Red Lion Hotel Bellevue

Never Again I drove 150 miles to take my husband, who has terminal lung cancer, to Swedish Hospital in downtown Seattle for an appointment. After the appointment, my husband was weak and exhausted and it was about 11 am While I knew that the check in time was 4 pm I was hoping an exception or compromise could be made because the only other option was for my poor husband to rest in a hot car for 5 hours. I explained my husband’s condition to Josh at the front desk and his only solution was to charge me $40. I reluctantly said we would pay because I was desperate to get my husband a place to rest however I did express my displeasure about getting charged under the circumstances and that Josh didn’t seem to have any compassion. He then strongly suggested several times that I just leave and go to a different hotel, knowing full well that I had already paid for the room online and the hotel would not give me a refund on the day of the reservation. I asked to speak with his mgr and was told she wasn’t available. My husband and I were in the process of exiting the office with our room key only to be loudly scolded by Josh because I said that he wasn’t compassionate. I have worked in Customer Service for many years and could not believe this person’s unprofessional behavior. I read the reviews here and discovered that a lot of other customers were very dissatisfied with customer service here as well. The room itself had dings on almost all the furniture and walls, the bathroom looked like someone had spit several times on the inside of the door. The curtains had holes in them and the bed was not comfortable. The parking lot is huge and not many cars parked there but Josh seemed happy to inform me that it cost $12 a day just to park there. How I wish that I had read the reviews before I booked this hotel. I would never have booked this place if I had.

Look Elsewhere I will start off by saying that I have never written a hotel review however, I feel I must in hopes I can be of help to others. My family and I came to town for a concert and wanted some place close to stay for the night. The photos online looked perfect for our needs - outdoor pool, breakfast buffet, close proximity to many things etc. Upon arrival my first impression was that the hotel was unkempt, rundown and dirty. Front desk staff made no effort to be pleasant or welcoming. As someone who has worked in the hotel and restaurant industry for 20+ years I was disappointed by the lack of professionalism and willingness at least pretend to be hospitable. The front desk staff had a general tone of annoyance for no apparent reason. You could just tell no one who worked there really cared to make a human connection, which can go such a long way for hotel guests, especially in Bellevue of all places where there is a higher level of expectation due to the high cost of the room. We checked in to our room and my first thought was that it was dated but otherwise no major complaints. The carpets were dirty in the hallways and there were heaps of dirty sheets just sitting there for the full 24 hours of our stay. The overall feeling of the hotel was just kind of depressing. Our family was looking forward to waking up and going to the pool first thing only to find it didn’t open until 10am! Every hotel I have ever stayed at with a pool has an opening time of 7-8am. I was dismayed because I booked the hotel specifically for the outdoor pool. In addition, the grand photos of the breakfast buffet need to be removed from a website. Totally misleading and false advertising! There was a grab and go table in the lobby with yogurts, breakfast loafs, hard boiled eggs and milk and juice. Very disappointing. The whole time I was there I just felt like no one who worked there really cared about the state of the hotel or the guest experience. I generally will talk to management if I feel something could be corrected, but honestly I didn’t bother because I just could tell no one would care and it would go in one ear and out the other. I’m mad I spent $335 for one night at this depressing hotel when I could have spent a little more and stayed at a place like Suncadia. I will never go back.

Worst hotel in Bellevue I should have known better booking this hotel from the previous reviews but I decided to give it a try. Josh at the front desk was everything but pleasant and helpful. The customer service at this hotel is the worst I have ever encountered while checking in. The lobby had so many people waiting to check in but Josh refused to check a single person in till 4pm on the dot. Fast forward to getting checked in and in the room, this hotel is infested with massive rats, so many of them it was hard to count how many I seen. Worst hotel in Bellevue, be aware and stay away unless you are desperate enough to lay ur head here. I’m currently counting down the hours till check out. 0/10

Adequate, albeit Run Down, Hotel bundled with Very Poor Customer Service from Stacy The Red Lion Bellevue could have been an adequate, albeit run down, place to rest my head for a night or two if not for the illogical, inconsiderate, and inconsistent rules that Stacy at the front desk made up throughout the less than 24 hours I was there. Stacy will not lift a finger to make your stay more comfortable. To be clear, there are countless other reviewers on TripAdvisor who have complained about the bad customer service at this hotel. On the day of my arrival, Stacy told me over the phone that the hotel's early check in time was at 4PM but that they could begin checking in guests at 3PM. Although I arrived on an early morning flight, I only went to the hotel close enough to 3PM hoping that logical minds and considerate hearts will rule (this is Seattle area after all where people are normally friendly). Wrong! When I arrived at about 2:40 PM, Stacy's greeting was that I was about 20 minutes early for check in. Apparently, Stacy and/or hotel management want guests to get lined up at 3PM before they start checking them in even though some rooms would have been ready before 3PM since guests check out at different times before check out time (some guests check out very early for early flights, etc!) while, at the same time, housekeeping staff starts cleaning rooms at about 9AM and leave by about 4PM. What is the purpose of starting check in strictly at exactly 3PM when some rooms are already available hours before 3PM except to impose a nonsensical draconian rule over your paying guests who make your business stay afloat? At this point, I only made a slight remark to Stacy ("20 minutes is that important to you huh"), stored my luggage at the front desk, and left to go about my business. Stacy, however, kept revealing her very poor customer service skills throughout my stay. When I came down to the front desk to pick up the to-go breakfast the following morning, Stacy only gave me 1 bag of breakfast. When I asked for another bag, she retorted that I only checked in by myself and so was only entitled to 1 bag of breakfast. I pointed out to her that the room I paid for could accommodate 2 persons and that she also didn't have an idea whether another guest arrived later to join me except if she checked my affairs from the moment I checked in or my room for another guest. And even if there was no second guest in my room, it was not a bit of Stacy's business if I wanted to give the breakfast bag to an unhoused person who might appreciate it. If I paid for a room that accommodated 2 persons, give me the breakfast I paid for if I wanted it! There was also a couple checking out ahead of me who inquired about the breakfast and she just totally ignored them until I pointed out to Stacy that the couple asked for their breakfast just as the couple was almost leaving and given up to her incompetence. It was almost hilarious if it wasn't baffling that Stacy also wanted to have the last word despite her obvious lack of logical sense, reasoning out that they count the guests and would just have enough breakfast bags for registered guests. The content of the breakfast bag was a 8oz bottled water, 1 apple, a granola bar, and a banana bread that would cost less than $3 at wholesale and could have easily taken me half a minute to pack. Bravo Stacy, bravo! You are a gem. Finally but most bizarre of all, I was thinking to book a different type of room for a second night but I will only use for a few hours since I had to leave on a red eye flight later on that second night night, however, if I changed to a different type of room (the cheapest that night), the ever amiable Stacy told me that I had to check out from the room I occupied the previous night by check out time, store my luggage at the front desk, and wait until the 4PM check in time to check back in to a different type of room! Also remember that Stacy told me the previous day that they could start checking in guests by 3PM, but not for my potential 2nd night since, presumably, I had hurt her feelings after I kept pointing out her glaring shortcomings in customer service. Just imagine that you are the party paying for this kind of treatment, well as for me I didn't pay for a 2nd night at the Red Lion, I instead stored my luggage at the front desk and went about my business until it was time to go to the airport. Stacy basically just robbed her bosses revenue for a 1 night stay because of her inactions. To the hotel management: you are running a hotel, not a prison. Despite being run down, your hotel is adequate because of the good sound insulation but you need to be more considerate of your guests who come from different parts of the country, if not the world, so that they could have a more comfortable and enjoyable trip. If the room is ready for check in, there is no logical explanation why you should hold it until exactly check in time or at your whim unless you enjoy seeing your guests suffer. Your strict check in policy hurts your tired, traveling guests but offers no benefits to you. Ask yourselves: what benefits do you reap from this policy? I would have personally talked to the hotel's manager about these issues but Stacy, true or not, told me that the manager won't be reporting for work until the weekend (I checked out on a Wednesday).

BEWARE OF MOLD AND RUDE MANAGEMENT! BEWARE OF MOLD AND HORRIBLE SMELL! I had a ruined - vacation experience at this hotel. The property is EXTREMELY outdated and located right next to a LOUD HIGHWAY. The first floor of the hotel has a very strong MOLD smell. Its truly disgusting to even walk through. THE FRONT DESK STAFF and management are EXTREMELY RUDE. They will not work with you shall you have any concerns or issues. I was surprised that a hotel like that exists in the middle of Bellevue and charges as much as they charge. The pictures on the website do not compare to the reality that you face walking into this hotel. NEVER AGAIN will I stay here....