Tag Archives: definitely not 5 star

Coast Discovery Hotel, Campbell River, B.C.

We stayed in this Hotel for one night, especially because it was right across the street from the Quadra Island Ferry. We had picked a Premium Jr. Suite for the three of us and boy it was not as advertised.

It was a king size bed across from a sofa bed, open to one and all. It was just on big room so Kelly went down to the Front Desk to see it could be upgraded or somehow changed.

The Guest Service Manager, Alvin Lomio could not have been nicer or more pleasant. We found the entire staff that we encountered were the same pleasant staff and genuinely smiling. We were given a different room, complimentary upgrade, to one with a door off the bedroom and it had a full bathroom, and another tv.

In the living room, it had a sofa bed and TV, fridge.

What was missing: wine glasses, drinking glasses, plain coasters to protect table tops, wine bottle opener and cutlery. Two of each item is mot enough. Paint on most surfaces and doorways as it was looking quite old. The two bathrooms had a sewer gas odor and, if you stayed longer, you would become ill. Also, the toilet paper is so harsh and stiff, I think you could shave your face/legs. Just sayin’. For the prices charged, a better quality would go a long way for comfort.

The kicker?  the mattress was so old and worn, no window in the room, and made it impossible to sleep for either of us. Kelly, on the other hand, made up the sofa bed and within 30 minutes, put it back to the sofa so she could try to get some sleep. She didn’t either.

The staff is great, but the Hotel needs some decent care and attention.

Call me and I will be happy to help you. We ran a Bed & Breakfast for close to 16 years and know what it takes to make people feel comfortable so they will return.

Sorry guys!

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Hotel Alameda Palace, Salamanca, Spain

I mentioned previously just how beautiful this hotel is…and it is. It has been given the 5 Star designation but I am at a loss why that happened.

We were to dine in at this evening, after driving from Toledo. When we arrived in the dining room, a Buffet, of sorts was laid out and it was nothing special. Shredded beets from a can and shredded; cold pasta salad with corn (canned), hard boiled eggs, cut in quarters, sliced onions, lettuce- no dressing but they did have oil and vinegar.

The main hot foods consisted of 3 pan trays with absolutely no labels to tell you what it was. Pork sliced very thin with potato and cheese sauce ,  Paella with lots of squid, a couple shrimp and not much else and the third dish was cut up green beans (not fresh) with a ton of garlic.

Dessert was a disaster. A ‘cake’ with a very soggy crepe bottom, about 1 inch of whipped oil, another crepe, another layer of the whipped topping and a couple chocolate sprinkles. In a large bowl beside this was canned fruit cocktail. Get your own coffee from a machine. This seems to be normal here. The wine I asked for, came but was half the normal 4 oz.

We return to our room and find no Kleenex, no garbage can in the room and in the bathroom, you have difficulty  sitting on the throne, because someone placed the roll for  toilet paper on the wall on one side, at your elbow and with the glass door about 4 inches from the throne on the other side, you have to be a contortionist. The air conditioner is controlled  by Front Desk and we didn’t know this. Never mind,

Breakfast is next up and they literally grab the plate from whether you have finished or not. When a couple of diners tried to use the coffee machine on the other side of the room, he told them the couldn’t. He  was downright rude and really was not pleasant during the whole breakfast experience. Oh, and by the way…that same bowl of canned fruit cocktail was there.

Five Star – not a chance but with a good kick n in the pants, they could be.

 

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