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| - REALLY, REALLY BAD ROOM SERVICE MEAL...
I ordered a 10oz roast prime rib of beef with Yorkshire pudding. I spent the better part of five minutes cutting and prying into it, trying to find any actual beef to eat. I can almost guarantee the kitchen didn't even look at the beef before it went out because one piece of fat -- literally as large as a key fob -- was just dangling on the edge; they didn't even bother to cut it off before serving it.
Of the 10oz (which didn't actually look as large as 10oz to my untrained eyes) served, I could only find about 1-2oz of fatty meat to eat. It was lukewarm, to boot.
The Yorkshire pudding came room temperature and was either stale or made of cardboard. I couldn't quite figure out which.
MANAGEMENT REACTION = FAIL
Because the kitchen had closed by the time I got the meal, I decided to ask for my money back the following day. The check-in clerk was polite enough, but obviously hadn't been given any kind of front-line decision making authority because he said he'd have to check with the dining manager.
The clerk calls back. His first question: "So, are you staying here with anyone?" I thought this was an odd question. (Truth is, I was the keynote speaker at a conference being held at their hotel. Since I figured this might factor into how they treated me, I decided to hold off on that info.)
"Well, I've talked to the manager and he can only offer you breakfast tomorrow in compensation." I don't usually eat breakfast, so this wasn't going to do much for me. (You can see the hotel's penny-pinching logic in play most clearly here -- let's refund him the cheapest possible meal.)
But the fact is I paid for a dinner, it was barely edible, and I wanted to have that dinner refunded.
The clerk said he thought they could offer me "some kind of discount" and would call back.
Hours pass. Nobody calls. I call back and am told that this they're planning to take the price of the prime beef off the bill at checkout.
LOCATION
The hotel is located in a rather bleak, industrial part of Calgary. There's not much around. The Chinook Centre, Calgary's biggest mall (apparently) is about a $10 cab ride or 30 min walk away. I did chuckle when I was asked if I wanted "a mountain or city view" -- both the mountain and city are really quite far away. It was like being asked if I wanted the "extra-liquid-ey" water or just the regular water.
ROOM
This is your average, servicable budget hotel room. You can control the heat/cooling (yay!). Like most hotel rooms, it has JUST enough power outlets for the lights and alarm clock in the room. You'll be unplugging one of them if you want to plug anything more than a laptop in. There is both a Giddeon bible AND a book about the teachings on Buddha in the bedside table.
INTERNET
The Internet is free and, while a little slow, works fine. But there's a cap on the bandwidth and if you exceed it, you've got to call the front desk to get the cap lifted.
THE BAR
There's a sports bar attached to the hotel. Your average mediocre fare here. I ordered nachos and paid extra for "spicy beef." I couldn't detect even a hint of spiciness in the beef when it came -- it tasted like they'd simply heated up ground beef. When I say I couldn't taste anything, I mean NOTHING -- no chile, no peppers, not even salt. The nachos themselves were okay. I mean, how can you screw up nachos? (Don't answer that.)
I was there during the gold medal game of the 2010 Olympics. A local radio station was there giving out caps, t-shirts, etc. One of the contests was -- and I am not kidding here -- "Who drank the most alcohol?" the radio guy asked the sports-bar staff. Some guy, who I presume paid the most for booze, was given some kind of prize.
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