Usuario invitado
10 de mayo de 2023
My wife and are long-time IHG Members, and we have stayed at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Charlotte North at least a dozen times in the past. We always thought it was a welcoming environment for us and our Service Animals (Diabetic Alert Dogs.) The physical hotel is top quality -- always clean and comfy. In the past, the management told us they welcomed service animals, and we typically stay in a room on the first floor next to the back exit door so we can take our dogs in and out without needing to march them through the lobby. Apparently, this hotel is under new management now because we had a very negative and demeaning experience. We checked in late at night, and as usual we brought our 2 well-behaved service dogs in through the back door and into our room. I admit I failed to specifically tell the check-in person at the front desk about the dogs ... but since we had been there so many times in the past, I didn't think it would be an issue. (There used to be a place online to add notes about things like this when making the reservation, but that option is gone now.) The next morning we found an invoice slipped under our door listing a $300 "Pet Fee" in addition to the regular room charge. The woman at the front desk (who remembered us from our many prior stays there) said this was now the hotel's policy, and the $300 Pet Fee was listed on their website. She said we failed to tell them about having service dogs when we checked in, and then she implied that we had "gotten away with this" before and we were trying to sneak the dogs in the back door! I felt like I was being treated like a criminal. Later I looked very carefully on the hotel’s website, and while it does say "Service Animals Allowed" it makes NO mention of a $300 Pet Fee or any requirement to show proof or give advanced notification. After we left I called and spoke with the manager, Corie Blocker. He told me that the $300 fee was added because we didn't tell them in advance about the dogs and then he challenged me to provide "proof" that they were trained as "certified" service dogs. I explained that there are actually no official certifications or paperwork for service animals -- that is a common misconception. (I won't go into the detailed explanation of this issue here -- but for anyone who is interested, just Google "Is it illegal to ask for service dog papers.") Corie finally reluctantly agreed to refund the $300 Pet Fee as a "one-time customer courtesy" but he then told me that we would no longer be welcome at his hotel. Talk about bad customer service!!! I totally realize that there are unscrupulous people who falsely claim that their dogs are service animals and then bring their animals to places that regular pets should not go. However, that is not us. Corie clearly needs to educate himself on the laws and issues surrounding legitimate service dogs, including knowing what he legally can and cannot ask a person who shows up with a service dog. His stated refusal to
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