ADA Violation

I filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice as well as Motel 6, so hopefully this doesn’t happen to anyone else. The front desk clerk was extremely rude, and despite their new “pet friendly” campaign, I was turned away after a confrontation about my service dog. I made a reservation over the phone for one night with two pets and a service animal. Note: a service animal is not a “pet” and is exempt from the majority of hotel rules because they are necessary medical equipment. Also, my disability is not visible to the casual observer, for example, diabetes or seizures.

When I arrived to check in, I was told I couldn’t have three pets. I politely explained that a service animal isn’t a pet, but that I understood and would leave. The clerk continued to want to engage me about it and started accusing me of lying. She demanded I provide a certification card. First, she cannot legally do that, and there is no “official” certification card. I explained this to her and also explained that I do have one and a vest for my service animal, but it was stolen, along with $3,000 worth of equipment at an event venue so I don’t have one right now. She called her manager, who told her to rent me a room, and then she picked it up off speaker and said ahuh and ok and couple times. Then, she proceeded to tell me that they would rent me the room but they were putting me on the “do not rent” list and charging me $150 for damages (not a deposit, a legit charge). I told her I would take the room but would be reporting the incident and the charges to the DOJ as an ADA violation. Side note, I was very calm during this whole exchange, which was amazing considering her aggression. She said if I was going to report them, she wouldn’t rent me a room.

As I left, I told her it didn’t have to be such an argument, and she said, “yes it did, because you are lying”. She never laid eyes on my dog, and this was my only interaction. We didn’t go into a room, let alone damage one, and she violated several ADA laws in the process. Please don’t support this ignorance.

Jul. 14, 2021

Sooooo close

The hotel staff was nice. Restaurant in the parking lot was good and reasonable. There were a lot of well managed dogs in the hotel. All in all, positive experience. So, why only 3 stars?

1. Environment outside the building wasn’t very dog friendly. Only a parking island for grass, and in 118 weather (not joking), we needed more than pavement and dirt. Plus, there was a lot of homeless and quite a few tweaker in the area, and I was always concerned about my dogs safety when I could see where they were stepping or what they were smelling. That being said, I left items in my truck bed and not once did anyone mess with it.

2. The elevators smelled terrible, and our floor ALWAYS smelled like shrimp, I don’t even know how it could smell so bad, but air freshener in our room did the job.

3. COVID. I know they are doing they’re best to be safe. But, the CDC has lifted most recommendations at this point. At some point, the hotel industry will have to go back to cleaning rooms, right? Not only did they not clean the rooms automatically, but you can ask for it special, as long as you do it two days ahead of time. Now, they say you have to request it by 7pm the day before, but I did, and they came two days later, and didn’t take out the trash… Oh, and they still have a weird table buffer system for check in and no breakfast. I feel like if the price includes housekeeping and breakfast, shouldn’t we be getting a discount?

All in all, I’d go there again, and I’d hope to see improvements.

Jul. 14, 2021