“Very unprofessional and rude service. Worst hotel experience in our lives!”
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This was part of our 1-month honeymoon in the US. In total we stayed in six other hotels where everything exceeded expectations and where people were always extremely friendly and helpful. The Crowne Plaza Lake Placid however was without exaggeration our worst hotel experience ever, and was clearly not representative of American hospitality.
I won't get into the old and tasteless design, the poor quality food, and neither our dirty, dusty and smelly room, because the absolute worst thing was the appalling front desk service! We have never encountered something like that.
After having driven all day and arriving at the hotel, the only thing the front desk clerk asked in an unfriendly tone was "are you checking in?". No welcome, no asking about how our trip was, and no offer to help with our four large bags. Granted, we were upgraded to a 'whirlpool' room, but we would have much preferred a warmer welcome! At first we thought that this person must have had a bad day, so we forgot about it. However, during our four day stay it became clear that this unfriendly and lazy behavior was the rule and not the exception at the front desk. (While the restaurant waiters were the extreme opposite, they were always very nice!)
There were two incidents where we felt like being treated like children: the third day we went for a long walk, and when we came back to the hotel in the afternoon to rest (hereby passing the front desk, as usual without a "hello" from their part), we noticed that the access to our room had been blocked. We then went to the front desk manager, and she told us she reprogrammed our room key because there seemed to be a problem with our credit card. (In fact, our entire stay was already pre-payed, but that didn't include breakfast etc. which she wanted to charge.) Anyhow, the problem was solved in seconds, but we were appalled by this practice of denying the access to our room in order to have us come to the front desk! Why not simply talk to us when we came in, or leave a note in the room? At that time there were not many guests, and we were by far the only young people, so very recognizable I would say.
Now you're not going to believe that the exact same thing happened the next day, for another simple problem, which was also quickly solved. We just couldn't believe the rudeness! Checking out was similarly unprofessional: no asking if we enjoyed our stay, not a single "goodbye", and again no effort to help with our bags.
If you care about good service, do yourself a favor and don't go to the Crowne Plaza Lake Placid!