2/10 Rating
We were super excited about our stay at the Kasa South Loop Chicago, especially because of the beautiful photos of pristine, modern rooms and furniture and the almost 5 star reviews online. When we went to our apartment, however, we found dingy/stained furniture, stained and very worn carpet, in fact the carpet was coming loose from the floor and the carpet tack strip was visible at both bedroom entrances with dozens of exposed tacks, dirty floors and walls, and multiple stains visible on the mattresses and hair on the “clean” bedding. I didn’t even check the counters or bathroom, because I couldn’t get past the dirt and hair on the floors of the living room and bedroom. The quality and cleanliness was definitely not what was advertised on the Kasa website and we couldn’t stay in an apartment that’s dirtier and more dingy than our home while on vacation with our young kids. This was after walking through a bunch of very dark and dingy hallways that wreaked of cigarettes and pot in order to arrive at our apartment. I called the Kasa customer service number, and they told me to check with the onsite team about switching to a different room. When we spoke with the onsite team, they told us that all of the apartments/rooms in the building were in a similar, unclean condition. They said every room is like that. They admitted that they knew it looked nothing like what’s being advertised online, and that they’ve told the corporate office about it, but nothing had been done. We called the customer service number again and explained the updated situation, and requested a refund so that we could switch to a different hotel for the night. They told us that because we had already checked in, they couldn’t offer a refund. I don’t know how we could have known about the disgustingness of the apartment without checking in, especially because they don’t give you the access code to enter the building or apartment until you’ve checked in online. We were definitely scammed. We were forced to find another hotel for the night, which wasn’t cheap at the last minute. We paid over $500 for a 2 night stay at the Kasa South Loop Chicago, but of course we never stayed. Unfortunately, these complaints are not reasons to receive a refund, according to Kasa, and they told us that our reservation was purchased at a non-refundable rate. I attempted to reverse the charge, but Kasa refused to accept and refund my bank. We ended up having to cut our vacation short because of the extra expenses, which was very disappointing. Obviously, I have an issue with the false advertising and the unsanitary condition of the building and apartment, but to be treated the way we were by the “customer service” team during and after the check in process was very upsetting, too. We felt as though we had been baited and taken advantage of. I’ll attach a few photos that I took of the carpet and beds. Trust me when I say the furniture and walls were disgusting, too.
**UPDATE** Kasa is claiming below that we never checked out. I spoke with a Kasa agent on the phone and told them we weren’t going to be staying, and I sent them an email as well as soon as we left that day (9/26/23), which they responded to and said that whether we decided to stay in a different room or not, they were bound by their rules to not give us a refund. The health and safety of our kids was more important to us than Kasa’s fine print rules, so no, we didn’t stay and I told the agent that over the phone after telling the onsite manager that we weren’t going to be staying. I’m not sure what other hoops Kasa wanted us to jump through in order to make it clear that we were checking out. I’ll attach screenshots of the emails. I’m sure that 8 or 9 times out of 10, Kasa will deliver what they are advertising. However, it doesn’t take away from the fact it wasn’t anything like they had advertised - it was unsanitary/unsafe, and we were still forced to pay $500, even though we had checked out and had told several staff members that we were doing so. Even now, they’re still arguing that we’re in the wrong.