Flagship Inn of Ashland

I have a terrible update for anyone planning to stay at the Flagship Inn, including folks who have stayed here before. There seems to be no one working in the front desk! No service at all that I ever saw on site. I can see from other reviews that this is a change from before Instead, we checked in using a horrible, cheap looking digital kiosk that connected via a screen to a "live" agent in the Phillipines. All dialog and transactions took place with a worker on a screen, looking at us from the other side of the planet. I strongly object to this outsourcing of a good job to a digital service overseas rather than hiring a local worker! People need jobs. This is so offensive to us. Plus, it is terrible crappy service for the actual humans staying here at the hotel. We hesitantly put our credit card into this kiosk machine. We immediately got tense. It is the EXACT OPPOSITE of a warm welcome. I hate having my financial information routed through foreign sites with remote call centers with customer service workers on unknown and unreliable digital networks. Even if the information is only kept stateside, that is in no way communicated in the process. After we paid for the room and the deposit, we recieve a misprinted, off center receipt with our room number on it. But, at least we could read it. And the machine printed two plastic room keys which worked. As far as I can tell, the kiosk in the empty front office is not adequately monitored. This whole set up is just begging for a card skimmer to be installed by someone enterprising and clever. The room was reasonably clean but very smelly. For a non-smoking room it smelled pretty acrid. Otherwise, it was that kind of clean-shabby quality of most places like this. It's OK. This is why it is more affordable. The amenities were OK. However, as long as the office is manned from a digital kiosk through a foreign service, we will never stay here again

Our check-in experience was frustrating from the start. When we walked into the office, two employees directed us to a self-service check-in kiosk. They continued talking to each other while we were trying to hear the person on the kiosk screen, making it difficult to understand the instructions. As a result, our check-in took much longer than it should have. Meanwhile, other guests arrived after us and were directed by the person on the kiosk screen to check in at the front desk instead. They completed their check-in before we did. To make matters worse, the kiosk key programming system didn't work, so we were sent to the front desk to get our room keys anyway. We then had to wait in line behind guests who had arrived after us. After checking in, I asked a front desk employee outside whether the rooms were serviced daily. I was told housekeeping services the rooms every third day, but that more frequent service was available upon request. I requested daily service, and the response I received was, "We'll see if they have time to get around to it." That was not the level of customer service I expected. The room also lacked an adequate supply of towels. We stayed in a two-room suite with three people—a room that accommodates up to four guests—but were provided only two complete sets of towels and one extra bath towel. In addition, two of the three bath towels were worn and looked like they belonged in a high school locker room rather than a hotel. Breakfast was another disappointment. The selection was very limited, and there were no protein options available. Overall, our stay fell well below expectations. The inefficient check-in process, poor customer service, inadequate housekeeping, insufficient and worn towels, and disappointing breakfast made for a frustrating experience.

We stayed at Flagship Inn last fall and were happy with our stay. Has this property changed hands or just the name since then? We will book elsewhere when we return to Ashland in October. +Check-in was fine once the couple ahead of me were put on pause (something about them not having photo ID). +Room was nice and cool. AC was on and working well. (Outside temp 100•F) +Room was very clean. -TV and the two channel guides provided in the guest binder were not compatible. They simply didn’t jibe. -Swimming pool was closed until 7/24 evening, even though we were assured it would be open after maintenance was performed the week prior. Staff told us that after maintenance was performed and water was tested, chemicals were not at correct levels. The state inspector shut it down until corrections were made. Because of our play tickets, we were unable to use the pool before check-out on 7/25. -Water pressure (sink and shower) were low. -Water drained slowly in the sink. -Only one ice machine for the entire complex.