Gather around the campfire, kids and let me tell you about my nightmare at Residence Inn. It contains ghouls and goblins, and even roaches. What you are about to read is a factual account of the experiences that I had while staying at the Residence Inn Northwest, 3940 Westerre Pkwy, Richmond, VA, 23233, from February 7, 2023, to February 13, 2023.

I checked into the hotel on February 7, 2023, as my apartment was being renovated because of water and smoke damage, and the insurance company set me up there. Residence Inn has a good name, but the first red flag is that the manager was too busy gossiping on the phone to check me in. Eventually, I got settled, and all was well.

On the morning of February 8, 2023, I left my towels to be collected by the maid. As the process goes, she was supposed to bring me fresh towels, but by the end of the day, I had not received any. At about 4:00 pm, I tried to enter my room, and the door would not open. Got the entry cards rekeyed by the front desk receptionist, and they still did not work. When I went back to the desk, the manager sent someone up to fix it. Finally, they got it open, informed me that the lock was broken, and told me not to lock the bottom latch until they fixed it. You expect me to leave my room unlocked until you fix it? Also, I started to notice a urine smell coming from the carpet and realized I was in a pet-friendly room that had not been cleaned properly.

Around 8:00 am on February 9, 2023, I went to the front desk to enquire about the locking system. She said it would be fixed that morning. I was also informed that the air conditioner did not work properly, and it was 80 degrees in my room. Again, she said she would send someone up ASAP. I also asked for more shampoo, the towels that never showed up and some toilet paper. I told her I could only shower or use the restroom once I received these items.

She said she would have a maid bring them up ASAP. This was at 8:00 am. By 2:00 pm, I had received enough of the items, and nothing had been fixed. I called the front desk to vent my frustrations. Again, she said she would bring the items up ASAP. I could hear her admonishing a child in the background; it seemed like she was more concerned with providing childcare than doing her job. So because someone decided to bring their child to work, I have to receive poor service. An hour later, I had to call again. This time the manager answered and I would be moved to a new room.

I moved to a new room, which was a much better one. I was only semi-mobile during this time, as I was still recovering from a broken toe. Moving all of my things halfway across the hotel was painful. Since this room was better, I decided to stick it out for a few more days, as I dreaded the idea of moving to a new hotel. Things got better for about five days, and requests were promptly.

Then on February 14, at about 7:00 am, I left towels outside my door. The towels were picked up, but I have yet to receive new towels.

On February 15, I brought this to management’s attention, and towels were brought up.

On February 16, my room was supposed to be cleaned, but it had yet to happen by 7:30 pm that night.

On February 17, I still didn’t receive room service. The excuse I received over the phone was that the housekeepers got busy and had to clean rooms for incoming guests. How is that a viable reason? I went downstairs, talked to the manager, and still more of the runaround. She could not give me a viable reason why my room was not cleaned. The final straw was when I when back to my room and saw 3 of the biggest roaches I had ever seen. I was mortified.

I called my insurance and told them what had been happening. They apologized for the nightmare that I had been experiencing and told me I should have called sooner.

They found me the perfect hotel, with rave reviews and a 4-star rating, but I had to wait until February 19 to move in. I was ok with this, as the hotels available on February 18, 2023, had horrible reviews.

The Bottom Line: The hotel’s employees are not handling business, and it’s sad because it could be a good hotel with a few leadership tweaks. Do yourself a favor and stay far away from this hotel. The abysmal accommodations will leave you frustrated and inconvenienced.

Trust me, a nightmare at Residence Inn Northwest, 3940 Westerre Pkwy, Richmond, VA, 23233, is worse than any Stephen King novel. In addition to publishing this piece on my blog, I plan to publish it on every hotel review site and send it to every Marriot Executive. The entire management staff at this location should be fired. John Willard Marriott, Sr. would be aghast to see his vision of quality hotels turned into a network of hole in the wall roach motels.