ended up ruining most of the next day finding new accomodations. We had to cancel several things that were on our list to visit and or do. We traveled a long way and did not have any extra time to spend in order to make up for the lost time.

Group, and they offered me $85 as compensation for my trouble--after attempting to contact the owner of this specific Howard Johnsons for several weeks, making it impossible to contest the to-day limit. The rooms cost me $472!

The rooms were advertised in the local paper for $69.95/night not $110/night. I even offered the desk clerk the coupon and they refused. I am requesting that this hotel reimburse $230 for overcharging at a place that should be closed by the Board of Health!

My family including three children, 7,5,and 2 years old wanted to spend a weekend in the Pocono's. The room cost $98 dollars. The main reason to stay there was the indoor pool. The pool could not be warmer than 60 degrees. We mentioned it to the staff and the answer was that Things Happen.

Last week I complained to Howard Johnson that the Howard Johnson Express in Williamsville, NY, advertised having HBO, but really did not have it. (I had decided to stay there because there was a show I wanted to see, and I was upset.) Now I am abolutely dumbfounded by the rude and totally moronic response I received from the Williamsville Howard Johnson manager, who accused me of lying, and was cowardly enough to not even sign his name.

HOWARD JOHNSON 6619 TRANSIT RD. WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. 14221

May 21, 2003

Case Nbr. 1347201

Dear Mr. S****,

With all due respect we must disagree with you. A review of the information within the current directory (copy enclosed) clearly reveals that there are no claims of this establishment advertising "having HBO".

Perhaps the most troubling of all is the fact that in spite of all efforts on the part of this establishment to insure guest comfort, including posting a notice on the inside of all room doors (at eye level over the lock) advertising to the guest "should it not meet your expectations, please notify the clerk". You made no attempt to express your concern to this establishment. We have no explanation for the misinformation, we can only conclude that (A) you looked up a different property or (B) the HBO is not the real issue? Malicious intent may be.

Sincerely,
Mgr.

My complaint stated that the hotel was advertised in the Howard Johnson directory, and on the Internet. as having "full cable including HBO." After arriving at the hotel I called the front desk to ask about HBO, and the girl at the desk said that the hotel did not have it. By that time it was too late to move to another hotel.

The stupid manager included a copy of the page from the current Howard Johnson directory, which clearly DOES advertise "full cable including HBO," but he still maintained that there are no clains advertising HBO. Is he illiterate? (Look for yourself at the enclosed copy of the directory page he sent.)

The most unbelievable part of the unsigned manager's letter was that after lying that the hotel did not claim to have HBO he accused me of lying and being malicious.

Because of the false advertising, unwillingness to live up to their written satisfaction guarantee, and husiness strategy of accusing customers of lying when they complain, I am filing a formal consumer complaint with your organization both against the Howard Johnson chain (I Sylvan Way, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054) and the Howard Johnson Express (6619 Transit Road, Williamsville, NY 1422

If Michael has the time and energy and really wants to make an issue of it, we suggest he sue the hotel in Small Claims Court, seeking the return of his room charges and any expenses he has incurred.

On the day of the reservation I call the hotel, Howard Johnson Express Inn and Suites in O'Fallon, IL to cancel the reservation. I was told by the clerk that she could not cancel my reservation because it was after the 24-hours cancellation period and not before. I informed her that I was told to call before 4:00 pm to cancel and was unaware of the 24 hour cancellation policy for Howard Johnson of O'Fallon.

At that time, the clerk refuse to give me a cancellation number and I ask to speak to the manager of the hotel. I was informed that the manager had left for the day and to call back the next day. I contacted the manager on Jan. 3, 2003, and was told that a refund could not be given because of the hotel's 24 hour cancellation policy. I later ask Ms. Yun for the hotel's chain complaint phone number to voice my complaint about the reservation issue.

After voicing my complaint about the reservation to Deb at HOJO's complaint line, I was informed that my complaint would be investigated. Several day later I again called HOJO's complaint line and spoke with Deb again as to when I was going to received my refund, I was told by her that a refund would be given within a few days. At that time, she ask me for my credit card number to make sure that my card would be properly refunded.

Two weeks later, after noticing that a refund had not been made, I contacted the complaint line again and was told by Deb that I would received a letter explaining the investigation and results. I have contacted Howard Johnson International, Inc in Aberdeen, SD several times to voice my complaint with no results other that a apology from Custom Service without an refund. I feel that this hotel has commited credit card fraud to some degree.

I'm wondering if all customers are treated this way when they dissagree with a reserved price or is this a standard practice for this hotel with people of a different race. This is the worst hotel that me and my family have ever had to stay in. It's shocking to know that people that run a chain hotel can treat you like dirt and think that it's okay. I know that my family and other members of our party will never stay in another Howard Johnsons Hotel no matter where it is.