Millennium Maxwell House Nashville

I'm the type who picks a hotel simply to have a place to rest and relax when my day of exploring a place is done. Having visited 71 countries, 42 states, and 119 international cities, I've encountered some of the absolute best, and sadly even the worst. And my rating has very little to do with the decor, or whether the restaurant had my favorite food, or some other minute detail could've turned the tide in my assessment of it. WHAT MATTERS TO ME MOST -- AND CLEARLY THIS HOTEL AND SOME OTHERS SEEM TO FORGET THAT IT DOES -- IS HOW WELL I'M REGARDED AND TREATED AS A CUSTOMER. The Millennium Hotel Maxwell House Nashville fails pretty miserably in this category. After several attempts to address my issues with other personnel, I wrote to the current general manager in the following email, and not surprisingly, he did not even respond. That confirmed and told me everything I needed to know. Upon my visit to Nashville and your hotel, I catalogued my 119th international city, my 71st country, my 42nd state, and sixth continent. Because of my familiarity with hotel practices around the world, my experience at Millennium in Nashville prompted me to write…and if the past is prologue, then I expect I’ll receive no response from you as well. I arrived early, and knowing I couldn’t check in until later, I apprised the desk clerks, who I came to know as Andrew and Phoebe, that I would be stationed in the lobby with my laptop whenever a room became available. After close to four hours of waiting, I left the property to grab some lunch and inquired at the desk around 2:30ish about an available room. Even as Phoebe was telling me “no,” I saw a white gentleman walk up next to me, put his ID (driver’s license) on the counter before Andrew, and watched Andrew assign his room and handed his key. I sat down and waited, and then about a half hour or so later, Phoebe called me over and gave me keys for room 323. I excitedly thanked her and collected my belongings I had left near the front desk and headed upstairs. Immediately I recognized something wasn’t right. I didn’t even unpack my bag. There was no refrigerator, the room was warm, and when I tried to move the channels on the tv, there was difficulty since the room seemed unable to maintain a wi-fi connection. I called the front desk and Andrew answered. When I mentioned all of the issues I had with the room, he was apologetic and tried to sell me the story that “none of the rooms on the floor have refrigerators, since we’re in the process of upgrading the amenities throughout the hotel, so no…we can’t offer you one right now.” I immediately knew it was a lie. And all it took for me to validate it was to ask my neighbor next door as she entered her room. When I told her I could not locate my refrigerator, if there was one, she attempted the helpful thing to point out where her refrigerator was located. I thanked her and headed back to the phone. This time Phoebe picked up, and regardless of how I asked about the inefficiencies of my room, she parroted Andrew’s words, and added that because of my inconvenience, they would forego the fee I would ordinarily be charged when my stay ended. When I inquired about simply changing my room to one more accommodating for a customer, Andrew and Phoebe were in chorus that there were no other rooms available “since we are near capacity.” Mind you, someone deaf, dumb, and blind could see that that was a lie as there were a scarce number of cars in that huge parking lot (48 to be exact). After taking a few minutes to tackle the tv, I finally decided to go downstairs to the front desk again. This time, there was no Andrew or Phoebe. Instead, I made my plea to Terine. It was then that I understood some in your company might actually be customer-focused. Never having encountered this kind of treatment in any of the hotels I’ve stayed in around the world, and convinced that Andrew and Phoebe were liars, I walked up to Terine and simply asked if already having been assigned the worst room in the hotel, were there any options for transferring to another room. Her answer was quick and simple: “Sure.” Then Terine started surveying the open rooms and within seconds handed me the keys to room 928, with my promise to bring the old keys to her after transferring my bags. Somewhere down the line, Andrew and Phoebe didn’t get or refused to learn the lesson that as a customer, the primary obligation is to make sure that you are doing whatever you can to address whatever they need. If your industry is hospitality, then your tone and your actions should be hospitable. Even though that encounter at the desk with the white gentleman reeked of racism, maybe the other lesson the “duo of disappointment” can learn is that people are just people and when people travel to take advantage of your company’s offerings, they should be duly and generously considered, regardless of who they are. Once they assume the title “customer,” they should be recipients of your best. Finally, after a great stay, I reported back to CeCe at the front desk, that I had left my Roku and Firestick devices with a power outlet and was hoping to retrieve them. Additionally, I wrote emails and spoke to Sarah, who confirmed, basically, that the reason why I had not gotten any responses is because it goes to a black hole, where almost anyone, and most assuredly NO ONE will ever answer them. When I spoke with her and she promised to have the head of housekeeping follow up with me…guess how many people contacted me? Guess how many times I’ve spoken to anyone from housekeeping? Guess how many updates I’ve received regarding my equipment? Just when I was hoping that Terine was the standard, she proved she’s the outlier. I’ll be visiting Nashville again for sure. Equally sure, I won’t even look in the direction of Millennium Hotel, much less staying there, ever again. Beyond disappointed and frustrated...and that's truly an understatement.

Be ready for disappointment - whatever you think this hotel will be, it is worse. There are better hotels to stay at, and I would avoid this one every time, but if you are adventurous, read below to see what kind of an experience you may have. As you enter the hotel you will be greeted by the broken entry doors, that require you to zig-zag through them to enter the building. Upon completely this unique entry experience, you will arrive in a large, mostly empty lobby. If you are fortunate to be there on the weekend, you may also be greeted by many drunken party goers returning from their escapades in the city. After check-in, you get to ride the elevator, which may contain unidentifiable liquids spilled on the floor, and if you are truly lucky will trap you between floors when it breaks down on you. Finally upon arriving in your room, enjoy the old caulked together, broken fixtures, possibly a broken TV, and where you can play the identify the stains game. Fortunately, to bring extra excitement to your sleeping experience, you may be serenaded through the night by loud party goers blaring music and banging on the walls late into the night. All that said, once you leave, you will be thrilled to return to the comfort of your own home and bed, having had a truly memorable experience in Nashville.

Worst phone customer service ever. Terine really needs a training course on how to speak to other humans, let alone guests. Was booking for a birthday party and wanted to experience the historic property. If this is how they treat you on the phone I can only imagine how they treat you in person. I immediately cancelled.

Overall a great hotel. Entire staff was always cordial. We did not rent a car so we utilized the shuttle all 5 days to and from Downtown Nashville. Very nice service. Are there less expensive and more updated hotels in the area and downtown? Of course. But for the price we paid....it was much lower and very quiet. The comp breakfast in our opinion really not worth it. Would recommend they just shut it down and just keep the water/coffee in the lobby. View of DT Nashville from my 8th floor room is a great perk as well. Thanks for everything.

Possibly one of the worst hotels I’ve stayed at in the USA. Grubby rooms,unclean carpets, non existent breakfast, Colleagues had bugs in their room, water stains on the walls and grumpy check in staff. Generally a hotel that has seen better days. The only redeeming feature was the lovely lady in the kiosk shop.