Yesterday I had a terrible experience at Hotel 314. I mistakenly selected a room with no AC (an easy oversight as the pictures on Expedia show an AC unit in the room). I accepted blame for missing that detail hidden in the fine print of the room option I booked. I asked to be upgraded to the room with AC which is $37/night on Expedia, only $10 more than the $27 I paid for the no AC room. The receptionist insisted that it costs an extra $30 to upgrade, which is over double the cost of the original room! I mentioned the lower advertised rate on Expedia for the same room, and she didn't care.
I refused and walked a few blocks in the heat through some sketchy areas to Hotel Italia, which I could immediately tell was a more clean and professional establishment. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a room with a double bed and AC was only $24/night, in stark contrast to the $62 that Hotel 314 wanted for a similar room!
The AC in Hotel 314 was old (not eco friendly) the TV was an old school tube television without HD or HDMI inputs, which is completely worthless for streaming on Roku. The staff will try to squeeze extra money out of you, given the opportunity. This is apparently directed from the top, because I had a lengthy and unproductive conversation with management in which they justified trying to make me pay substantially higher than advertised price & believed they were in the right & I was in the wrong for walking out & refusing to be taken advantage of. Buyer beware.
