I'm Back - My El Segundo Hotel Experience
 

After a flight delay, we arrived at about 11pm at the Summerfield Suites in El Segundo. I won't go into the reservation mess-up which happened even though I had personally spoken to the assist. mgr. earlier that day to ensure all was in order. There was a horrible stench that hit us as we walked into the lobby. Apparently they have a complimentary cocktail hour with snacks at 5pm every day, and Wednesday is fish stick night!!

Although the common areas of the property appeared well maintained and clean, the 2-bedroom unit we were given was absolutely filthy! The furniture was dirty, stained, broken, worn out. The carpets were worn, stained and dirty...we kept our shoes on. There was build-up grunge on some of the kitchenette surfaces. I was appalled. This property has been given 3 diamonds by AAA and is recommended in Fodor's California book. I will be contacting them both. I took photos. The large armchair looked exactly like something you see left out at the curb on garbage day. We didn't want to even sit on the furniture. But we were exhausted, and the sheets appeared to be laundered, so we stayed the night. The next morning, the manager said he could change our room, but was not able to assure me that it would be in any better shape. He actually said that he is busy "managing" and doesn't actually go look at the rooms. He apologized and agreed to cancel the next 2 nights, and refund all monies paid. (This was a non-refundable WEBRATE rate from Wyndham).

After some internet searching, we got a terrific room at the Bel Age (no longer a Wyndham property) in West Hollywood. Fabulous location, clean, comfortable - a huge (750 sq. ft.) room for the 4 of us with a balcony overlooking the Hollywood Hills, for a great rate, and the day was saved!

Please do others a favor and post the deplorable conditions of the room at tripadvisor.com. You can even post your photos of the grime.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...alifornia.html

Sorry you had such a bad experience. The outward appearance is deceiving. Starting off with a bad smell on arival to the filthy room is really too much. You probably got the worst room by checking in at the late hour. I hope you report it to Trip Advisor.
How was the airplane and train noise?

The room was actually quiet, because we had asked for one on the inside. As for getting the worst room because we checked in late...that's not it at all. As a matter of fact, while doing some web surfing on the trip after I had made these reservations and payment, I found some unfavourable reviews of the place. So I tried to call the hotel manager, and was assured the assistant mgr. got the message and would call me back in 30 min. I called twice over 3 hours, but he never called back, so I placed a call to Wyndham's 800 number to voice my concerns. I wanted assurance that we would have quiet, clean, comfortable accomodations. They had a sales supervisor call the asst. mgr. while I waited on the phone and they assured me that he said he would carefully choose the room to make sure it met those requirements, and would personally check it before our arrival to ensure the housekeeping was properly done. I thought that was fair, especially since I didn't have much choice, having purchased a non-refundable web rate. That was over a week prior to our arrival.

On the day of our arrival, when we found out our flight would be dealyed 2 hours, I even phoned the hotel and spoke to the gentleman myself to confirm our later arrival and was told that our room was blocked and in order. So late check in was not and should have not been a factor at all.

Just a bad property. But I feel really let down by Fodor's California 2005 book recommendation (one of only two LAX area hotels that they recommended!), and by the 3 diamonds that AAA gives it in their tour book. And yes, I did post on Tripadvisor.

Correct me if i am wrong, but I always thought the stars and diamonds awarded to a hotel property was reflective of the amenities available and not a rating of quality.

Not that you should have had a nasty room - but for your future travel plans: AAA diamonds are NOT a reflection of quality. they indicate the number of amenities for the type of accomodation.

A well kept, Mom & Pop, 1 diamond motel might be better "quality" than a 3 diamond chain hotel. It would have fewer features, but might be cleaner and safer. All depends . . . . .

Here's the quote regarding how diamond ratings are awarded, directly from the current AAA Southern California tour book:

"AAA Tourism Editors evaluate and rate each lodging based on the overall quality, the range of facilities and the level of services offered by a property. The size, age and overall appeal of an establishment are considered as well as regional architectural style and design."

Under the description of what a 3 diamond property is:

"These establishments appeal to the traveler with comprehensive needs. Properties are multifaceted with a distinguished style, inluding marked upgrades in the quality of physical attributes, amenties and level of comfort provided."

In addition, at the front of the book under the huge, bolded heading of "TRUST", it states:

"Attractions, lodgings and erestaurants are listed on the basis of merit alone after careful evaluation, approval and rating by one of our full-time, professionally trained Tourism Editors. Annual evaluations are unannounced to ensure that our Tourism Editors see an establishemnt just as our members would see it."

Under the ONE diamond category description:

"These establishments typically appeal to the budget-minded traveler. They provide essential, no-frills accommodations. They meet the basic requirements pertaiing to comfrot, cleanliness, and hospitality."

So apparently, quality, comfort and cleanliness is supposed to count for AAA approval. Just as there are minimum safety standards that must be in place to receive an AAA listing, there must be minimum acceptable cleanliness and maintenance standards.