Howard Johnson Express Inn-Vernon

Review: I booked a room via direct phone call to the hotel. I insisted for a confirmation number or any sort but the person named [redacted] said they don't give out such things & his name [redacted] would be my reference. We drove all the way from New Jersey which took us more than 3 hrs because of the Flood/Storm that Friday (8/9/13). After explaining to them over the phone that we encountered some car trouble due to the weather, they weren't so helpful at all. Not even s sign of remorse.So we decided after few hours to still take a drive. Boy were we shocked at what we saw.The pictures from the internet site was totally different from the actual place looked like. We were so disgusted when we got to the place that we couldn't bare to go in. The place looked like it violated all kinds of health hazards. The front lobby was so filthy. The front looked like a storm just hit it. It had a very stingy odor in the front lobby. On top of that, we waited 20 minutes but no one showed up on the front counter. We decided to just go somewhere else. And when we called them to cancel our reservations, they gave us a nasty attitude on the phone. We then found out from the next door hotel that they have had several complaints from previous customers that had to check out last minute from Howard Johnson & move hotels too. I would never go back to this hotel. I wouldn't risk the health of my family. So we never checked in but they insist that they will charge us.Hoping for some assistance with this matter.Sincerely,Mr. [redacted]

Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Other (requires explanation)

I want to make sure that The Health Department or Sanitation Dept does a thorough inspection of this such establishment. Check out their website & see for yourselves that the pictures online looks so inviting & clean...but it's the total opposite: http://www.hotels-rates.com/aspx-975/hotelRates.aspx?hotelID=18009I also want to make sure that they don't charge us for anything at all.