Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Buford

Clean, friendly staff even at midnight. Room was huge. Love that their pool opens at 6am so kids can take a dip and we can still get on the road early. Don’t usually stay at Country Inn, but sought this one out after another great experience last night at another same brand hotel. Goodbye, Courtyard.

Stayed here the other nigh, never stayed at a Country Inn so can not compare to others. Actually never heard of it to so was concerned about what it was. The bathrooms were nice, and the shower had great water pressure looked to be recently updated and was actually nicer then the Hampton Inn we stayed at the next night.
Seemed to be in line with a Hampton Inn.
Long story short I would go back.

2 star rating
This Country Inn & Suites in Buford, GA is subpar (especially for the discounted rate paid at $ 95/​night) compared to others we’ve stayed at. Aside from the breakfast on Saturday during our short weekend stay, this location falls well below the standard within the Club Carlson family. Will we return? Don’t bet on it.
We made hotel reservations a couple months in advance since we were going to be in town for a marriage conference we attend annually nearby in Gainesville, GA. We chose this hotel this year as it is conveniently located near The Mall of Georgia and many restaurants. Our reservation included our usual request for a room on the highest floor possible and away from the elevators. Not out of the question, right?! We were placed in a room on their highest floor (4^th floor) but at the very end of the hall in a dark corner next to a flight of stairs. On top of that, the entrance to the room was quite narrow making it difficult to role the luggage trolley in smoothly without bags falling off.
My biggest complaints though were (1) no hot water on Saturday morning, (2) the doorless narrow closet which was ridiculously small with no decent amount of space to hang even some of our clothes, and (3) the outdated and outworn comforter. The overall décor of the room was a bit antiquated, including the curtains and rug. When my husband called the front desk to notify them of no hot water on Saturday morning, the female responded somewhat defensively, «I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s going on.» Obviously, we were not the first to complain. Really though, is that what we can expect for customer service here — «I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s going on.»? No resolution whatsoever, no offer to look into it and a courteous follow up call back to us, but just an empty sorry? Truly a disappointment! While our time schedule was tight with the conference, I decided I was not going to lose any more energy on being negative let alone possibly being inconvenienced even further in changing rooms only to affect our focus and main purpose of being there. Our schedule primarily consisted of us being outside the room, not much time spent in the room. However, when we are there we expect the standard running hot water, enough room to hang clothes for 2 people on a weekend stay, minimal noise, and a decent clean room. At that point after the hot water complaint fell to deaf ears, it was obvious to us that the staff’s little to no effort in working with us and to resolve our complaints was not going to happen. It was also confirmed when checking out Sunday morning when Bridgette (or was it Bernadette) at the front desk did not hear what she wanted to hear when she asked us how our stay with them went. We summarized it kindly to her in that it was not pleasant for us having no running hot water in a small room w a narrow closet that could not accommodate our short stay. How do you think she responded? You guessed it — «I’m sorry» and gave us a sad face. Very unprofessional! We don’t need someone to feel sorry for us. We needed them to resolve and attend to our complaints! Is the sad face suppose to suffice and makeup for the lack of standard here? The staff does not appear to be fully trained in customer service so don’t expect it if you choose to stay here as it is quite lacking in this Buford location.
The only positives that grants a 2-​star rating (that’s being too kind) from us was the breakfast on Saturday that tasted decent (and was free) and the proximity to nearby shops. Other than that, we do not recommend this hotel nor will we waste our time & money anytime in the future at this particular Country Inn & Suites in Buford, GA. We will choose an actual hotel that meets the standard of excellence with professional staff and attentive management, not one that falls short as did this one.