We were in the Fort Walton Beach area on MILITARY orders for Hurlburt Field, Air Base, which is in close proximity to this hotel. The short distance to the Base and good reviews were our primary reasons for choosing this location.
There were several issues that came up during our stay but overall, we felt that the staff were friendly, and the room was decent, so we stayed for the duration of our time here, a total of 6 nights.
HOWEVER, we are writing THIS REVIEW to warn other customers about the horrible and humiliating experience we had upon check out, specifically regarding the Hotel’s General Manager Tanner Foster.
On the last night of our stay we arrived back to the hotel and requested a late check out for the following morning and were told by the front desk staff that this would be fine and that the late check out was at 12 PM. (Regular check out being 11 AM)
The next morning, we brought the luggage cart to the room at approximately 10:45AM to load bags and pack our car. Anyone who travels with 3 small children will know that travel and packing always take a little longer than anticipated, hence WHY we requested the late check out as to provide extra time to get organized and packed for our 9-hour trip home.
At 11 AM on the spot, the Head Housekeeping Manager knocked on our room door asking WHY we were still in our room, stating that their check out is at 11 AM and that someone else is waiting RIGHT NOW on our room and that we need to leave, so they can come in and clean it for that person.
Although we thought this was quite rude, we told her that we were in the process of leaving and that we had requested a late check out the night before. (Further, we thought this was odd considering their check-in isn’t until 3PM).
Approximately 12-15 minutes later she came knocking on the door again and asked WHY we were still in our room and that she really needed to clean the room for the next guest that was waiting right then for our room and asked if we were going to leave right then? We told her YES! But thought it was obvious because we were all dressed standing by the doorway stacking our bags on the luggage cart.
While my husband went downstairs to load the luggage into the car, I was upstairs with our two youngest children trying to finish packing when at approximately 11:21AM (5-6 minutes after the Head Housekeeping Manager had knocked on our door) there was another loud knocking on the door and then immediately an attempt to open it with an access key.
I thought it was my family coming up from the car, but it was a staff member, with the Head Housekeeping Manager behind him in the hallway. I did not know who he was because he never introduced himself or said his name, nor had I seen him before this point the prior SIX DAYS.
Very rudely and irritated he asked how much longer we would be because there was another guest waiting and they needed the room available to clean RIGHT THEN, and he was basically demanding an answer as to “how many more minutes we would be in our room?”
I told him that we were in the process of leaving, but that we had requested a late check out the night before at the front desk and were told that late check out was at 12 PM and that we were “good to go”. Very abruptly he said “umm…yeah, NO! … We need this room before 12, definitely before 12, then again asked, “so how much longer are you going to be because we need to clean the room?”
Upon finally leaving the room at exactly 11:34AM we then realized both of the staff members were actually standing in the adjacent room… waiting for us to leave! (As if we were rude customers needing to be kicked out)
Once we were all in the car, my husband went back inside to check out and speak to the staff members that had come to the room.
I, BRIAN, went inside to check out and speak directly to the General Manager about both staff members very rudely forcing us out of our room as we were preparing to leave for our trip home.
I was then informed that the person who came to the room WAS the GENERAL MANAGER (Tanner Foster). When asking to speak to him about the incident, he had an expression of sarcasm and seemed to anticipate the conversation.
I expressed to Mr. Tanner that we had requested a late check out the night before and it was unexpected and very rude for us to be forced out of our room when we were in the process of leaving anyway.
Mr. Tanner then apologized sarcastically and explained that the reason for his actions were due to the OWNERS coming into town and that particular room was reserved for them. Calmly I expressed that as a customer most would say, “I don’t care, its not my fault” and that we didn’t deserve to be treated in this manner.
Mr. Tanner then explained their policy that 11AM IS the Check-out time (the time we are required to be out of the room by) and any time after is “just us being nice”.
SHOCKED by his lack of care or concern for the customer, I realized his focus was on booting us out to prepare for the owners, not giving any consideration to us (the paying customers) or the respect and courtesy we anticipated and deserve.
Furthermore, we noticed when leaving, the parking lot was over HALF EMPTY, thinking certainly there must be ANOTHER room available for the owners, even if temporary until ours was available.
They never offered to help or give any assistance to us! They were never polite about it. They had complete disregard for our feelings or the fact that we paid $$$ that night to stay there! They never offered a sincere apology for their rude actions that were in fact a communications issue on THEIR behalf but implied that WE were in the wrong for trusting that they would honor their approved late check-out request.
