Travellers - if you plan on taking advantage of the Sleep Inn's Park & Fly deal...don't!!!

My husband and I were flying out of Buffalo on our honeymoon, so we decided to stay at the Sleep Inn for one night. We got the Park & Fly package - it seemed like a good deal with a one nights stay, free breakfast in the morning and up to one week of parking in the Sleep Inn "lot".

The lot was not the hotel's own parking lot. It was a gravel parking lot down the road. Alarm bells should have gone off when we saw this lot, but unfortunately, they didn't. The lot did not have any security, it was not secured or even lit for that matter. It was wide open to anyone....a thief's dream!

To our dismay, when the shuttle dropped us off at our car after our vacation, we noticed that someone tried to break into our car. There was damage to the side of the door. If they did break in, nothing was stolen. However, we didn't keep anything of value in the car...thank goodness.

We drove back to the hotel and spoke with the front desk staff. He was not the manager, but he did take photos and apologized for what happened. He said he would have his manager call us the next day and try to work out a solution.

The next day, no one called us, so my husband called to speak with the manager. She said that there was nothing they could do for us. She didn't even apologize. We were quite upset because the damage done to the car cost as much as our stay at the hotel.

Unhappy with the response my husband received from the manager, he called Choice Hotels directly and after speaking with a few people, a Customer Service Rep agreed to send us gift certificates for a one nights stay at any Choice Hotel.

We were happy with this reconciliation and ended up saving the certificate for our one year anniversary, which we planned on using in Buffalo to do some shopping before heading for a stay in Niagara on the Lake.

For our anniversary, we stayed at the Comfort Suites in Buffalo (901 Dick Rd, Buffalo, NY 14225). This hotel is also part of the Choice Hotel chain and is close to the airport. If you have to decide which hotel to stay at, chose the Comfort Suites! It's far nicer, cleaner and renovated. Also, we inquired with the staff about their Park & Fly packages. Instead of parking your vehicle in a dark, gravel lot in the middle of nowhere, they allow guests to park their vehicles in their own hotel lot. At least their lot is well lite and receives frequent traffic which can help deter thieves.

All in all, the Sleep Inn on Holtz Rd is not that great. Breakfast area was dark and rather gross looking, the staff weren't very happy to be there and the rooms were old, smelly and dirty. For the same price and location, stay at the Comfort Suites.....you'll be glad you did so!