The Inn at Reading Avis 2

Beware parking at Holiday Inn Reading as you will probably receive a charge of £100.00 from their parking agents, Parkingeye. Residents and visitors are asked to use a checking in machine to register your car registration number. This I did. Upon enquiring at reception and checking on the web I was told there was no charge if you were a resident or visitor. This I took at face value. Nobody at Parkingeye had changed the rules about any free parking but had not informed the staff. Many people have been caught, so beware not to stay at Holiday Inn Reading otherwise you may find yourself with an extra £100.00 to pay by way of unscrupulous parking operator.

This was the worst hotel experience I have ever had in my entire life. This review is lengthy, but please read to save yourself from going through the same unacceptable experience I just went through.

I booked this room last-minute through Hotwire based on its 3-star rating. After checking in, we went to the building in which our room was located after a drive around the complex during which we noticed MANY broken windows, trash, debris, and abysmal conditions. The outside door to the building did not latch or even close properly, there was trash strewn inside the entrance and in the hallways, and everything was in disrepair. Upon opening the door to the room, we were met with an absolute wave of oppressive heat. We soon discovered that the thermostat read 85 degrees and there was not one bit of cool air coming out of the filthy vent. I tried calling the front desk from the room phone and it rang with a fast busy, so we went back to the front desk to complain about the AC.

Once I got to the desk, the clerk admitted that the AC was broken in most of the buildings in the complex. For what reason they would book people into a room with broken central air IN JULY without at least mentioning it at check-in is beyond me. After asking incredulously if there were NO rooms with working AC, and after a flippant offer of the standing floor fan behind the desk because the clerk 'was leaving in 20 minutes and did not care' I was told that there were rooms in another building that had window units, and we were moved into a room in that building.

After another trek around the property, and with some guidance from the maintenance man, who told us that he could fix AC, but they weren't able to get parts (this was a slightly different story from his original remarks in the lobby that 'they've called for repair and no one can come out until Tuesday'), we went into another filthy building, up a set of concrete stairs, and into a room that was barely less oppressively hot than the original room. The window unit had been turned off, but the maintenance man turned it on and assured us that it would cool down the room in 20 minutes or so.

My friend and I took him at his word, having felt a bit of cool air come out of the AC unit, and left for dinner.

We returned to the hotel around midnight, pulling up to our building to see a group of misfits, for lack of any other way to say it politely, speaking with a policeman who had parked his police car at the building entrance. We did not see crime scene tape, which surprised me, to be honest. As we approached the building, I asked the cop if there was anything that we needed to be concerned about with all this, and some girl (possibly affiliated with the hotel, but I really don't know) said there wasn't, and the cop did not say otherwise, so we proceeded in past the trash, cigarette butts, unlatched/unsecure door, and into our room - where we were treated to what I estimate was about 75-80 degree air. The window AC was definitely NOT fully operational.

We somehow managed to sleep a few hours, despite a lot of noise, people banging into walls, and what seemed like it might be residual domestic dispute-type nonsense after the departure of the policeman.

At check-out, the same clerk was present from the previous day. She asked about the AC and I said it was not working properly. We had noticed, in fact, that the window unit in the room nearby ours (as we were leaving that building), was running continuously. Ours had not been. I'm not an HVAC tech, but perhaps a compressor problem. I don't know. Frankly, I don't care. I told the clerk that I cannot understand what meth lab/crack house rating system anyone is using to have given this place 3 stars, and that it was barely 1 star, if that. She laughingly agreed after incredulously asking, 'this is rated 3 stars?!' In response to my comments about the police activity outside our window the previous night, she casually commented that the police are there often.

I contacted Hotwire upon my return home that afternoon. This hotel had cost me about $150. If it had truly been a 3 star, I would still have thought that was pricey for Reading, particularly in this area. Having lived in Reading 20+ years ago, I don't hesitate to acknowledge it's not the most glamorous of destinations. However, I did not necessarily contact them to dispute the money. Although my booking specifically noted that one of the amenities was AC (which was not afforded me in the initially assigned room, and only half afforded me in the poorly functioning window-unit room), it really is more about wanting to make sure that Hotwire (and whatever other service is booking rooms at this establishment) knows about this situation. Hotel would not authorize Hotwire's request to refund. Other reviews not drug/prostitute/gang issues at property. Complete trash!!