Fairfield Inn Dothan

Home2 Suites by Hilton Dothan

"I am writing to express my concern regarding the safety and treatment of guests at the Home2 Suites by Hilton location in Dothan, Alabama. My 9-year-old son and I checked in for one night at that property on Tuesday, November 28. We live about an hour away and since he had a holiday performance rehearsal on Tuesday and early show on Wednesday, we decided to stay in Dothan for a good night's rest. What we got was a troubling experience and sleepless night. At about 9:30 Tuesday night, my son and I were already in bed, but I had not quite dozed off when I heard the deadbolt lock to our room click and the door push open. The metal safety latch stopped the swing of the door and I raced to push it shut. There was a man outside the door wearing a tan beanie and tan jacket and he turned and walked in the opposite direction of the elevator. I locked the deadbolt on the door again and ran back to the nightstand to grab the telephone to call for help. I pressed the "front desk" button which did not dial the front desk. The concierge, housekeeping and other buttons were not in operation either. So, I dialed "0." I heard the phone pick up and I was immediately placed on hold with no human interaction. The hold music eventually ended, and my call ended. I dialed "0" again and heard someone pick up the phone and hang up. I dialed a third time, and no one answered. I grabbed my cell and called the number listed for the front desk and the front desk clerk answered the outside line. I asked to please not be put on hold or hung up on again and identified myself as a hotel guest in room 216. The clerk responded in a very defensive manner that no one had hung up on me and then told me my phone was off the hook and setting off an alarm at the desk. I responded that I heard "hold music" followed by being disconnected, but the bigger issue was that a man had just come in the locked room where my child and I were staying. The clerk responded that it wasn't possible for anyone else to have a key to my room unless I gave it to them and that no one else had checked in that room. I told her again, a man unlocked our door and opened it, but the metal safety latch prevented him from entering all the way. She said, "I'm not saying it didn't happen, just that no one has a key. But I'll come up there." The entire conversation made me feel as if I was fabricating the room entry and the unprofessional telephone interaction. At that time, I could see through the peep hole that the man walked by the door heading toward the elevators. I told the clerk what he was wearing, and she identified him as the hotel manager. She said she didn't know why he would be trying to come in our room at that time of night. Then she offered that he had a universal key and may have been checking on a new TV that had been recently placed in the room - that he probably didn't know we had checked in - but that he was the manager, and we were safe. That was the last interaction we had with staf"

Residence Inn by Marriott Dothan

"There was a large supermarket, Target, within walking distance, which was convenient."

Spacious 2-bedroom townhouse-style apartment located in the center of Dothan.