Holiday Inn Portsmouth

Accommodated early check in.

Hallway smelled damp like they had water damage. Funny smell in hallway and in room.

The staff at the front desk was the rudest customer service representative I’ve ever encountered. I felt unwelcome and uncomfortable during my stay. The girl at the front desk was accusatory and rude and did not treat us like welcome guests. We were accused of smoking in the room and threatened to be kicked off the property. This was shocking as we didn’t smoke in our room. We went to the front desk to try and rectify it and asked for them to come up so that we could prove that we did not. We did not want to be kicked out or charged for something that we didn’t do. Instead we were called liars and told that because the clothes we were wearing smelled of smoke, there was no way to believe us. We begged and pleaded for them to just walk into the room and all we got in return was “it’s impossible for me to believe you didn’t. I can’t leave my desk,” or “I can smell it on you right now.” She was insulting and judgmental. She then lied about being the manager when we asked to speak with someone else. The GM was kind and reasonable after the front desk finally allowed me to speak to her. We quickly explained, she came to the room to see it didn’t smell of smoke and it was over. However this was after arguing for over thirty minutes with the accusatory girl in the front and being threatened to be kicked off the property on Valentine’s Day. We spent our Valentine’s Day upset over the way we were treated and uncomfortable walking through the hotel and it’s lobby. There are simple ways to handle misunderstandings in customer service and I was blown away by the mishandling of this one. We were looked straight in the face and threatened to be kicked off the property and charged for something we DID NOT DO. We were told straight to our faces that she didn’t believe us. When you stay at a hotel, you expect hospitality and to feel welcome. We did not experience that at all. The hotel experience and discomfort we felt with the staff put a shadow over our whole trip.