Disappointed this year
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 9/23/07
I must express my deep disappointment with this establishment where we stayed this year for nine nights in late August. I do so sadly. A year ago we thought highly enough of The Sylvia to want to repeat the pleasant experience we had there. But this year, on our arrival, I was presented with the key to a different suite from the one I had booked! When I voiced my reasonable objection, I was told curtly that they “reserved the right to change our rooms without notification.” I informed them that they reserved nothing of the kind. As a potential guest, having agreed on a particular room or suite, I reserve it, and have a right to expect our agreement to be honoured. Surely a hotel has no more right to change a booked room or suite without consulting the customer than a theatre owner has to change the seat number on the ticket that has been bought. Nevertheless, it was a fait accompli, and my wife and I (who are not young) were forced to accept, or go looking for a place to stay with all our luggage in late August.
Moreover, the restaurant service was poor, and being on the third (rather than the fourth) floor did make a difference. It put us closer to the street and the nightly shouts of homeless derelicts who, it seems, infest the sea front on English Bay. It put us closer to the odours emanating from the overflowing garbage containers along the front. And the traffic noise was louder. Very sad, as we had so enjoyed it the year before.