When Susan Leger arrived for a three-night stay at the Baymont Inn & Suites in Helen, Georgia, she thought she and her six-year-old granddaughter were in for a fun weekend away. Instead, they ended up walking to a new hotel in their pajamas hours later after being escorted out of the Baymont by police.
And it was all over a 3-star review.
Leger was kicked out of the Baymont after its manager, Danny Vyas, called the cops on her for her review of the "rundown" motel.
She spoke about the experience with Atlanta's 11Alive, seen below.
Leger left the review on the booking site Hotels.com, which rates hotels on a 5-star scale.
In it, she cited a few specific complaints about the Baymont:
"Rundown. Pool's not open. Toilet doesn't flush well."
Soon thereafter, Vyas was screaming at her to leave. Speaking with 11Alive, Leger described how frightening the experience was for her granddaughter.
"The man is screaming at me. He was saying, 'You get out now. I call the police.' My granddaughter's like clinging to my leg and crying so hard. This was scary. This was just horrifying."
Before long, the police had arrived to escort Leger and her granddaughter off the premises after Vyas called 911—a turn of events that left Leger mystified.
"'They can truly kick me out for giving a review of three out of five?' And [the officer] says, 'Yes, ma'am. It's within the law.'"
The officer did help Leger and her granddaughter find a different hotel, but they had to walk there in their pajamas.
Speaking to 11Alive in September, Vyas explained it wasn't that Leger left the review that was the problem, but rather she chose not to call and speak with him or his staff first.
On a subsequent discussion with the news outlet in November however, Vyas changed his story, saying Leger had been calling too much about her complaints.
"We let her know lots of times to stop calling us. If you're not happy, change the room or leave the place. They called me at least 10, 11 times in maybe one hour… Everything is not right."
Leger denies that claim, as well as one Vyas made to a 911 dispatcher that she was refusing to leave the hotel.
As for Hotels.com, the company had been of little help to Leger. The company refused to refund her for her stay, telling her its policies do not allow for refunds.
The company reversed that policy after being contacted by 11Alive, however, and issued Leger a full refund two months after the incident.
On social media, many people were appalled by Leger's experience.
It's the law in Georgia! If you give a 3 star review, they have the right to kick you out! WTF? https://t.co/CFCenLzodA
— Ołówków🌊🌊😷💉💉 (@Woofkoof) November 23, 2021
I'm guessing now that 3-star review is going to be downgraded. 😬
— Mad World (@mmmadWORLDDD) November 23, 2021
Wow! I hope this hotel shutters it's doors very soon. This is insane!!! https://t.co/m78p0E1rSt
— Alan White (@AlanWhi72135615) November 23, 2021
Hopefully it will be FORMER
hotel manager, Danny Vyas@hotelscomhelp@WyndhamHotelshttps://t.co/mzaFp1VdCT
— Explorer David-Neel (@nevergop33) November 23, 2021
"'They can truly kick me out for giving a review of three out of five?' And [the officer] says, 'Yes, ma'am. It's within the law,'" Leger said.
That doesn't sound right and the cop made it up. I hope she sue both of them. https://t.co/IuOtyfcrht
— Lafler Accof (@AccofLafler) November 22, 2021
Manager of Baymont Inn & Suites in the mountain town of Helen, Georgia, kicks grandmother and granddaughter out of hotel in middle of night due to bad review.
Guess where I'll never stay. https://t.co/5KfgGA5tn1
— TechHelp (@TechHelp) November 23, 2021
welcome to insanity - https://t.co/3HaoHFtFPh
— Gabriel Morency (@sportsrage) November 24, 2021
Who is worse: the hotel owner for being awful and breaking his contract, or the cops for even bothering to respond to this call?https://t.co/oRl7BxthMe
— Jonathan Howe for Congress (NY-14) (@JonathanCHowe) November 22, 2021
I stopped using https://t.co/0SbsciShdI after they robbed me of 83 dollars. Never book thru https://t.co/0SbsciShdI
'Screaming' hotel manager accused of kicking out grandmother and her granddaughter over 3-star review https://t.co/Z3fu7UVLYN
— View From The Watchtower (@Chadwrite) November 22, 2021
🚨🚨Avoid Hotels dot com@hotelsdotcom only gave her a refund months later after press contacted them
'Screaming' Georgia hotel manager accused of kicking out grandmother and her 6 yo granddaughter over 3-star review- Cops forced them to leave https://t.co/flVBuEpRss
— Paul Chambers📢🏥🤡 (@feedingtubepaul) November 22, 2021
WTF ? Granny, 63, and granddaughter, 6, kicked out of Baymont Inn & Suites in Helen, GA after bad review https://t.co/bquDuueTtD
— mark allen (@area51elvis) November 23, 2021
Leger has issued a warning to any potential travelers staying in a hotel they found on Hotels.com, urging them to ignore the company's iprompting to review hotels while their stay is still in progress "if you don't want to be walking in your pajamas with your 6-year-old granddaughter."
Seems like good advice.