HomeTowne Studios by Red Roof Kansas City - Independence

We arrived at the hotel on Saturday afternoon and we're told they could not honor our reservation. We reserved a room with two beds. They did not have such a room available. The hotel is under renovation which is clear when you arrive and this was the excuse they used. We had to drive around town to find another place to stay.

Let me start by saying that the ladies who worked in the office for my first two days were wonderful. The location is also very convenient. But that's where the positives end. So here we go... I was put in room 240. End room, minimal neighbors, cool. Except that it wasn't. First, my door did not shut. It wasn't just that the door didn't swing itself shut, but the door legitimately did not shut and lock like a hotel room door is supposed to. I had to reinsert my key card so that I could turn the knob and shimmy the door locked into place before I left my room. The dead bolt also did not line up correctly. The refrigerator was all dented up. The bathroom sink was clogged. The blankets on the bed were practically non-existent. There was a sheet but no comforter. The top blanket was extremely thin and had what appeared to be cigarette holes in it. The pillows were also lumpy and thin. The bed was hard and not comfortable. But it gets worse... I didn't check in until about 9:30 p.m. I got in my room about 10, unpacked a few things, realized there were a few issues, and decided to let it slide. I had to wash my car and to the grocery store for the weekend. I get back to my room around midnight and turn on the heat. Why the heat wasn't already on in January in the Midwest, I'm not sure, but it wasn't. So I turn on the heat and noticed that it's on high and set to 90°. So I turned it down to about 72. I fall asleep while using my computer. I wake up about 2:30 in the morning absolutely FREEZING! The "heat" had not stopped running, and it was just blowing cold air straight at the bed. I had driven 9 hours, I was exhausted, I had to be up in a couple of hours. The recording when you call the hotel says that the office closes at 11:00 p.m. At 3:00 in the morning I was not trying to figure out how to get ahold of someone and trying to move all of my clothes, all of my toiletries, and all of my groceries. So I grabbed a hoodie, I bundled up the best that I could in my sheet and my half of a comforter, or whatever you want to call it, and I got into the fetal position for the next 5 hours. I called the hotel at 8:00 a.m. the next morning, and she was able to move me to a new room. This room was better but still not great. There are two sets of drawers for your clothes and both were damaged. The toilet did not flush properly. I had to kind of give it a test flush, and then a second or third flush would actually get it to flush. The new room did have a third blanket on the bed, which was big, fluffy, and warm. I could have used that in the first room that didn't have heat! I asked for a late check out upon check-in, and was told that a 12:00 p.m. check out would be fine. At 11:20 a.m., I hear someone screaming so loud that I thought they were in my room. I had just gotten out of the shower and I jumped and slammed the bathroom door thinking that someone was actually in my room. I discovered that it was the manager, or whoever, doing their rounds checking the roo

The place could use some freshening -- new paint, furniture repairs, etc. -- but overall it is a safe, clean place to spend a night or a week. I felt it was a good value, and would certainly stay there again. The check-in process is my only real complaint. There is no lobby to speak of, and I had to use a phone in the outdoor breezeway to summon the desk clerk to come check me in around 7:45 p.m. She produced a sheet full of rules, which I had to initial in literally 15 different spots. I was also provided with a list of rules to take with me. I understand the need to have rules, but this process was pretty heavy-handed and, in my opinion, unnecessary. My credit card was charged both for the room charges and the deposit. I don't mind if they want to put a hold on the card for the deposit amount, but they shouldn't run the charge on the card and make me keep an eye on it after my stay to make sure the deposit is refunded. It snowed overnight on the first night of my stay, and the maintenance guy did a great job of shoveling, salting, etc. early the next morning. Kudos to him! The room was comfortable, with everything working, including heater, TV, refrigerator, and microwave. It took a while to get the Wi-fi up and running; the instructions on the rules sheet were strangely written, and made it hard to figure out that the access code was simply a four-digit number. Bandwidth was very limited during prime-time evening hours, but acceptable during the day.