The Central Park North

We booked The Central Park Hotel via Travelocity. We soon discovered this «hotel» wasn’t really a hotel at all. It was more so an old brownstone renting out rooms. There is no elevator and we were placed on the third floor. This wouldn’t be a problem if someone helped us with our bags, but no one did, or even offer to help. My grandma has a bone disease and I feared if she carried things and took the three flights there is a higher risk of her falling and breaking a bone. I told two different people there this information two times and no one cared. They said the «hotel» was advertised as not having an elevator (it was hidden in fine print on Travelocity). I tried telling them that isn’t even the issue. The issue is no one was helping us.
As soon as we got on the third floor, we were hit with the strong smell of marijuana, and I called to tell «the front desk» (a small table with a folding chair) and let them know that this just wasn’t acceptable, especially since we have a non-​smoking room. So they moved us even higher in the building, on the fourth floor, because nothing else was available. This room was even smaller. Neither rooms were as advertised. The entire house is old and echoes every single noise. The stairs don’t creak, they moan, and it’s a terrible sound. My poor grandmother got zero sleep. It also claimed to have a «continental breakfast» but it was just a bag with a bagel and capri sun…
We checked out immediately the next morning and they refused to give us our money back. I talked to them in person and there was no sympathy for the issues we’ve encountered. Travelocity called them numerous times and they refused to work with us. I would have even settled for taking only half the original fee back but they refused find a middle ground. A REAL hotel would give good customer service and at least give back a partial refund.
I considered calling lawyers but luckily Travelocity helped me with a partial refund (but to be clear this was NOT with any help from the hotel). This is not an acceptable way for a local business to treat customers. They should know that word of mouth can negatively impact their business and be willing to at least pretend to work with us. I will not recommend this hotel to anyone traveling to visit me or any of my writing friends who like to write in hotel rooms so I won’t recommend it to you.