Econo Lodge Conference Center

This is a copy of the email I sent to Choice Hotels:
Back in early November, I called the Econo Lodge on Pond Lily Ave. in New Haven, CT to inquire on pricing and policy for the 40 person conference room. I spoke to a seemingly uncertain but polite young man who told me the room was available and what the cost was.
Thursday, December 11^th, I called to book the meeting room and spoke with Sophie who informed me that the conference room could only be secured in person. I explained that I had called previously and was given different information. Sophie responded by saying she didn’t know who I spoke to and there was no way around the policy.
Friday, December 12^th, I called and spoke to Mysti. I asked about the date and the cost once again. January 11^th was available at the cost of $ 250. Mysti stated, I had to send a copy of my license and credit card via email and she would send me a credit card authorization and a confirmation. Mysti also asked if I wanted to pay the deposit and I stated I wanted to pay in full. To which Mysti acted very impressed and excited. (I must point out that at this poi nt, the ONLY mention of a deposit EVER was when Mysti asked if I wanted to make that payment. There was no further explaination of the deposit, no mention of a cancelation fee, no terms what-​so-​ever!!)
Saturday, December 13^th, I called Econo Lodge to cancel my reservation due to issues unrelated to Econo Lodge. I was told that there was no one there that could cancel my reservation and to call back on Sunday.
Sunday, December 14^th, I called to cancel and was once again told that no one was there that could do it and to call back on Monday.
Monday, December 15^th, I called and spoke to Mysti. Mysti says she will refund the $ 200 but is keeping the $ 50 deposit. Despite explaining there was NEVER any mention of a cancelation fee, Mysti completely unleashed on me in a screaming, maniacal way that really just blows me away. Frantically screaming into the phone anytime I spoke, Mysti insisted that I kept her from reserving the room and therefore she had the RIGHT to the $ 50 and that she would only refund $ 200. Keeps saying, «I have an email with your license and credit card telling me I could charge your card.» I explain that it also states I wanted a confirmation and receipt as well as where was the credit card authorization that she said I needed to sign. Mysti insisted she sent them all. I NEVER got ANYTHING! I asked Mysti for the name of the person she reports to and she hung up on me.
At this point, I call Choice Hotels and they inform me that they can only file a formal complaint and I have to wait for 72 hours for a response. It is now Thursday and I have heard NOTHING.
Tuesday, December 16^th, I call Mysti and let her know that no refund has been done. Mysti then tells me that I decided to get Choice Hotels involved and therefore she isn’t giving me any refund. I tell her that she told me on Monday that she was refunding me and she didn’t do it. Mysti then says that it is in the hands of Choice Hotels and there isn’t anything she can do. THEN, she launches into this whole dialogue about how I’m being ridiculous and I «need to just stop» because she asked me about the deposit and I said I didn’t want to pay it. Mysti said, «C’mon lady, you heard me say the word Deposit. You should know what that means.» Mysti seems to believe that because she said the word deposit, that it covers the entire policy on the deposit itself.
Later, Mysti calls me, says she is refunding me $ 200 and it will take 3 days and then hangs up on me.
Wednsday, December 17^th, I call Choice Hotels to follow up and am told by a representative that they will not be getting involved. WHAT!!!
Thursday, December 18^th, NO MONEY HAS BEEN REFUNDED!!!
Mysti has turned this situation into a horror show. I have never been treated so poorly. She has no compassion. Is completely unprofessional. Displays frighteningly unstable behavior. Seems to be enjoying this situation. I believe that Mysti has this idea that because I could pay the $ 250 in full that I’m just some dumb hick from Iowa that has plenty of money to throw around. In reality, over the Thanksgiving holiday, while Americans were spending time with family, I worked 33 out of 48 hours spanning from Wed. to Fri. to make enough money to fund the event I was planning. I have worked an exhausting amount of overtime, sometimes with only 6 hours between a day shift and an overnight to make these funds. This money is important to me.
The circus that Mysti has created and the way my money has been taken and I have never gotten a confirmation, and the maniacal, frenzied, and scary behavior (which gave me an anxiety attack at work, Thank you!!) has taken a small situation and it is now a horror show.

Seriously, listen to the reviews here. The place is disgusting. Yes cheap, but extremely overpriced for what it is. I got stranded in the area due to a car accident and wound up here out of pure necessity. $ 70 for a very disgusting room. The smell upon entering was offensive, the carpet was stained, door knobs missing, holes in the pillow cases, a hardly functioning television and battered and worn furniture. I feel like I need to wear my jeans and sneakers to bed, and I plan on covering the pillow with one of the towels. Oh, and continuing to pour the wine. Just don’t do it.

This hotel was the most disgusting hotel I have ever stayed in. It looks nothing like the photos and I took my own which I will attach so you can see it for yourself. The bedsheets had cigarette burn holes in them, when you walked in the carpet looked like a dirty dog had rubbed their body on it for several years and when I went to use the disgusting bathroom sink, not only did the towels feel like sham-​wow, the faucet cover fell off! I slept with my towel as a blanket because I was so afraid of catching something, luckily I did not, but in the morning I felt like I had been camping out on the set of Friday the 13^th. I do not recommend this to anyone, it’s obviously a hotel for young kids to get drunk or for older kids to do heroine.

Oh my God, I would give this place zero stars if it were possible. I can’t believe a place like this actually exists. This is essentially a welfare hotel or some sort of placement for long-​term homeless people. Half of the property is boarded up. The other half has rooms where people have been living so long term that they have houseplants in the windows and have set up chairs outside in the common walkways. Huge bags of trash outside full of empty Domino’s Pizza boxes and other takeout food containers indicate that people have been living there long term without kitchens. This is essentially a place that is warehousing people who are at the margins of society, for whatever reasons. First thing I saw was some guy standing in his underpants in the doorway to his room, and another guy leaving his room with a plastic water pipe. The room we were assigned was dirty and dingy, with ripped chairs, saggy beds, and a bathroom window with bars on it where the window itself wouldn’t even close. I don’t normally obsess or worry about bedbugs, but I opened up the bed to see if the sheets were clean and saw hairs and black spots on the sheets. My husband asked for a different room because they said they wouldn’t refund us our money, and we were switched to a room where the sheets on the bed appeared to be clean, albeit extremely threadbare, on top of a mattress with no mattress pad. I was trying to determine whether I would be able to endure staying there for one night (and was trying to figure out if nighttime would get raucous with drinking parties or meth manufacturing) as we were in town only to attend my husband’s aunt and uncle’s 50^th anniversary, when I noticed the remains of some insect that probably was a roach smashed on the wall like a booger. There was plenty more filth to be found in that place including a general layer of grit on the windowsills and the windows themselves were smeary and full of handprints. I’m actually surprised that this Econo Lodge can still bear the imprimatur of the brand and that no one from corporate has been by to quality check it. I fully intend on calling the corporate company, Choice Hotels, (which ironically is headquartered in my home town), as soon as I can. We left that place and found a very nice place on the sound in downtown New Haven but it was at a considerable inconvenience to us in terms of time, distress, and overall fatigue having just driven 300 miles to attend a four-​hour party (of which we missed the first hour because of having to scramble to find last-​minute accommodations). Now, as I write this review six hours after having visited the hotel, I am still rattled and disturbed, one, by the extreme filth and disgusting presentation of this room which I would never expect from a branded product; and, two, I am extremely disturbed by seeing the seamy underbelly of the underprivileged in this country. I feel like such an elite, overprivileged snob to write about what is someone’s home in such a disparaging fashion, because it is someone’s home. However, I don’t think having budget lodging brands commingling their product with homeless shelters and section 8 housing is a successful business model.
Update, 7÷1÷14: called corporate in Rockville, MD, and left a message with the brand manager, Craig Mustard. He didn’t call me back, but bounced me to some customer service rep from Fargo, ND, who took down my information. Meanwhile I found this:
. WTF? This is on Choice Hotels’s own website. Don’t they read their own reviews? Every now and then «Misty Lyons» will respond about how they’re going to investigate the matter and change things. Well, play Misty for me, Misty. This is an issue that has been going on for years and no one’s done anything to rectify it. I can’t believe it. I would NEVER trust a brand in the entire Choice Hotels portfolio with this lame ass approach to correcting problems. This is also an indication that I can NEVER let my husband pick the hotel… can’t believe he didn’t read the bad reviews. If you’re still considering staying here, make sure you read the other reviews that Unilocal didn’t recommend — all are legitimate and spot on. I don’t know why they got screened out.

You get what you pay for. I’ve traveled around the country a lot, but this hotel takes the cake as the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in. What makes it even worse is this is the second time I’ve stayed in this same hotel (about a year apart), and got the same room both times.
Here are the problems we ran into with room 132 right above the front desk:
Light switches for bedroom do not work. Deadbolt for the door will not lock when the door is closed. Closet doorknob hits the 10+year old TV’s screen when you open it. Doors were repainted very carelessly and the paint is all over the floor. No trash can or even a towel bar in the bathroom. Shower is a claustrophobic’s worth nightmare: if you’re on the heavy side or on the tall side, you’ll be against the walls or will hit your head on the light bulb sticking out of the low ceiling. Shower door can only open halfway before it hits the toilet. Tissue box was empty.
And to top it off, the free «breakfast» consisted of a grand selection of 4 onion bagels (but no cream cheese or plates), hot water (but no tea), a «juice» machine that dispenses tap water, and regular coffee.

Pretty awful. The other reviews kind of summed it up, but the motel was scary looking, there was a terrible smell in the rooms. There was a microwave on the floor. After spending fifteen minutes looking around, we decided we couldn’t stay. We asked for a refund and chose to go elsewhere. We were not given a refund, but left and found a better hotel. Don’t stay here, you’re better off sleeping in your car!
Photos on website would appear to be very old and do not accurately depict the current condition of the motel.

It’s a little bit ghetto. It’s a little bit rock and roll.
I get the feeling that at one time this was a really nice motel. It has the look of an ivy league administration building. Even the rooms have the look and feel of old dorm rooms, with real 60’s style tile baths and solid radiators. But with an abandoned car in the parking lot, laundry hanging off railings and plywood cutouts in the windows, it’s lost its shine. Although it looked scary, the staff was nice and we weren’t mugged.
Would I go back? Hmmm. Probably. The other motels in the neighborhood were either scarier or twice the price. It’s definitely worth the $ 57/​night.