Absolutely HORRIBLE experience. Didn't even end up staying here. We booked this hotel for our 15 wedding anniversary. We booked a package deal that gave us 2 tickets to Carowinds. We had made dinner reservations to a nice restaurant in Charlotte so we made sure to arrive at the hotel with enough time to shower and get ready for dinner. (We arrived around 6 p.m.)
When we walked in we were informed that their internet company had the internet down and they didn't know when it would be back up. Because of this we were told that they could not check in any reservations and they didn't know when they would be able to. The two girls at the front desk were extremely unhelpful and kept insisting that they could not do anything without the internet. We informed them that we had a package deal and one of the girls even said "Oh you guys are the ones with the Carowinds tickets?" They still refused to do anything to help. I asked for the customer number at the corporate office so I could talk to someone there. The girl there said she couldn't find it and also said that corporate wouldn't be able to do anything as well. There were several people that while we were there were told the same thing. In the lobby, there was a family sitting there with the same problem of trying to find a place to stay. We were told we could cancel our reservation and go to another hotel.
I asked if they had any backup plan in case the internet was ever to go out. They said they didn't.and they didn't know how to do anything without the internet. I asked about a manager there, I was told the manager couldn't help, when I asked about an Area Manager or District Manager we were told that that person was out of town and couldn't help. All they kept telling us is that it's not their fault. While we understand that the internet being down was not their fault we find it absolutely ridiculous that they would not have measures put in place that they would still be able to check in their customers if their internet was down. It was poor customer service not to have a back up plan to be able to take care of their customers.
I looked up the guest relations phone number on my phone and spoke with a representative there. He said they should be able to check us in without having the internet. He even put me on hold and contacted the hotel himself and was told the same thing. He said that they should try to get us into another comparable hotel if they are unable to get us checked in. The girl at the desk said they wouldn't do that. They gave us a list of hotels around the area (that were not comparable). So we left because by this time we needed to find a place at least to change for our dinner reservation and make our dinner reservation on time.
When we were almost finished with our dinner, we called the hotel to check on the status..they said they were still unable to check us in. After dinner, we even called another Clarion and were told by that Clarion that there was a way they should be able to check us in without the internet. They said they would call the hotel to tell them how to do it...after 20 minutes, we called back to the hotel where we had the reservations and were told they still were not able to check us in. Finally at 10:15 p.m. we had enough. We found a competitor's hotel and they gave us a great deal. (Kudos to Fairfield Inn!!)
This was an absolutely nightmare of a situation!!!