I travel a lot for business and don't consider myself a complainer by any means. I chose the Congress Plaza because I needed a location convenient to downtown that I could afford for the weekend when my employer was no longer footing the bill. However, my stay here was so disappointing, I hardly know where to begin. I arrived on a Wednesday evening to a bustling front entrance with no doorman in sight. When I did finally get some help, I found the staff consistently dismissive. When I got up to the 10th floor, I was almost knocked over by the obnoxiously soapy smell. My room was no better - it was a non-smoking room yet reeked of cigarette smoke. The room was in poor repair as well - the cord for the curtains was broken and the room darkening fabric appeared to be crumbling at the bottom. The temperature control was rusted to the point of being unreadable. All electrical outlets run to the single wall switch, so I accidentally turned off the tv and all the lights when I flipped it. The window leading out to the fire escape was broken. I discovered this when I attempted to open a window because I couldn't turn down the heat. Bedding looked moth-eaten.
I was overcharged for parking even after contacting the front desk, waiting for 15 minutes for a manager to come on the line, and explaining to her that the vehicle had only been there for one night. "The garage doesn't tell us when you pick up your vehicle." Perhaps they need to establish a better relationship with the parking establishment before having their doormen send customers' vehicles there? The valet service provided by the hotel was shoddy - they brought me the wrong vehicle.
I've stayed in old hotels before was expecting a certain amount of disrepair in the room I managed to get at such an affordable price. This goes WAY beyond simple disrepair. Clearly, this hotel is not interested in providing a comfortable experience to its customers. DON'T STAY HERE!!!
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