Review: Park Inn Fresno

In May, when the Club Carlson “buy 1 get 1” on award nights benefit was announced that it was going away, I realized I had 9,000 points leftover that I had to get rid of. At the time, the Park Inn Fresno was the most interesting on the Category 1 list, so I decided to book two nights.

It’s worth noting that I originally booked the stay for end of July, and subsequently moved the dates two separate times, without Club Carlson charging me extra points. I simply contacted the hotel to have the changes made, and everything was done without problem.

Pulling into the Park Inn property, I could clearly see that it wasn’t the most modern and up to date, and was reminiscent of a roadside motel. I parked my car and headed to the front desk and lobby, just off of the carport. The lobby was rather large for this property, and, to be honest, fairly clean, yet simple. I checked in with the agent behind the desk who informed me that I was upgraded to a Deluxe King room overlooking the pool. I also received a small welcome bag with a bottle of water and chips as my “welcome amenity,” though this is something that certainly needs sprucing up.

My room was in one of the buildings about a 3 minute walk from the lobby, so I headed outside and through the courtyard, around the pool and into the building. The property is definitely on the older side – there’s no doubt about that. Into my room, I was hit with a very strong odor of mold. Upon inspection of the air vent, I found a dark layer of mold that was easily wiped away with a tissue. In the bathroom, I found dirt and other residue lining the bowl, which was absolutely disgusting. The room itself was simple and motel like, yet doable for a short stay (but nothing aspirational). Not taking anything less than “clean,” I immediately went back to the front desk to get assigned another room.

The second room I was assigned was just down the hall as the first, and this one had a broken toilet that wouldn’t stop hissing, as well as toilet paper already inside. The same mold I found in the first room was found here, and I again called the front desk to switch. This time, however, upon returning back to the lobby, the front desk manager offered to go with me to the third room she had assigned so she could make sure everything was in order. No surprise, as we entered that room, there was a visible layer of mold on the air vent – again. She was not pleased, nor was I, and she reported it to housekeeping as we left. At this stage, not wanting to try any more rooms, she offered to have housekeeping clean one of the rooms we had already visited, and to remove the issues that were found. Tired, and not wanting to argue more I said this was okay, and headed out not wanting to waste anymore time.

After returning back, I was given the key to one of the rooms I had already been in, and while the mold was removed from the filter (sort of), the room was still not in tip-top shape. Knowing I wasn’t going to get a better room and that this was a free stay, I sort of chalked it up to being a bad property and continued the rest of my stay.

I was wholeheartedly disappointed in this stay, since cleanliness is something you can’t mess around with. Somehow this hotel managed to do just that, and moreover, it included multiple rooms, indicating the property had not been thoroughly cleaned in quite some time.

I would not recommend this property. Have you stayed at the Park Inn in Fresno before?