CombatCritic's Wall of Shame: hotel

Showing posts with label hotel. Show all posts

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Boise, ID: Attitude And Filth Earns Super 8 Boise A Spot On My "Wall Of Shame"

Super 8 by Wyndham Boise
2773 Elder Street
I-84 Exit 53 at Vista Avenue
Boise, ID 83705
Phone number: (800) 536-9326
Website: wyndhamhotels.com/super-8
Prices: $$$$

The price was decent, I will give them that, but you get what you pay for. I have stayed in other Super 8s and the experience was much better. However, there are some serious management, attitude, and cleanliness problems in the Boise location.

The front desk clerk was abrupt and unfriendly when I arrived between 9pm and 10pm after a long day on the road. When I got to the room the light on the phone was flashing, so I called the front desk. "The instructions are on the phone - I don't know how to shut it off", I was told and he hung up. There were no instructions on the phone, so the light kept blinking all night long.

The toilet seat had not been lifted by the maid for cleaning made obvious by the lone pubic hair (not mine) sitting atop the toilet seat when I arrived. There were poop stains from the previous gust still in the toilet and the TP roll was less than half full. There were three bath towels, but just one hand towel and no washcloths.

The AC unit had no markings, having been worn off over the years, so I could not tell what temperature to set it at for the night and the refrigerator was INOP, so I could not keep any food in it overnight. One of the pillows was black with filth of some type, so I had to use my own pillows.

At $73, including tax, I have stayed in much nicer and cleaner hotels on the sea at numerous places around the world. For Boise, this place should be in the sub-$50 range.

CombatCritic Gives Super 8 by Wyndham Boise 1 Bomb Out Of 10 And A Spot On My WALL OF SHAME ... More Bombs Are Better!

One Bomb Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair"

Monday, February 6, 2017

Portland, OR: Airbnb Nightmare On Lombard Street

Albert's 2 Bed, 1 Bath, Kitchen, Pets OK!

North Portland (Arbor Lodge), Oregon

Airbnb Link

Price: $$$$

The place has potential, but it is severely outdated and dirty. The fridge, heat, hot water heater, and coffee maker did not work. The electrical is a mess, the blinds need to be replaced, the heat needs to be fixed, the kitchen needs a severe makeover, the plastic in the shower covering the wall needs to disappear, and the floors need replacing. The blinds are old, barely work, rusty and dirty. The kitchen counters are stained and gross. There is a glob of something in the kitchen sink, but I did not want to find out what it was by touching it.

My Only Heat Source Other Than Small Wall Heater In Bedroom

Albert, the host, was fine before and during check-in, but then he checked-out and everything went downhill from there. With no heat and nothing working the first night, I tried to contact him at around 9pm, 10pm, and 11pm, but he would not pick up the phone or respond to texts. He sent an electrician the next day, but he said "I can't find anything wrong", even though there was not enough amps to run more than one or two things at the same time. When I returned the second evening, I expected the problems to be solved, but they were not. Again, I tried to contact Albert, but he said "there's nothing I can do". A guest, me, was freezing (temps in the high 30s during the day and 20s at night) and nothing worked, but there was absolutely no sense of urgency and even less communication.

The location is not bad, but it is an old building in a rather seedy neighborhood with little within walking distance except a couple dive bars and a 7-11.

Plastic Hiding Something In Shower

Bathroom Heater Hasn't Worked In Years

The apartment was uninhabitable and should have never been rented. I cannot believe that I was charged for the two nights I stayed there, freezing and unable to shower (no hot water), make coffee or store anything in the fridge. I feel that the host could have done much more to solve the problems or at least communicate that he could not. He had my phone number and knowing that there was still no heat and nothing working on day two, a simple phone call or text would have allowed me to find suitable accommodations. It is inexcusable for a "paying" guest to have to suffer and as someone with experience in the hospitality industry, he should have known better.

Thanks to Airbnb for your professional help and the $200 credit. Even though I had to suffer for two nights, your representatives were compassionate and very helpful.

Finally, I got this wonderful text (5:47AM - Friday) from Albert after he read my honest review online:

This is the kind of person you will be dealing with if you choose to stay with Albert. Your choice!

CombatCritic Gives Albert's Place 1 Bomb Out Of 10 And A Spot On My "WALL OF SHAME"

One Bomb Equates To:

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16/'17

Tabelog - Official Judge (Silver)

Zomato - #1 Ranked "Verified" Foodie

... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube

Title: Portland, OR: Airbnb Nightmare On Lombard Street

Key Words: Airbnb, Albert, North portland, Portland, Oregon, apartment, room, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, accommodation, hotel, motel, guest, review, Yelp, Airbnb.com, Lombard, street

Translation for Civilians: FUBAR = "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair"

Monday, September 5, 2016

Split, Croatia: Guest House Vlado Is A Scam And Hotels.com Could Care Less!

Guest House Vlado

Split, Croatia

Guest House Vlado in Split, Croatia is a RIP-OFF! Do not book a room with this “so-called” guest house. Do not fall for the lies they tell in their description on Hotels.com and don’t expect any help from Hotels.com if you have any problems with a reservation.

I made a reservation from Dubrovnik the day before we left for Split. Here’s the description Guest House Vlado gives on Hotels.com:

“Enjoying a beautiful Mediterranean climate, crystal clear seas and warm sands, this fascinating area of Croatia is also home to the Guest House Vlado, Split , where guests can take advantage of affordable 3 star accommodation .”

This is no 3-star accommodation and it is not a guest house. The room we were eventually shown was on the 3^rd floor (no elevator) of an old building with a 2-star “Sobe” sign on the front (a Sobe is a private residence in Slavic countries and anything below 3-stars has minimum essentials).

“A warm welcome awaits you at this attractive property, and you are assured all the benefits you would expect to find in an upscale hotel. Located close to the Diocletian Palace and the beautiful Bacvice beach, visitors have no excuse not to relax and soak up the sun and the culture. Do not hesitate to ask the experienced staff for local tips and advice. Please Note: This guest house only accepts payment made by cash. “

The Hotels.com map locating Guest House Vlado near the bus/train station and Split’s Old City is a total lie. I booked the room the day prior (and agreed to pay 80 Euros - $103) because we were only staying in Split for one night and needed to catch a train the following evening, so I was willing to pay extra so we didn’t have to drag our bags all over town. We followed the map as shown on Hotels.com (with all of our baggage in tow), but Guest House Vlado was nowhere to be found. When I asked several people where 86a Matice Hrvatske (the address listed on hotels.com) was, we were sent on a wild goose chase around Split for the next 1½ hours, finally locating the address about a mile from the station where we had arrived. In fact, Diocletian's Palace was 1.06 miles from Guest House Vlado, not 400 yards as advertised on Hotels.com. The “warm welcome” was an old hag (woman I believe) with a beard sitting in front of a worn out apartment building in a very seedy area. She was extremely rude and condescending, even when I pointed out all of the inaccuracies of her description and the amenities listed on Hotels.com:

Amenities (all rooms include)

· Air conditioning

· Balcony

· Cable television service

· Ceiling fan

· Kitchen

· Non-smoking only

· Television

· Air-conditioned public areas

· Bar/lounge

· Garden

· Grocery/convenience store

· Number of rooms: 15

· Restaurant(s) in hotel

· On-site car rental

· Room service (24 hours)

This is not a hotel, but several (five according to the old hag) sub-standard properties located in some terrible areas. There was AC in the room we were shown and a very small balcony. There was a TV on the floor, but we did not stick around long enough to find out if there was cable. There was no AC in public areas because there were no public areas. This is a room on the top floor of a building. There was no ceiling fan, bar/lounge, garden, grocery/convenience store, car rental agency, room service, or restaurant in the “hotel” because THIS IS NOT A HOTEL.

When we finally got to the room (2½ hours after we had arrived by bus from Dubrovnik), the hag said “Everybody always says thank you so much for this beautiful room, is it not a beautiful room?” I said, “Actually, no it’s not” and proceeded to tell her about all of the beautiful rooms we had stayed in on our journeys, rarely paying more than 50 Euros for rooms directly on the sea. She became very rude and threatening at this point, so I told her that we were not going to pay 80 Euros for a room which was falsely advertised and misrepresented on Hotels.com in order to trick me into making the reservation. She showed me a list of about ten names (with prices ranging from 70 to 130 Euros) which she was expecting from Hotels.com bookings, saying “see how much they are paying, you have a very good price”. I told her that I refused to be swindled or bullied into staying in (and paying for) a room which was misrepresented in the advertisement, so we told her so and left. She and her friends followed us for a while as we searched for a place to go (it was now around 7:30 PM), but we finally lost them when we got on a bus for the train station. We were very concerned because of her aggressive nature and did not know what their intentions were.

I immediately bought an international calling card (which cost me another $10) and called Hotels.com’s 24-hour “emergency” number, knowing that they would be very supportive and help us out of our predicament. Wrong! After getting cut off the first time, I finally spoke with Melvin (Employee # 5262899) at the Hotels.com toll-free emergency number where they advertise their “RISK FREE BOOKING”. After explaining our situation to Melvin, he said he was sorry, BUT “there is nothing we can do because we are merely a booking site, a middle man, between the property and you. If you have a problem with the property, you need to work it out with them”. I asked him how Guest House Vlado could be allowed to lie and cheat people out of large sums of money and Hotels.com doing nothing about it. He said he was sorry again, there was nothing he could do, the property could still charge us even though we did not stay there, and was going to hand me off to somebody else to try to find us a room. I had had enough by this point, hung up the phone, and called my bank in the U.S. to warn them about a possibly fraudulent charge on my credit card. We went directly to the train station and booked the first train out of Split, headed for a much more civilized country, Slovenia.

I have booked many rooms over the years with Hotels.com and never had a problem until now. They are apparently unconcerned about their customers and allow fraudulent business practices on their site (Guest House Vlado is still advertizing rooms and tourists are getting ripped-off two days after our complaint to Hotels.com). I tried to post a review, warning other travelers about Guest House Vlado, but Hotels.com does not allow it, even though I have an account and have been a customer for many years. They make you wait for an e-mail with a link “a couple days after your stay” to submit a review. I finally received the email 5 days later (Aug 19^th), but when I clicked on the link, the message I received was “Sorry, you are not eligible to submit reviews”. More and more Hotels.com customers are being ripped-off by Guest Housel Vlado as I write this, even after warning their employee (Melvin) on 8/14/2010. We will never book a room with Hotels.com again and I urge you to consider doing the same!!!

Boycott Hotels.com until they show some concern for their customers and stand behind the “risk-free” booking they so proudly claim!

"We never charge a cancellation or change fee because it's just not fair. At hotels.com, we understand sometimes your plans fall through. Or, perhaps you just decide you'd prefer to spend your vacation lounging on the beach rather than visiting your in-laws. Hey, it happens. That's why we never charge you hotels.com change or cancel fees. Other travel sites may charge you a fee to change your plans, but with hotels.com just go online or call 800-2-HOTELS (800-246-8357) to change or cancel your plans. Please note, you may still be subject to change and cancellation fees that the property itself may impose and require us to pass on. So go ahead, be free to change your mind."

It's all a lie! Guest House Vlado is still listed on Hotels.com, Expedia, and other travel sites, so they could obviously care less about the consumers...US! READ ALL REVIEWS BEFORE BOOKING ON THESE SITES!!!

CombatCritic Gives Guest House Vlado And Hotels.com 1 Bomb Out Of 10 And A spot On My 'WALL OF SHAME"

One Bomb Equates To:

"Fucked Up Beyond All Repair"

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16

Tabelog - Official Judge (Bronze)

Zomato - #1 Ranked Foodie

... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube

Title: Split, Croatia: Guest House Vlado Is A Scam And Hotels.com Could Care Less!

Key Words: Croatia, guest house, Guest House Vlado, Hotels.com, problems reservation book, RIP-OFF, room, scam, Split, CombatCritic, travel, value, TravelValue, hotel, review