Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts Hotels in Bridgeton

We arrived on a Wednesday night, after reserving a “balcony” room with two double beds. Our party included two adults and two children (as confirmed via our online booking). Upon arrival our room had only three sets of towels. Upon contacting the front desk, we were told that we could come down to pick up additional, as they didn’t have staff to deliver. We DID notice a housekeeper cleaning “front of house” areas, but evidently delivering items to guest rooms wasn’t part of her job description. Our room did NOT have a balcony. It wasn’t of major importance to us, however, we DID pay more (per room night) for this feature. When it was brought it to the attention of the front desk (“manager” Alicia or Amanda?), she kindly adjusted our rate. However, when checking out on Sunday, we found that while 3 nights were “adjusted” appropriately, our Thursday night rate was actually increased $20. This was above and beyond our quoted balcony room rate. (We were in a standard room for the duration of our stay.) This concern was brought to the attention of the front desk clerk working on Sunday morning. She explained that her “manager” wouldn’t be in until mid-afternoon, and she had no “access” or rights to adjust room rates. We find this unacceptable- not having a Manager on Duty “on site”, who can handle guest problems during a Sunday morning (mass) checkout. The clerk we spoke to did not apologize, and seemed indifferent to our concern. Also observed in the lobby was (what appeared to be) a non-hotel guest “transient” sitting on the couch and “tweaking” (rocking, talking to self, urinated on carpeted floor). The person asked us for money, and hotel staff appeared to allow this person’s presence in their lobby setting (rather than encouraging her to “move along”. Is this common practice? The hotel decor is beautiful, and the landscaping well-kept (sprinkler system was working throughout out stay). Parking lot was to be resurfaced. Our key cards didn’t work on several occasions, thus causing us to return from 7th Floor to front desk for reprogramming. Lastly, the majority of the sandwiches, salads, and wraps in the sellf-serve cafe area had reached their expiration dates. But, the breakfast buffet offered within the lower level dining area exceeded our expectations. This property has much potential. However, management and staff will have to pay better attention to detail if they hope to advance to the next level!