Extended Stay America Hotel Durham - RTP - Miami Blvd. - North

The absolute worst stay we have ever end with this hotel! We use extended stay pretty much everywhere we travel because they can accommodate my family! This location was horrible. The entire building smelled like drugs and smoke. The fridge was place to make it difficult to open and use! There were roaches in the room. The air conditioning system didn’t work, rooms were trashy and nasty! People up and down the hallways all hours of the night! People living in the hotel! Felt unsafe and just nasty. Will never stay here again

I wish that I could give service 100 stars! Marques and Derrick have been phenomenal. Hotel living is brand new to me. I had to relocate to be closer to my new job. So I needed a quick temporary solution until I get the time to learn the city and decide where I want to live. There is so much that I did not understand about making payments, what’s available and what’s allowed. I know I have asked both of them several questions, multiple times in some cases since I arrived a couple of weeks ago. Yes I do forget 😆 But every time they have been extremely patient and professional and very kind. I am 100% certain that I have bothered Marques the most. But he always greets me with a friendly smile and he is professional and accommodating every single time. I really feel like he has gone above and beyond to ensure that I am extremely comfortable as a guest of Extended Stay. I am in no hurry to move out due to the fact that they have lightened the load on this huge transition. I hope that Extended Stay values them more than I do. Please show them in their paychecks. They definitely deserve it!

The one good thing was that we were permitted to check in early. We relocated over 1200 miles from WI to NC for my work. We don’t have a home yet so this was to be our center of operations while we did that. Some really rough items I’d like to call attention to:

I specifically booked a deluxe queen because their website shows those rooms with a pull out bed from the couch. On arrival there was no such thing. Staff advised “not all rooms have them”. So out of luck there. I asked about a rollaway bed; they advised they have two and are already in use. Because I do not share a bed with my travel partner I have to sleep on the cold hardwood floor of this room. Just absolutely devastating especially considering the fact that I had a medical emergency and was kept at WakeMed Cary for two days. Getting out of the hospital and then having to sleep on a cold hardwood floor is very demoralizing, depressing and discouraging. Not the best way to feel welcomed to a brand new state I’ve never lived in. 😞

The WiFi service and coverage is abysmal. I work for the nations biggest telco; in our case if there are issues with the WiFi the corporate agreement states that it must be resolved by the property. We were told to call their telco (“Velocity” I guess? never heard of it and maybe explains the abysmal WiFi. My travel partner works remotely and all devices (a windows work laptop a Linux work laptop two iPhone 16 a 8” and a 14” android tablets) failed to maintain a consistent connection. Expect to use data and hopefully your mobile data coverage is good.

Other than being forced to sleep on a hard floor perhaps the biggest concern was the contractor on site doing painting. The contractors have several times left tarps and jugs of turpentine in the middle of the hallway. We had to kick a tarp into the doorway to get by. The tarps were bundled in the middle of the hallway. 100% a **tripping hazard**. The jug of turpentine, in the hallway where guests and staff walk (or try lol). I think this would be particularly important to review as this does present a tripping liability (and, like. Rude. They’ve no call to rubbish the common walking area in such a way). The turpentine fumes are also present throughout the room and hallways, the contractors weren’t wearing meaningful PPE… I’m not a snitch which is why I’m sending this feedback form instead of going to other governing bodies about this situation.

The front doors have no wheelchair accessibility there are no buttons or switches to automatically open the front doors. If you’re alone with a heavy luggage cart you may get stuck in the doors (we did) as they are narrow.

I spoke with a different staff than whom checked us in, I was advised something is happening locally and all rooms are sold out (can corroborate as other long term properties had the same issue). I was invited to come back in the morning to request a transfer to a room with a pull out bed. Being here 5 days obviously I will be doing so but what an upsetting way to meet North Carolina for the first time. 😔 the “sorry deal with it” was demoralizing and definitely keeps me from making a positive recommendation to anyone about this location.

Also the cost for dishware and pots and pans is at least $50 for both. Do we own them then? Are we renting 10 kitchen implements for $50? I ended up having Walmart deliver paper and plastic dishware /utensils for $8.

Summarily, I truly, truly appreciate the grace we were given for being allowed to check in early after a traumatic ER & hospital stay plus the thousands of miles we drove to get here. That also what makes this experience so distressing. Don’t advertise amenities only “some rooms” have that guests rely on to sleep. Two rollaway beds for this size of hotel, an extended stay hotel, is confusing. Perhaps it would be worth a call to your telco Velocity to advise them about WiFi issues, this is not a guest’s responsibility to call your telco for you. Please address the tripping hazards. Moreover there are so many issues with ADA compliance. Discouraging.

Front Desk
First I want to say that Marcus(i forgot already. Lol. And Phil were amazing. We came to check in super early (10am) and Marcus was so accommodating. He had no issues getting going above and beyond to get us what we needed. Phil was also very pleasant and worked with me on the issues I had with the room. He refunded us our entire stay and he didnt have to. He could have just refunded the days we hadn't stayed. Both of your kindness did not go unnoticed.
Hotel
The entrance smelled nice but the hallway just had a stale smell. The bed was super comfortable, but the room itself had that packed away smell. The outside of the refrigerator was nasty and walls could use a paint job. The couch needs a good cleaning with some steam and rhe carpet looks dated. The bathroom sink looks like it's never been cleaned good and the tub was meh. The shower curtain looked dingy. We could have lived with that and been okay, until the morning. We saw roaches!! In the living area and the kitchen. We didn't want to cook for fear of them smelling the food and coming out. After that it was extremely uncomfortable and we didn't want to be in the room much. Hopefully the owners actually take the time to read these reviews. This hotel needs a huge makeover.

My wife and I came to Raleigh, NC for a concert at the Ritz which was only about 2 miles away. Ms Cerise W. welcomed us when we walked in. She got us checked in quickly and let us know about the grab and go breakfast and if we needed anything to let her know. There was an issue with the toilet in our first room but we went down and let her know and she immediately moved us into a different room with no hesitation. Our second room was great. Very spacious, clean and it had everything we needed. We did have an issue with the key reader to get in the door but again, we let her know and she went above and beyond by getting a screw driver and a new battery and replaced it for the key reader so that we didn’t have that issue anymore. After that, we were set. Ms, Cerise W. is a very hardworking lady. All we had to do was communicate with her on what we needed and she always made it happen. We absolutely loved her. Very sweet lady and very approachable/professional. We stayed from Wednesday night to Sunday morning. We read a lot of mixed reviews on here and I’ve got to say, most people who give this place a bad review are people who expect to pay very low dollar yet want a Hilton experience. For those stating that it is a “homeless shelter”, are people who clearly have always had it easy in life. Yes, there are people living there who have been displaced from there home. It is also called “extended stay” for a reason. We didn’t have issues with noise. It was quite throughout the night. They take security of the property very seriously and we loved that. We didn’t have any issues with any guests or employees. We will stay here again on our next trip to Raleigh. Thank you Ms. Cerise W. for making our stay pleasant. We hope to see you next time!