Here is an experience that we recently had when going on a
weekend away. I wanted to share some of the experience with everyone, so you can
also be away of what can happen when you decided to take a vacation and
possibly extend it.
The original plan for this trip was to spend one night in a
hotel, so we booked it online through the hotel chain’s website. That was easy
enough to do, and we got a reasonable price for the Saturday night. When it was
getting closer to the weekend, we decided to see if we could add the Friday
evening onto the reservation again at a reasonable cost. I phoned the hotel
directly as I wanted to see what they would quote us for adding the Friday
night and when I got through, they quoted me $294 CDN for adding the Friday
night. I knew that was a crazy price so after asking to speak to a manager (no
manager on duty) I hung up and figured there was no way we were going to be
paying that price. I then looked up the hotel chain’s reservation number and
was quoted $152 CDN to add the Friday night to our reservation. Yes, a major
difference between calling the hotel directly and booking it through their central
reservation. We did find out that some of the other people that we were seeing
that weekend also booked directly through the hotel and when they went to pay
for the rooms discovered the price, so they went to a different hotel.
Upon arriving at the hotel, we found out why we don’t use
this chain very often. The reason we were using this chain was it was very
close to where we were going. Next time, we will drive a little further for a
better experience. When we got to the desk to check in, we were not welcome but
just asked for our driver’s license and credit card. The person then checked us
in and told us that we would get no housekeeping during our stay until we
requested it. That isn’t something that bothered either of us, as we were only
staying two nights, it wasn’t a big deal.
We then went up to check to see that the room was what we
wanted and to figure out where it was, given we would be carrying our luggage
up a flight of stairs. The room was just a basic room with a queen bed and a
table and a small couch. When we went into the bathroom, we discovered that
there was no soap at all so figured we would check with the front desk to see
if we could get some. It was then we decided to go and get our luggage and get
settled in for the two days. As we were returning to our room with our luggage
the front desk person was walking by, so we asked about the soap and her
comment was “Oh, we don’t have any soap as we are waiting for the truck to
delivery some. If you really need some, I might be able to find something.” Thankfully, we normally have some soap in our suitcases.
Signing in to the Wi-Fi also was a bit of a challenge because
there was no place that showed you how to sign in or what the password could be,
so we had to call down to get that information. Yes, another frustration during
the first hour of being in our room. Thank goodness I looked to see what time
breakfast each morning of our stay was because that wasn’t mentioned either.
Yes, this hotel left a lot to be desired for the price we were paying for the
weekend. The Friday night was the cheaper of the two nights.
Now, here is a summary of what we thought of the room/hotel. The desk chair was missing both arms and there had been arms on the chair
previously as you could see the locations of where they attached. Air
conditioning was rotten, you were either freezing or very hot because if you
set the air conditioner to auto it just kept running and didn’t stop when it
reached the temperature you wanted. Oh, the shampoo and conditioner were on the
wall in the shower and the shampoo was also empty. The room was ok given everything,
but the couch was also right in front of the air conditioner, so sitting on it
might you froze. Breakfast was included in the price of the hotel, and it was a
very basic meal and there were only 6 tables where you could sit and eat (not
enough at any time for people to eat).
So yes, the experience at this hotel reminded us why we don’t
use this hotel chain very often. When we were checking out, of course they asked
how our say was, and I said it would have been nice to have soap and shampoo.
The front desk person looked at me and said, “Oh, you could have let us know you
didn’t have soap or shampoo.” My reply was “We did, and you told us the truck
hadn’t brought the soap and checking the status of shampoo should be what the staff
do.” Of course, we only discovered that there was no shampoo when my husband
was having a shower.
Yes, so one of the biggest things that I want everyone to take
from this experience is if you want to extend a hotel stay, call the hotel
directly if you can, so
You can see what rate they will quote you. Also check
the hotel website for the rate and then call the central reservation number to
see what rate you get with them. It will probably be a lot cheaper than the
hotel is quoting you.
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