The Grand Hotel

The check-in process was fine, we showed up after hours and were able to get in easily. This is where the good experience ends. The room was so small, I didn't realize I was claustrophobic until now. The bathroom door was off the hinges and was scraping across the floor. It had to be lifted hard by the handle to open and close it properly. This is probably why the heated floor was broken in this area. The bed was like sleeping in a salad bowl, it had a real nice concave shape to it, think, hammock. It would be great if you enjoy sleeping only on your back while hanging from a tree in the woods. In the morning, the shower was lukewarm at best. My wife didn’t even bother because she likes it hotter than I do, I’m fine with cool water in the shower, but this was colder than my taste. We went to the front to ask for a different room, I was hoping for a desk, a better bed and a warm shower. The person at the desk said that all the mattresses are the same. I thought to myself, “maybe the hotel should spend some money on new mattresses,” and, also, “maybe the mattress in another room is not worn as thoroughly.” Then she said she was going to check the new room to be sure that it was ready, leaves, and comes back and says only, "you have hot water in your room." Apparently, she went up and into our room to check our water temperature. That was her not-so-subtle way of saying that I was lying, or that I don’t know how to work a shower knob. Well, she wasn't standing in the shower with me about an hour before this when the water was almost frigid. It probably had time to heat up between my shower and when she snuck into our room to check. It may be a limitation with everyone taking showers at the same time in the morning, I’m not sure, but I am sure that my shower water was cold. We did finally get a different room, which was bigger and a bit nicer, but alas, this did not end our terrible experience here at the Grand Hotel. At 7am on Saturday morning, the trash removal truck comes backing up directly under our window. The beeping was ear-piercingly loud... so much for sleeping in on our vacation. But at least we are thankful that the beeping could have saved someone’s like who may not have been in the driver’s blind spot. It looked like the trash removal is a paid service, they should pay them to come later in the day. Next, the split heating/air conditioning unit in the wall was not heating the room. It had to be set on "auto" to occasionally burp out a minute or two of warm air. I have the same unit at work so I know how to use it, and I took a look at the heater to see if there was something wrong, and oh boy, was there?! The air filter in the unit was so caked with dust, I'm surprised it's still working, and that it hasn’t yet caused a fire. When the sun started shining through the window, we could see that the entire room was filled with dust. The bed sheets and blankets were probably dustier than the air filter because just moving them caused a puff of dust so thick, I could feel it in my throat. We were waking up at night with phlegm and drippy and crusty eyes, no doubt thanks to the dust. To give us one last reason to never come back here again, on the morning we were to check out, we went across the street for a coffee and breakfast sandwich, and when we came back, a full 20 minutes before check-out time, our key cards had been shut off. We couldn't even get back into the corridor or summon the elevator. We had to go back to the front desk, and she reluctantly reactivated our cards. Unbelievable. I understand that sometimes things just go wrong, but this was too much and the staff were not friendly in the least, in fact, they acted like we were troubling them. When we finally did check out, the woman at the front was standing in front of the desk with a backpack on, looking at her watch. We have stayed at a lot of hotels in the area, but this one has given us by far the worst experience

Staff was nonchalant during check-in. Furniture in rooms had torn wear marks on both chairs. No USB ports for charging in the room. Uncomfortable pillows. Asked about location to park our vehicle was told anywhere and if a cone was in the space just move it out of your way. I asked if we needed an tag for the car to show that we were staying there and they said no. Parking had signs park at your own risk. Much better places to stay in the area. Will not stay here again.