The Avalon Hotel & Conference Center

Review: I recently stayed in the Avalon hotel and left a few items in the room upon checkout. My girlfriend and I called the Avalon to let them know the items had been left behind and we would be sending my sister who resides in Erie, Pa to pick them up. These items included an iPad with an alien sticker on the back and a grey under armour bag. My girlfriend was informed while speaking to the lost and found representative that both items were at the Avalon and could be picked up. When my sister went to go pick up the items, she was only given the under armour bag and told the iPad was not ever logged or there. We then called and left messages for about two weeks and never received a call back or an explanation as to why the iPad was there originally and then was not. I am filing this complaint because of the several messages left to the lost and found office never being returned and not being given an explanation.Desired Settlement: I would like to be given back my iPad or given a refund for the cost of the iPad 2 air.

Review: The Avalon has ruined my dream since I was a little girl to get married. The Avalon is the most run down and disgusting place. They had no air conditioning, there was water leaking everywhere in the building including inside elevators, light sockets, inside kitchens and restrooms. There was mice traps in the kitchen. They did not follow the contract on some items. I gave them a letter to try and make things better. (see below) My mother in law and I also went to the Avalon to speak to the general manager and she ran from us and refused to speak to us.

August 16, 2016

Dear Avalon,

Thank you for ruining my special day. Ever since I was a little girl I have dreamed of my wedding day. I was engaged and planning this wedding for two years; everything should have been flawless. Instead because of the Avalon, my dream turned into a nightmare. There was no air-conditioning in any of the rooms that we rented and we had a huge block for all of our guests. There was no air conditioning in the lobby, the rehearsal dinner area, the two bars, the room where I was supposed to get ready and it sure didn't seem as though the reception room had any either! My mother in law had called multiple times leading up to the wedding and we were ensured there would be air. Let me start with Friday night: everyone was there as scheduled and we were all sweating horribly. After we finished the rehearsal we went in for dinner. The room must have been over 100 degrees so we went into the bar area where we were told the after party would be. There was no a/c in there either. We didn't have a bar tender at first, they didn't move the food into the room we were in, didn't bring water over (which was warm anyway with no ice left), didn't bring silverware or napkins over to us. We had to walk over get our own food and then walk back to get our silverware, napkins, salt & pepper, and even the warm water if we wanted it. It was so hot in there that we were soaked in sweat. We didn't get any pictures because we were disgusting! Then when it was over (trust me we rushed it so our friends could get out of there because it was unbearable) we went to our room that was supposed to be air-conditioned and it was not. Then we tried the bridal sweet that was supposed to be air-conditioned and that was not either! My father went room to room with a girl to try and find an air-conditioned room for us to stay in. We must have tried over 20 rooms and that didn't make sense because we were told it was totally booked. My friends paid for a room at the Marriott so I could get a good night of sleep because clearly it was not going to happen at the Avalon. My stay at the Marriott was wonderful and they were so accommodating! When I woke up I was in good spirits that this day was going to go much better. What was I thinking because it definitely did not? When we got there we couldn't get ready in the meeting room because it had water damage and no a/c so we got ready in the new bridal sweet that we were told would be much cooler; well it wasn't! The rooms were horrible. The chairs and coffee tables are falling apart. We were told mimosas would be ready and provided and they were but we had to ask for them not once but twice. At this point I knew that this day was going to be a nightmare because of the Avalon yet again! I went down to look at the reception room and thank god I did because once again nothing was correct and what was somewhat right was in horrible condition! The roof was leaking in serval spots, there were more tables than there should have been, the dance floor wasn't decorated like I was told it would be, the seat covers had holes, the cake table had a black table cloth instead of white and now I know why after looking at the pictures because only half of the lights worked underneath the table and they were totally opposite lights. The chairs weren't even straight at the head table, and there were no vases for the girl’s flowers on the table! They put the crackers out before 11am and in that room they would go bad in an hour (the girl put a napkin over them.) So after the girls got their hair done they went down to make sure things would get done the correct way! My mom also had to put the card box together as they just set it there! Now we are all sweating trying to do make up and get ready for the ceremony. We are all ready and start to head down dripping sweat, the girls are trying to fan me to try and keep me cool. The guests were all dripping sweat. Charlie my groom and myself had to wipe sweat off our faces the entire length of the ceremony because it was so hot. We got married which was the ONLY thing that went right! We then went for pictures as our guests went to cocktail hour. They tried to put dinner out at 5:30 and my grandmother and mother had to tell them to put it away as we were not eating for another hour. The beer choices were wrong and the beer was warm. My ice sculpture was melting so quick because of how hot it was in the room! No one offered to get fans out or open doors to try and make it cooler. My mother had to find rocks to open doors to get a breeze! The night was so under staffed it was unbelievable! Only 3 servers for 160 people is horrible! My mom had to keep telling the kitchen we were out of food, out of plates, out of butter! Charlie and I had nothing in our flutes to toast to! The champagne fountain I paid for simply wasn't there! My guests left early because it was so hot in the room and they were so uncomfortable! My chocolate cake never got served only white cake. There was no plate for my husband and I to put our cake on. What in the world is going on at the Avalon! As the night went on the dance floor broke multiple times causing safety hazard to my guests. My guests actually were on the ground fixing it because there was no staff! The lights never got turned on in the courtyard! We had an after party planned but had to stay in the reception room because nothing had air conditioning. The bar ran out of glasses and my guests were forced to use Styrofoam cups! They again ran out of beer and gave my guests warm beer! The Avalon knew I was ordering pizza and wings for the guests around midnight. I was told this would get served to everyone, and again I had to go in the kitchen to ask for napkins and plates. We never got plates only a pack of napkins! As our guests all went to their rooms they had no air-conditioning yet again!!! In the morning my parents had to go and get all of our stuff ready as it wasn't ready for us! I didn't get the box for my cake glass, didn't get my toasting flutes back (that we never got to use) and I also didn't get my cake knife set back. I called multiple times to see where my stuff was and never got a call back. I had to go into the Avalon and get it myself! I still don't have one piece to my cake set! The elevators were dripping water (again a safety hazard). The kitchen was absolutely disgusting with rat traps, food under tables, and water leaking everywhere! I'm sorry but this is absolutely uncalled for. I'm going to give the Avalon one shot to make this right before going to the Revdex.com, OSHA, and the Health Department. If you can't make it right that is where I will be heading! The items on the binding contract were clearly not done correctly and some were even completely ignored. Thank you for turning my dream into a nightmare!Desired Settlement: I would like the Avalon to refund all the money I have spent on my wedding including all the other vendors in the amount of $13,000 and also feel I should be getting emotional compensation as well for never being able to get this memory back that they have taken away from me, it wont make my memory better but feel as though they owe me something. I also believe that OSHA and the Health Department should go in there due to all the unsafe and unsanitary conditions that are going on at the Avalon.

Review: I attempted to stay at the Avalon Staurday Feburary 22nd until I walked into the restroom in my room (413) and discovered black mold all over the Ceiling and shower walls. I grabbed my belongins and went to the front desk to complian about the issue. The desk clerk apologized for the inconvience and I then told him I refused to stay in the room or Hotel and wanted to be refunded for my room. They Agreed to refund my money due to the fact I would no longer be staying there. The night Manager then followed me up to the room to verify the mold and told me she would make sure I would not be billed. Today February 25th I checked my bank account to see if I was billed. My account showed a $100.57 Charge from the Avalon. I then procceded to call the avalon to ask for a refund the clerk ([redacted]) told me she cannot issue refund and that there was no manager at the hotel today to issue the refund. No Manager or anyone with permission to issue a refund on a Tuesday at 11:00 AM??? Hotels Always have some type of manager on duty. I hope to get this issue resolved and get refunded my money.Desired Settlement: I would like to be refunded my $100.57 for the hotel room I refused to stay in due to black mold!

Review: My party of 3 checked into the Avalon Hotel, 3 separate rooms, on November 1, 2013 around 8:30 pm. When we went to our rooms on the 4th floor, I could not locate my room because the room number was missing on the outside of the door. When I located the room, I had problems getting the door unlocked. After entering the room, I noticed that the door did not properly fit the door frame and I could see light between the door and the door frame. I was further disappointed when I went into the bathroom and discovered there was no soap, glasses or shampoo. The room had a smell and when I went to turn on the air conditioner, there was a note stating that the air conditioner was turned off for the season. Only the heat was available.... it was almost 70 degrees outside! There was a large party taking place in one of the banquet rooms on the first floor and the music was so loud it was resonating through the vents into my room. The other members of my party were also very disatisfied with their rooms and we decided to check out of the Avalon. The desk clerk apologized for this bad experience and stated that he removed the charges from our credit card, however, on November 1st all three of our credit cards were charged $322.02. I have never experienced such a poorly run hotel, let alone unethical business practices of charging a customer for services not rendered. This is unacceptable!!!Desired Settlement: Remove these charges!!!

Business

Response:

I received a complaint from Revdex.com, and have taken care of it. I have refunded

the guests back.

I have not contacted them personally, I may do that sometime this week, but

in the meantime, please take care of our rating, you may check with the

guests to make sure that we have refunded their money. It should show on

their bank statements in a couple of days.

Review: The Avalon promoted and offered a booking to families promising a safe family friendly environment with superb service. Not only was this false advertising, the customer service was appalling and the clientele of the hotel were far from family friendly.Renovated rooms were promised that looked and contained linens as shown in online photos. Prior to booking, it was asked if the linens would be the updated and not the dated floral pattern, and if it were family friendly. [redacted] made assurances that the rooms were fully updated and the hotel would be perfect for our family group booking. The rooms had soiled curtains, carpets and tubs. Several rooms contained large spiders and smelled of smoke. Several complaints were made by multiple families without appropriate resolution.A family friendly, safe environment was assured. The environment was a party environment. Guests were drinking in the hallways and on the elevators. Hallways became full of friends of guests or individual at the hotel for receptions and who were not paying guests of the hotel. Guests were yelling and fighting in the hallways from 1:00am -4:30am. Exits were blocked with coolers and fighting guests. Multiple calls were made to management to resolve the situation. The disturbances were not addressed. Victoria at the front desk stated, this is the bar group coming in and we are here to serve them as a neighborhood hotel and not you. Children were scared of the environment and Victoria just hung up the phone as I was expressing my grievance. All personnel stated only [redacted] could resolves the situation. Multiple requests were made to the front desk to have [redacted] or management call but neither [redacted] nor any manager returned any calls..The parking garage that stated it was there for guests was full of individuals attending a reception. The garage became so full that cars were parked in. Management was contacted and they stated the guests would have to find street parking even if it were blocks away. This provide an unsafe environment for women and children.Since this was a pre-booking with a contract, families were unable to leave without loosing their fees. Due to multiple events in Erie, all other hotels contacted were booked without any rooms available. Families were left without options unless they wanted to stay in their cars.Multiple calls have been made to [redacted] and management since our visit. [redacted] did not return the calls. I did speak one time to the general manager. She was rude and unwilling to compensate families for their unacceptable stay and how they were treated by her staff. She stated they were safe because she stated that if someone looks bad they lie to them and do not allow them to stay in the hotel. She hung up on me as well.Desired Settlement: We have requested a partial refund for the group booking. It has been denied.