Enduring an uncomfortable stay at the Comfort Inn

Q. I recently had a disastrous stay at a Comfort Inn in Capitol Heights, Md.

When my wife and I checked in, we were given the keys to a room that was a mess. The upholstery on the armchair was soiled, the ottoman was stained, the room hadn't been vacuumed and the bathroom wasn't clean.

Instead of requesting another room, I decided to give the staff an opportunity to clean up. Why should I have expected another room to be in better condition? If they had such a room, why wouldn't they have given it to me in the first place?

When we got back to our room the next evening, nothing had been done at all. In addition to the mess we'd seen the previous day, our soiled towels had been left in the room, new towels had not been supplied and the room was still in shambles.

The hotel has a sign at the front desk that guarantees a refund if complaints can't be remedied satisfactorily and in a timely fashion. I sent an e-mail to Comfort Inn about a month ago, but haven't received a response.

Am I wrong to expect minimum standards in a hotel room, like regular and thorough cleaning, fresh towels and comfortable furniture?

Frank Gilbuena, Rosemont, Pa.

A. No, that isn't asking too much. Comfort Inn should have given you the keys to a comfortable room -- not one that the housekeepers apparently overlooked.

But when it didn't, you should have dropped the Mr. Nice Guy routine. Instead of telling someone at the front desk that your room wasn't acceptable, you should have asked for a clean room. And if one wasn't available, you should have checked out.

I can't believe that you gave Comfort Inn an entire day to fix the problem. That's incredibly generous of you, and the only thing more surprising than that is that the property didn't fix the problem. I mean, how hard is it to send a housekeeper up there to vacuum and change the towels?

Invoking the "100 Percent Satisfaction Guarantee" offered by Comfort Inn wasn't a bad idea, but it was too little, too late. The policy (www.choicehotels.com/ires/en-US/html/GuestPolicies) is not as cut-and-dried as you make it sound.

"If you are not satisfied with your accommodations or our service, please advise the front desk of a problem right away and give them an opportunity to correct the situation," it says. "If the hotel staff is unable to satisfy you, they may give you up to one night's free stay."

The operative word here is: "may." And leaving the hotel before the problem is addressed makes a successful resolution less likely, at least in my experience.

I think certain inconveniences at a hotel can be temporarily overlooked. For example, if your shower isn't stocked with soap and shampoo or the remote control on the TV doesn't work, that's something you can give the hotel a little time to take care of.

But there are other things that no hotel guest should have to tolerate, not even for a minute. A filthy room is one of them. You were far too accommodating to the Comfort Inn, and you waited too long to get things resolved. Patience -- at least in this case -- is not a virtue.

I contacted the hotel on your behalf. A company representative phoned you promptly, apologized for the unsatisfactory experience and offered a full refund.

The TravelTroubleshooterChristopher Elliott is theombudsman for NationalGeographic Travelermagazine.E-mail him atcelliot@ngs.org or troubleshootyour trip through hisWeb site at www.csr.elliott.org.