joanna Chen
GoogleThis hotel advertises itself as “pet friendly,” but DO NOT BE FOOLED. The only thing they seem friendly with is making promises they have absolutely no intention or ability to keep. If you are travelling with pets or children, seriously think twice before booking here. I noticed another review calling this place “a liar,” and after our experience I can unfortunately say that description is painfully accurate. What we experienced was not just poor service it was misleading, chaotic, and unbelievably irresponsible. Before booking, I called the hotel in advance because my small (2 kg) dog has severe stomach issues and gets sick easily. I asked if they could prepare plain boiled chicken breast, as i wasn't able to bring any frozen, and I made it very clear that I was happy to pay for it. They assured me they could accommodate this request, which is the only reason we decided to stay here. When we arrived, suddenly there was no boiled chicken available as promised. We went to their restaurant, Currents, and asked to purchase boiled chicken breast for my dog. What we were sold and charged for as “boiled chicken breast” turned out to be chicken thighs marinated with orange zest and herbs which is horrible for any dogs digestion. We didn’t want our dog to starve, so we washed the marinade off piece by piece and fed it to her, believing it was still plain chicken BREAST when it was actually THIGHS which she CANNOT eat. Within hours, my dog became extremely ill, started pooping blood, and had diarrhea over 10 times in a few hours. When we went to the front desk for help, they asked why we fed it to her as if the alternative should have been letting her starve after they promised food for her before we arrived. They then promised a portable stove before 10 AM the next morning so we could prepare food ourselves. The next day: NOTHING. No stove, no solution, and staff kept telling us "we’re not a dog restaurant.” Then why advertise yourselves as pet friendly and promise accommodations for a living animal? At 10:30 AM, the manager finally had someone hand me a small piece of chicken. While I appreciated that gesture, one piece of chicken does not solve the $850 vet bill we had to pay for fluids and medication after my dog became violently sick. Our entire Saturday was spent caring for a weak, sick dog because of this. That evening we asked to refund our Sunday night stay so we could leave early and take her to the vet. At 7 PM, the front desk said they would contact the manager and call us back. They never did. By 9pm, we had to go down again ourselves, only to be met with "I don't know" to every concerns and questions we had and told there's no one in charge until 10 AM the next day. So we were supposed to just stay there while our dog continued suffering. Instead, the manager never came to speak to us, never apologized, and kicked us out of the hotel over the phone at 10 PM. Around midnight we then had to drive four hours back to Victoria with a very sick dog. We still have received no refund for the unused night, no compensation, and no accountability. I am not from Canada, but I am familiar enough with consumer protection standards to know this seems inconsistent with the Competition Act (section 74.01 and 52), which prohibits businesses from making false or misleading representations about goods or services and with British Columbia’s consumer protection laws regarding deceptive practices. Charging someone for boiled chicken breast while serving seasoned chicken thighs is simply not what was represented. If you care about your pets or expect basic honesty from a hotel, DO NOT stay here.