We booked through hotels.com several weeks in advance of our trip. This was no bargain hotel, pricewise. One of the pricier accommodations of our trip, actually. First red flag was they couldn't find our reserveration even though I showed her the confirmation email on my phone. She waved her hand and more or less blamed "these third party booking services..." I guess it happens, okay. So while she checked, we started calling around... unfortunately there was no other room available in Traverse City on that short notice. Finally she found our reservation (yay), at least we didn't have to sleep on the side of the road. But the beds in our room (NOT queens as advertised) were not much better. Both beds had sunken, lumpy mattresses with horribly squeeky springs. We also discovered that there was no soap in our room. A quick trip down to the lobby, only to find out there was no soap in the entire facility. She promised it was just because their shipment was just late and would be there by 8pm and offered us hand sanitizer. We left for dinner and stopped back in the lobby around 9pm. No soap, So strange. Oh well, shampoo for body wash it is, maybe tomorrow. The continental breakfast in the morning was empty, she quickly tossed some bananas and individually wrapped muffins in the basket when we got there. Juice machine was 'out of order'. Okay, no problem we went out for breakfast instead. We expected when we returned for our 2nd night that there would be saap now at least, restocked coffee packets in the room, and perhaps fresh towels. None of the above. After a long day of sightseeing and hiking we were all looking forward to relaxing at the pool and hot tub. Erm, nope. The pool door was locked with a paper sign that said "Closed" and we could see that the hot tub was green/brown. A second night with the screeeky springs waking us, and rolling together into each other in the sunken center of the bed.. we decided to sleep in separate -- yet still just as squeeky -- beds. The AC was sooo loud and turned on and off on it's own. My husband tried everything to change the settings with no luck. The screens on the windows are pushed out like someone had tried to escape. Dead flies in the bathtub. Very old and dated plumbing fixtures -- my husband said it sounded like "mating cats" when he diverted the water from the tub faucet to the shower head. Loose toilet seat. The stairway railing was apparently broken in half at some point because it was duck-taped together about halfway down. Heavily stained/spilled-on hallway carpet. It became a running joke between the couples traveling together in our group. If it weren't for the pricey bill we would have probably simply laughed it off as "an experience". However when we asked to speak to the manager at check-out to see what she could do for us as far as the bill, she refused to answer her phone or texts, or even come out of the back room. The girls at the desk were very sweet, but their hands were tied. We knew the manager was there because we saw her go into the back room. But she locked the door and did not respond to their knocking or calls to her cell phone. That speaks volumes. There were other guests in the lobby as well that said they weren't leaving until the spoke to the manager. No one was loud, irate or upset. Not at all. Very reasonable, calm people. We waited too for awhile for her to come out and address us, but in the end we had a vacation to continue and were wasting valuable daylight. This expensive 2-night stay was definitely an eye opener and we'll be reading reviews much more closely from now on. We stayed the next night at another Choice Hotel property, a Quality Inn, and that place was OUTSTANDING. 5- Star. We will definitely stay there again, but will probably never choose another Econo Lodge again based on this place. Just baaaad. Don't do it.…