Category Archives: Hotels

Magnolia Hotel and Spa, Victoria, B.C.

Knowing we had to be in Victoria for medical reasons, I told my beautiful husband I would treat  him  to a evening at a nice hotel for his Father’s day gift from me and did I ever pick the right one.

From the time we went into the lounge and had a beverage while we were waiting for our room to be ready and when  we returned to Reception, we were told “thank you for your patience and your room has been upgraded to the best room in the house”, we felt at ease and welcome.

The best thing for me, after walking around the room is the fact the bathroom has a separate shower and a bathtub. This is so important for Seniors and/or those with mobility problems and they took that into consideration.

At the desk they asked where  we were going for dinner or could they give us a list of ‘staff picks’ of the better establishments, depending on the type of cuisine you wanted. We decided immediately where we were going and went up to our room to relax before going out.

When we got back to our room following our sumptuous meal, it was a wonderful feeling to find two beautiful lounge chairs with a large foot stool where we could sit and enjoy watching a bit of television. Most hotels/motels have one chair. Why? The decor of our room was done with great care and consideration of their clientele.

I am recommending this Hotel for sure if it is for a special occasion and you want to do it right.

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Maui Sunset Condo, Kihei, Maui

Don and I tried for 10 months on 3 waiting lists at our timeshare before getting only one week, so we searched around and found a 1 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo in A 107. Understand please,  I am not a total clean freak but let me tell  you what we faced going in.

Youngest daughter was arriving later in the evening so we wanted to make sure all was well. The pull out sofa bed still had the old sheets; pillowcases still on the pillows but not washed from the previous guest(s). When she turned on the tap in the Mini-sized bathroom, the tap came off and there was no holder for the toilet paper.

The carpets were very dirty and the floors were not swept as crumbs and fluff laid about.  When we tried to make breakfast, the fry pans still had old food caked on but placed in the cupboard and knives in the knife rack were still coated with food. The counters had coconut pieces on the counters and they had not been wiped. Not enough cutlery (hardly 2 pieces matched), only 1 wine glass but the owner said she wasn’t buying wine glasses for guests. Spider webs on two corners of the kitchen and hanging down.

Tin foil plates that go under electric burners on the stove were so filthy and caked with spilled food we wouldn’t use the burners as the charred remnants on the foil plates caught fire and smoked incessantly. When the cleaner came to give us a towel or two, she said the owner used the foil plates but she (cleaner) wasn’t buying them.  They were $1.97 at Walmart, we checked. We traded these towels for the dirty ones we gave her to clean. We hadn’t used them yet.

The patio table outside had old pizza remains stuck to it and two bare light bulbs on the wall for patio lighting, and one was burned out. We never had air conditioning for the entire two weeks we were there, due to conflict with the owner and staff who work the condo.

In the bedroom, the ‘comforter’ (term very loosely  used here) was dirty with blue stains on it and the pillow cases and sheets were wrinkled, perhaps from previous guests;  not sure here but sceptic.

We called the owner but it was nothing more than a screaming match (her) and Don gave the phone to me and it continued. FINALLY, she asked if we took pictures? Huh? She wanted proof. So we hung up and started taking pictures.

When we left, I washed all the towels, dish cloths, removed the cover off our bed (zipper broken) and washed it, all bedding including  off the sofa and when all was done, laid it out on the futon and took pictures to prove all was clean. All the dishes in the dishwasher were clean and put away, and the two cups and 1 small pan left to dry on the rack. The owner suggested I was being fussy.

Again, several calls with the owner and she made a promise to adjust things, but so far nothing has occurred. About 3 days after leaving, I was missing a couple of clothing items and asked if they had been found. She called back and said the cleaner would let us in. The cleaner had NOT been there since we left and everything was as it was left. She did let us in but was slamming doors and became a little on the sharp side, until we said we were only looking for the two items I was missing, we thanked her and left.  I finally found them at another location and was glad of that.

Yup! Another owner who just wants the money but collects $130.oo US  each time it is rented out as a cleaning fee. Either the cleaner is just taking the money and pretending to clean or owner does not give a darn. Would we recommend this condo? Not on your life. If the owner does not give the promised refunds, she will be reported to the VRBO. The refund was for 2 nights at least and the cleaning fee of $130.00 all in US funds, by the way.

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