Best Western Downtown Sudbury Centreville — Hotel in Greater Sudbury

My husband and I have been staying at Best Western hotels for many years now and we have always had great experiences.

However, on September 22nd, last friday evening, our holiday started in a terrible way the minute we arrived at your Sudbury downtown Best Western hotel.

First of all, we were immediately told by a security guard in parking lot that we had to go to front desk of hotel to pay for parking even though we clearly informed her that our parking was included with our reservation...she did not believe us & she was quite arrogant.

We couldn't help but notice the large amount of security guards in our immediate surroundings as well as the groups of very sketchy looking people everywhere we turned along with numerous encampments in park very close by.

We immediately didn't feel safe before even entering your hotel...that is NOT normal...Unfortunately we had booked a room at your location only 2 days prior without checking your reviews.

We proceeded to front desk and were greeted with a warm welcome while checking in but within seconds a woman barged in & was allowed to interrupt our check in process in order to purchase a parking ticket....our check in process continued & this woman was allowed again to interrupt our check in a second time....

At this point my husband & I looked at each other and couldn't believe this was happening. We kept looking outside towards our vehicle as there were several sketchy people around it and we were worried. My husband decided to move our vehicle in the small parking area behind the hotel hoping it would be safer but it wasn't! There were 2 sketchy guys checking out our vehicle and a sketchy woman sitting/smoking in that parking lot right beside our vehicle and I don't believe she belonged there.

We then decided to empty our vehicle completely & go to our room but we were not feeling safe at all at this point & not sure what to do about it.

We were quite disappointed with our room...it was so small compared to our previous Best Western experiences, especially the bathroom, we were missing towels and our bed sheets were full of stains!

At this point, my husband & I were starting to get upset...We were meeting friends for supper & needed to leave. We again witnessed a lot of sketchy people inside & outside the hotel near our car and on the sidewalk at hotel entrance. We checked your reviews online and realised that many other people had had similar & worse experience at your hotel. We returned to hotel after supper and advised front desk gentleman that we needed to check out because we didn't feel safe & we would not be able to sleep. This gentleman tried to convince us that there were security cameras and security guards 24 hours but that did NOT make us feel safer at all because we continued to witness sketchy people everywhere in our immediate surroundings...it was simply out of control!

We asked to be refunded a partial amount to compensate for this awful & unsafe experience but it was refused of course by thus front desk gentleman & he proceeded to complete our check out.

This situation was very stressful as we needed to find another place to stay the night...we found a safe place and this hotel personel advised us that the crime rate had increased quite a bit in your area in the past month & they had greeted many other guests who chose to leave your hotel in a hurry for the same reasons.

And let's not forget your ironic wifi password ....STAYSAFE!!! Do not stay here...you...

I am writing to express my deep disappointment regarding our recent stay at your Best Western Hotel in downtown Sudbury on June 29th, as well as the subsequent lack of communication and unresolved financial matters. Upon checking into our reserved suite, my family encountered an alarming situation where my son discovered a bag of cocaine in one of the desk drawers. Understandably concerned for our safety and well-being, we immediately vacated the room. My wife promptly informed the front desk of this distressing discovery and requested a refund for our reservation. To our dismay, the response from the staff member on duty was not only dismissive but also accusatory. In front of other guests, he insinuated that we were lying about the situation and implied that your cleaning procedures are infallible. This response was highly unprofessional and added unnecessary distress to an already upsetting incident. Upon my arrival at the front desk to support my wife's account, the situation finally began to receive appropriate attention. We were assured that we would receive a refund of $274.14 due to the circumstances, and we were informed that the incident would be escalated internally, with a promise that we would be contacted by your team. Regrettably, as of today, July 9th, we have not received any communication from Best Western regarding this incident. Furthermore, instead of receiving the promised refund, we have been charged an additional $201.89 for another room at Best Western, which compounds our financial loss to a total of $476.03. Additionally, we were charged a $15.99 booking fee, bringing the total amount owed to $492.02. I have already reached out to Best Western Customer Service, who informed me that our case has been escalated to Internal Investigation. However, the lack of communication and the failure to resolve these financial matters in a timely manner are deeply concerning and do not reflect well on the customer care standards we have come to expect from Best Western. Given the seriousness of the initial incident and the subsequent mishandling and financial implications, I kindly request immediate attention to this matter. Specifically, I am seeking confirmation of the refund process for $274.14, as well as reimbursement for the additional charges totaling $201.89 and the $15.99 booking fee. Please consider this email as a formal request for resolution and an assurance that such incidents will be addressed promptly to prevent similar occurrences in the future. I can be reached directly via email at this address should you require any further information or clarification. Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter. I look forward to your swift response and resolution.

Follow Up to Email I was told to contact the owner directly. The owner stated they would only refund the $201 and I should be happy with just that. Did not take any accountatbility on having cocaine left in the room. As the conversation came to an end she dared me to contact the better business...

As a recent BW MEMBER, I’m ‘done already’.

I called for a reservation at the above location and like a number of recent requests from a growing number of providers, they wanted Credit Card information, ‘right now’, over the phone. WHEN I’M DRIVING NO LESS. There’s no way I’m reaching for a wallet in my back pocket at highway speeds!!

Whatever happened to trust!! So naturally when I showed up I was already in doubt that they had a room for me (after a long drive) as they said that they could not confirm my reservation without prior payment. Well, I’m glad I didn’t give them my Credit Card info since not only would the reservation have been ‘non-cancellable’ but they wanted to add an additional $40!!!!! ‘for your pet’ onto a bill that’s already over $178 per night (an amount that I was led to believe WAS the total amount). I’m sorry, but there’s no way I’m forking out an extra $40 for a dog especially when you’re already asked to sign a ‘letter of responsibility’ for any damages.

If you Google any hotel these days, the top listings all belong to reservations.com members (eg. Agoda.com) who are simply ‘middle men’ giving you the impression that you are actually talking to the specific hotel’s front desk staff. They are very misleading and they also insist on taking Credit card information on a non-refundable booking. We all need to take a stand on these companies who feed off people who they are deliberately misleading. Now, even the Hotel owners like Best Western appear to be doing the same, so I’m taking a stand and hopefully you do too. DON’T GIVE YOUR CREDIT CARD INFO over the phone to any of these people, the Owners OR the ‘middle men’. Instead, use motel facilities on the road side or Airbnb’s and maybe they will all start to act with some level of RESPECT for your Patronage. And that includes the Wyndham Hotel Call Centres, who I’ve noticed recently are also asking for your payment information over the phone and Wyndham typically don’t pass on your ‘Special Requests’ (eg. a ‘pet- friendly’ room) and when you get there, the hotel doesn’t have that information or any such rooms left! The reservations.com ‘middle men’ are equally to blame as they will book a double-queen-bed ‘pet-friendly’ room for you at say, Days Inn, when Days Inn does not even have ‘pet-friendly’ rooms either Queen beds! Don’t give your Credit Card information to any of them. Ask Wyndham etc to forward you DIRECTLY to the Hotel and if they also ask for your Credit Card information, simply refuse and ‘move on’. It’s the only way these people will change the way they do business. As a World Traveller with over 3.7 million views, the Hotels in most if not all other countries take your reservation and give you a reasonable date beyond which they will charge you, with ample time to change or cancel your reservations. In North America, they want their cake & eat it too. Other Countries have more trust in you, the Customer - why not Hotel chains in Canada and the U.S. - even when they SET YOU UP as so-called...