“I would rather stay at the homeless shelter. It would be cleaner.”
Absolutley horrible experience. I can't believe the Howard Johnston carries their name on this hotel. I have stayed at lots of hojo's and this was not in the same league. We where not expecting anything fancy, just clean. Upon checking in, we went to our room, which reeked of pet urine, and smoke. Carpet had disgusting white stains on it. We then got changed to another room, which was hotter than the sahara, heater was broken, and on full blast. Our 3rd room had a hole punched in the wall, and cracks in the bathroom floor. After 3 room changes, there was no manager around. Doesn't he do room checks.. Is he that clueless his hotel is in shambles??? The front desk girl explained because we had booked through Expedia, we would have to call them for a refund. Very disappointed. My parents stayed at inn of laurel point, for $30 more, well worth it!!!! Stay away from this one!!!!!!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
2 December 2010
This is a General Manager response to the review posted 28 November 2010 by user "Travelforever99". I thank the reviewer for using Trip Advisor. We are very sorry that this guest did not have a positive guest experience. Unfortunately the guest has not been entierly accuarate regarding their experience. The review in question has some valid complaints but is also riddled with misinformation, erroneuos claims and out right inaccuracies. In this case, the words fact and fiction come to mind; the only things these words have in common are the letter "f", otherwise the words have opposite meanings and this review is a case in point. Let me answer each and every complaint the reviewer wrote about. 1) The claim of the room reeking of pet urine & tobacco is false - two staff members (both non-smokers) checked this room after they left and stated that their was no odour, of any kind. Also, this room has never been a pet friendly room or smoking room. 2) The carpet did have some discolouration, not disgusting stains as claimed. 3) The claim that the room was hot is correct - it was quite cold in Victoria that night and we always leave the heat on for the comfort of the Guest - the heater was not broken; the Guest has the option to adjust the temperature or even turn the heat off, if they choose to do so, which they obvioulsy did not. 4) The statement about a hole punched in the wall is also misleading; their was a tear in the wallpaper, and thus a small hole behind the towel rack; we were not aware of this, which is 100% our fault as this is not acceptable. Again, we apologize for this lapse on our part. 5) There were no cracks in the floor as claimed; there was a section of new flooring in the bathroom. 6) As to no manager being around, these issues occurred after 6.00pm when the day manager's are off, however, the Front Desk Agents are acting manager's in their absence. As to the erroneous claim that the hotel is in shambles, this is a simply not the case and our ratings, reviews, guests and employees would be pleased to dispute this outright falsehood. 7) The guest did book with Expdedia - this is true, however the guest pays Exepedia for the room, not the hotel. What the reviewer did not state was that we called Expedia on their behalf (so they would not have to deal with the hassle of claiming a refund) and arranged a full refund on their room, which was processed immediately. 8) The reviewer states that their parents stayed at the Laurel Point Inn for $30.00 more per night than our hotel; again, this is not correct. The cheapest rate for a double room at the Laurel Point on the night in question was $99.00 - the guest paid an Expedia rate of $44.80 at our hotel, a difference of $54.20.
Please keep in mind we are not the Hilton - we are Howard Johnson and our building is older for sure and is not as new looking as some others, but we pride ourselves on providing great service (and the opportunity to make it right if there are guest concerns), value priced rates, our huge indoor pool and a conveinent location. I reached out to the Guest by calling them but they choose not to return my calls which is regretable. I understand that the guest was unhappy but the facts must speak for themselves regardless. We would again like to offer the Guest our sincere apologies and hope that they will be more accurate, positive or negative, with their reviews of where they stay in the future.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
