Madison Radisson? (Huntsville: hotels, house, camp)

[SarahBellum]

Just saw that the Madison Radisson was empty, the sign is covered up, the parking lot is cordoned off, and there was a security vehicle parked at the entry. Anyone know what's going on? I assume it's a brand change but just wondered since I haven't heard anything.

Thanks!

[BMW Dave]

Yeah, the owner recently changed his Huntsville Radisson into a Double Tree

I worked at the Radisson in Madison back in 2007.

For those of you who don't remember it was built as a Howard Johnson, the owner is a very small man and is very cheap.

He only changed to the Radisson name plate to charge the max rate for rooms. The company made him install those sleep number type beds, he fought them and delayed at every turn.

Now I am a Hilton person, if they change that to a Double Tree it will be a swindle of the highest order.

Also there is no Elevator, while it is only 2 levels, let me tell you I got complaints every single night about the elevator.

In it's time the HoJo was a great for what it was, little fact, before the Marriott was built HoJo was where the space camp kids stayed!

[SarahBellum]

Thank you for the info! I was just curious since I hadn't hear/read anything but I've been out of town a lot lately. I've had family members stay there when it was a Radisson and it never felt quite like what a Radisson hotel should. They complained about no elevator, too! So, same owner, different brand, huh? So things other than the sign may not change?

[BMW Dave]

Originally Posted by SarahBellum

Thank you for the info! I was just curious since I hadn't hear/read anything but I've been out of town a lot lately. I've had family members stay there when it was a Radisson and it never felt quite like what a Radisson hotel should. They complained about no elevator, too! So, same owner, different brand, huh? So things other than the sign may not change?

Hilton has higher standard for many things, but I know him, he will put in the minimum and charge the maximum. Keep in mind he liked me, I don't know why, I only met him twice.

But as a Loyal Hilton brand client, I would be very upset to see a Double Tree in there.

I stayed at 2 in a row that were rebadged lesser hotels and I haven't stayed in one since.

Basically the difference between the Radisson in Madison and the old Ramada was that the Ramada had roaches and we didn't. We had ant problems.

It's a great little hotel, but it only had 2 suites, so unless they are doing actual wall busting it won't compare to an actual Doubletree. Also he wouldn't want to limit the max rooms.

One thing that bugged me was if a room was under repair or out of order or something and we were full except for that room or rooms, we wouldn't get our Full House Bonus. So by some measure at least one room was always "Out of Order" so we wouldn't get the advertised bonus, which at the time was the average room rate divided up among all the front desk employees. $85 split 5-7 ways.

I literally got that 3 times in 6 months despite running out of rooms more than a few times...

Sorry to rant! I look forward to seeing what it becomes...

[SarahBellum]

Don't see it as a rant! It's always interesting and insightful to hear from someone who knows the "inside" story.