Safe Location -- but I wouldn't recommend staying! When my wife and I checked into the Extended Stay on Lenoir Ave South in Jacksonville, FL on August 1st, we were greeted by the amazing Ms. Dee. However, our experience from then on was far from amazing. We got up to our first room on the second floor. The carpet was very damp and the kitchen floor felt very dirty. In this room, the fridge did not even get cold, but the freezer portion worked. We switched rooms to 101. On the first look, the room was in working order. The phone however did not work, until we moved it by the bed. That evening, we found out that the room was roach-infested, and there was a crack in the wall by the couch. It did appear that when we tried to pull out the couch bed, there were also roaches on the couch, and it was not clean. There was also an infestation of ants. Not only that, but our bathroom vent fan did not work. The next day we were switched to room 304. Tasha (the Assistant GM) checked rooms for us to see what we could get into. At the first onset, the room was very good and for the most part - in working order.
During our stay, we encountered multiple issues with the hotel's kitchen appliances. The dishwasher proved to be nonfunctional, as it failed to properly clean our dishes. We subsequently discovered that there was no water supply entering the appliance. Furthermore, the oven presented with a significant fault, causing it to be inoperable. Despite spending more than an hour attempting to cook a pizza, it remained uncooked, and our efforts proved to be in vain. Moreover, the larger right burner was also inoperative. Although we reported these issues to hotel staff, we were informed that they had been outsourced to an external company with no resolution or follow-up communication from either party. Thus, despite repeated attempts to address these issues, they remained unaddressed, rendering the affected appliances virtually unusable.
There was a pronounced odor permeating Room 304 that persisted despite our attempts to remove it using air fresheners. Upon conducting a preliminary inspection, we discovered that the air vents attached to the AC unit were in an exceedingly soiled condition. It was only after communicating with Ms. Dee that this issue was resolved. It is surprising that Housekeeping would have failed to address this prior to our check-in, although it was evident that this was not the case with Room 304.
We found the provided cookware insufficient and had to supplement it with additional items. In particular, we encountered difficulty with the coffee pot, requiring us to manually hold the Carafe to the filter basket drip area or tilt it towards the back in order to facilitate proper brewing.
Initially, obtaining sufficient pillows was challenging. However, Tasha promptly addressed the issue and ensured that we were provided with the required number of pillows for our room.
Regrettably, we were subjected to discriminatory behavior by a staff member named Joseph that resulted in the violation of our rights as protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), our health rights, religious freedoms, and civil rights. In particular, Joseph took issues with our decision. He even made a threat under his breath and threatened to get us kicked out. We had to get Guest Relations involved, and although someone apparently spoke to him, he continued to monitor my wife's feet to make sure she had shoes on.
Some other issues we had to deal with some staff, and our keys getting demagnetized on several occasions. Catherine didn't seem like she really cared when I spoke with her on a few occasions about an issue.
I kindly requested a later checkout time due to the issues I experienced during my stay. Although the hotel did offer a complimentary extension, I was hoping for a further extension. However, the hotel informed me that if we stayed past 12 pm, we would be charged for the entire day, with a rate of $120 for the night. This rate was quoted at the front desk.
Here are some of the helpful staff members who work here:
- Tasha (the Assistant GM): Tasha was able to at least make some attempt to remedy the situations we were experiencing, including getting us into a room that was at least livable for us, although the underlying issues the room still had. She also understood the reasons why we go barefoot, and I believe she may have been the one who spoke to Joseph about this.
- Ms. Dee: Ms. Dee checked us in. She is such a sweetheart, and I believe she honestly truly knows about hospitality. She was very professional and very kind!
- Devin: We met Devin on our last week or two at the hotel. He was very understanding with addressing any complaint we may have had.
- Angel: We moved out of the second-floor room to 101. My wife had left her bible in the room. Angel brought my wife's bible back to her. She is an AMAZING housekeeper!!!
- Risha: I had met Risha on the night of the 29th. I asked if I could address an issue with her, and she was very kind, friendly, and professional. She genuinely cared about what we had experienced.
- Kay: Kay let us check out past 11 as we were getting things out of our room. She truly took note of the situations we had faced, and what I thought was interesting, was she had tried to make an effort to keep our business (I told her we were switching hotels due to the issues. We were going to stay another month, but went to another hotel on the 31st). She took my concerns seriously and showed empathy towards the situation.
Upon our arrival, we were informed that the room we had originally booked was not available due to maintenance issues, and it was out of service. Despite our disappointment, the staff provided us with an alternative room, which, unfortunately, had several issues that we reported to the hotel. Despite the aforementioned issues, it is worth noting that there were some positives to our stay at the hotel. For instance, we found the bed to be particularly comfortable. However, we also encountered difficulties with the room's door, which required forceful closing, indicating that it may have been improperly installed. While some staff members, Tasha, Ms. Dee, Devin, Angel, Risha, and Kay, provided helpful service, it is evident that there are fundamental internal issues that demand attention from management. Until these underlying issues are addressed, I would hesitate to recommend this location to others.