Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel & Suites — Hotel in Thunder Bay

Entering Ontario on a cold frigid day and needing a break, I searched for a hotel on Expedia with some promising leads. I came across Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel and booked a room. The price was reasonable, though I was surprised at their policy of no refunds because it was the only one that advertised that. I was sold on their waterfront view promise though.

I arrived at approximately 9 pm and that is when it hit me; the hotel was in downtown Thunder Bay and appeared to have seen better days in the 50's. I did not check the location prior to booking it. I parked my car and made my way inside to check in. I passed through a group of 5-6 people standing outside by the entrance, whom just seem to be hanging out. An odd choice, considering it was -30 and they did not appear to be guests of the hotel. While checking in, I asked about the and the concierge told me not to worry about them. I realized then that they were a permanent fixture of the hotel.

I took everything I could from my car and locked the doors. I went into my room on the 4th floor and was almost immediately nostalgic of my stays in rundown hotels in third world countries. I wondered if it was too late to check out and look for a different hotel, but then I remembered the no refunds policy.

After informing my loved ones of my whereabouts with promises of hourly check-ins, I decided to pick up dinner. I passed by the same group, which has seemed to acquired additional participants, and drove to a local restaurant for some takeout. I returned and parked my car in the well lit corner of the lot. As soon I exited, I heard a female voice behind me inquire "you looking for a date?" I looked at a shivering heavyset female and politely refused, while pretending to be flattered. I hid my food in my jacket, locked the car doors, and was about to walk in when I was hit by another question, this time by a skinny young gentleman with most of his teeth missing, "you got 10 dollars? I'm hungry and want McDonald's". I told him I didn't have any change on me while ignoring how specific his request was. He suggested that I get some change from the front counter. Knowing full well that he has seen what car I have gotten out of and my face, I told him I'll be right back. I went to the front counter and noticed a small fridge containing pre-packaged sandwiches. I asked for a sandwich while hoping that they will deliver it for me to the awaiting gentleman. I was told that the sandwich would not be accepted but was given one anyway. I went back outside and attempted to hand the sandwich to the gentleman, as if I was bribing him to not steal my car. As the concierge predicted, the sandwich was rejected. Thankfully no follow up inquiries were made about the 10 dollars request and I went back to the room.

I scarfed down my dinner while looking up how far the local police station was. I could not help but overhear joyful and drunken laughs from the hallway. I decided to not unpack my things and just hit the bed for a quick snooze. I secured the door with the deadbolt, a chair, and a table. Throughout the night, I woke up and checked on my car from the window, which thankfully had full view of the parking lot. The laughs from the hallway kept me company as well.

Around 5 am, I got up and took a quick shower. The low water pressure and lack of toiletries did not bother me one bit. After putting on some fresh clothes, I hastly grabbed my things and left the room. I practically ran to the front desk and asked to be checked out. I cited a long drive back home as my reason for checking out so early and made my way to the car, all the while praying that it will start in this very cold weather. The engine revving was probably the sweetest sound I have ever heard in my life. I did not wait for the car to warm up and immediately drove off.

I am not sure if you're religious, but I promise you will find your faith in God in this hotel. The no refund policy finally made...

I have backpacked and traveled alone my entire life - in some very questionable areas in many different countries, and I have never felt unsafe. I felt UNSAFE in this hotel. This hotel houses a lot of people with serious mental health and addiction issues who swarm and bombard you in the lobby, in the elevator, and in hallways. They are very persistent and return within seconds of the initial ‘no’. They loiter in the rear of building and also in the foyer, both which wreak of urine. I feel horrible for their situation, however I cannot tolerate the persistent and unacceptable hounding after we say no. It is very uncomfortable and I felt very uneasy. Also, whenever I exited the building, people would run and try and grab the door to enter because access after 9PM is via card only… so just an FYI.

There are security guards on site 24/7 that patrol hallways and building, but it seems rather useless especially given what happened to us and our friend on two different floors. Perhaps they need additional guards.

We decided to go for a drink the first night we arrived, so we walked down the street to Waterhouse. In the 200m walk to the bar, we were again swarmed and asked several times for money, smokes, booze. Ps - that bar only accepts cash and their patrons were literally doing lines of coke off their hands as we stood behind them drinking our beverages.

We stayed for three nights on business - not our choosing of hotel - and we spent the first night AWAKE, with ZERO sleep, in bed listening to the drunken chaos across the hall. Slamming doors, breaking items, yelling, screaming, etc. I had called the front desk but no one answered and didn’t feel safe leaving my room to go down stairs and advise them. Our friends staying a few floors below us said that he experienced something similar and that he was afraid and almost called the police. Someone allegedly did end up calling the Police because I was told people were arrested and evicted that night….and that someone allegedly chugged two containers of hand sanitiser and went nuts after that. The second night was uneventful, with the exception of the usual begging and loitering in lobby and around building, and screaming from outside the building we heard through the windows. Last night as I was walking down the hallway back to the room, I noticed a door strike and latch set on a room were damaged and there was wood from a frame all over the ground, so someone forced open the room door …. Very scary and uneasy considering we were two rooms down.

When I explained our first night experience the following morning to the front desk, Tony and Ashley, were more than helpful and relocated us upon my request. I had spoken with a cleaner that day as well about something unrelated, and she was also very pleasant. The staff who work here are wonderful, and I gave service 5 stars, however the building and clientele experience is a big 0.. or, 1 because I couldn’t select zero. The rooms are dated, the carpet needs a good steam cleaning, the bathrooms look like Frankenstein repairs and everything is just old and run down. They need to renovate and dump some money into this building and rooms. The rooms are unbearably stifling hot (it was -20 outside) so opening the windows was helpful.

Location is OK, view from hotel is epic, but our experience was absolutely horrific and i have never been so happy to return home. thunder bay was not at all a good experience. Stay anywhere else if you value security and...

Not worth with the price...highly priced and very low services from all sorts. There are many reasons for rating this as one star or no star at all;

Staff attitude: very poor, not at all courteous, does not like to communicate nicely, very rude. As we enter in our room, lights were not working. There was no microwave as mentioned at the time of booking. We called the reception and asked for same, was informed they will bring it. The person who brought the microwave, handed over in our hands without saying anything nor asked that he will put it in the room and plug it. Seems like we were servants. My husband put the microwave himself on the table and plugged it. While we were checking out, no one bother to ask us how was the services or how was the stay.

Room condition: very filthy, fridge was leaking, lights were not working, commode flush was continously draining the water, very old TV, chair was ripped, curtains were stained, seems never been washed. There was no specific setting for the room, chair was resting in the middle of the room. We dare to take the shower as bathroom condition was not that great. I am going to post the pictures. Also, if you are looking for peaceful night, it was not a peaceful night, very noisy inside out as AC in the room was noisy and as the room door was not able to close properly, outside noise was very annoying. Moreover, you can heard the voices from other rooms as people walking or talking loud. Hallway light was bothering as door packing was not good enough to cover the door, so in dark you still have light in the eyes.

Breakfast: Hotel charge the room including the breakfast. When we enter the breakfast room, oy cold breakfast was free, if we want any hot breakfast then we have to order it and then pay for the same. Usually in the free breakfast, few hot contents are included but nothing in here. It was waste of money if you are looking for a hotel with the breakfast. Staff was rude while asking for the breakfast as again we were not worth it.

Elevator: Only one functional elevator was working. If you are looking for fast paced elevator, you will be actually waiting for it. Only one elevator was working, its small and wait was long, especially in morning hours.

All in all, the stay was not pleasant at all. Hotel needs to upgrade alot in staff education, interiors, increasing in quality services to the customers and communications. The price which we paid to the hotel was wasted and I would not recommend it to anyone to waste the money. You can find a better place with the same price or even cheaper. Please see the photos before you...