I am waking up with a migraine headache, after sleeping in my car last night following my booking a "free" reward night at Rodeway Inn in Carson, CA.
I arrived a little after 10pm to the aging little motel on a dark quiet back street near a small nameless convenience store. I was tired and ready to sleep. I had called earlier to make sure an upstairs room was available.
The man who answered the phone was busy and couldn't check the reservation, but said if I had a reservation number, that was good enough.
As I approached the night window, I could see the man sitting on the red couch in the lobby. He watched me standing there without moving for several moments and slowly got up and came to the window.
I handed him my ID and told him I called earlier.
He went to his computer and came back.
"Hundred dollar deposit," he said and put my ID in the slot at the bottom of the night window.
I said, "Is it possible to waive the deposit? I don't have my card. But I'm an Elite Diamond member."
(No Choice hotels I've visited across the U.S have ever charged this deposit for free reward stays. Apparently this policy is discretionary.)
The man's face curled into a furious expression as he told me my "incidentals would all fall on me."
I tried to say, What incidentals? I just wanted to go to sleep. But he kept cutting me off. He was aggressive, disrespectful and mean. He ranted about what Choice policies he didn't like and what people had done there in the past.
I tried to interrupt to assure him I wasn't one of "those people ". He didn't care what I had to say because he didn't let me speak.
I started to feel like I was in the 1950's in the Deep South as the man questioned my intelligence to my face.
Deflated, I asked how I could get my reward points refunded, he said: "If you know so much about Choice Hotels, you can figure it out." And he turned his back on the window, and made a frustrated gesture with his hands, completely dismissing me.
I was so shocked as I walked back to the car. My body was shaking. I couldn't believe that interaction had just happened to me. And I couldn't think of any reason except that I was being racially profiled. I couldn't imagine this hospitality manager speaking to a white man this way. It was a horrible feeling. I will certainly never go there again.
I filed a formal complaint with Choice Hotels.
I would spend nearly 2 hours on the phone with Choice trying to get my points refunded to find another room. But as the clock passed midnight, that became impossible. The system shifts to the next business day. That's what lead to me sleeping in my car, and to this annoying migraine.
I guess I will be reviewing CVS pharmacy next... read more