Chelsea Hotel, Toronto — Hotel in Toronto

I arrived on July 12th for a one night stay. There was one more room booked for our party as well. Check in was lengthy due to a long line and nobody seemed to be moving through very quickly, but we knew there were major events in the area and we were patient.

Upon finally checking in, we went up to our rooms only to find out neither key for our second room worked. This meant taking the elevator back down to the lobby and waiting all over again (a lengthy process as there were long waits for elevators and larger groups). Not the biggest problem but inconvenient and hard to believe that neither key was programmed correctly.

The rooms were fine - small but clean and though nothing to write home about not unreasonably appointed. The children in our party enjoyed the pool and the unexpected bunnies in the kids room.

The wait for elevators was long anytime we used them. I can’t remember ever waiting so long for an elevator in a hotel and it meant that we generally avoided going back to our room for short stops because it was annoying to wait so long.

The breakfast in the cafeteria area was good; reasonably priced and smooth moving. There were no forks or knives during the entirety of our dining experience so we needed to use spoons for our meals; not the end of the world but seems shortsighted given it’s a hotel centrally located and in peak season.

Overall our stay was fine but oddly the hold on my credit card for the security deposit is still there 12 business days later and when I called to inquire about it, the first agent told me to call back in 2 days (at the ten day mark). She also told me that somehow my card had been used for the hold on the room for the other person in my party, and theirs on mine. In this instance it wasn’t a big deal but showed a lack of attention to detail on behalf of the person who checked us in (and also didn’t code the cards right) and could have been problematic in other circumstances.

When I called back 2 days later as instructed I was put on a clumsy hold by accounting who said they didn’t think they could do anything about it and it would fall off in 30 days (and that it takes time - it’s my credit card company, not them.). I’ve stayed at two hotels since, both of which released the hold in days, not weeks.

This accounting agent put me on hold by putting the receiver on presumably a desk and stomping around in the background, making various noises, came back on the line after several minutes and just said ‘yeah?” as if was inconveniencing him by asking a question. When I explained I was told to call back to follow up, the person just said he didn’t think he could do anything and when I asked to speak to someone who may be more certain, he put me on hold and left me there for more than 8 minutes, never returning. This time, he did at least find the hold button.

He never asked my name or any details, but insisted he couldn’t do anything and was the complete opposite of helpful. I understand this is ultimately a small matter but the ineptitude of someone working in accounting and the horrendous lack of attention to detail ensures I will never return to this hotel. For the $50 I saved from booking my usual hotel, I wasted a lot of time waiting for check-in, elevators, fixed key cards, and trying to figure out why they seem to have an endless hold on my credit card.

The first accounting agent I spoke with was much more thorough and helpful and I’d hoped that the second call would be as smooth but it was anything but and has reinforced the impression that staff training here is hit and miss. As a rule I’m pretty easy going with most things but as a business manager myself I am mortified at the lack of attention to detail and lack of professionalism displayed by the second accounting team member.

The complacency, dismissiveness and total lack of attention to detail that will ensure I never support this...

My Terrible Experience at Eetelham Raby Hotel 😡🏨

I usually try to keep an open mind when I visit a new hotel, but my stay at Eetelham Raby was beyond disappointing — it was downright awful. From the moment I walked in, I knew something was off, but I hoped it would get better. Unfortunately, it didn’t. If you’re considering staying here, I strongly urge you to think twice. Here’s why.

First off, the check-in process was a complete nightmare. The staff at the front desk seemed completely disorganized and uninterested in helping guests. I waited for nearly 30 minutes while the receptionist was chatting with colleagues, ignoring the growing line behind me. When I finally got to the counter, the receptionist was rude and unprofessional. There was no apology for the delay or any attempt to make the process smoother. For a hotel that claims to offer quality service, this was a shocking way to start my stay. 🕰️😤

When I finally reached my room, I was horrified. The room smelled musty and stale, like it hadn’t been aired out or cleaned properly in weeks. The carpet was stained, and the sheets looked like they had been reused multiple times without being changed. There were visible dust bunnies in the corners, and the bathroom was worse — the grout was moldy, the showerhead was rusty, and the towels felt old and rough. I felt uneasy just stepping into the bathroom. 🛏️🤢🛁

The furniture was old and worn out. The bed was lumpy and uncomfortable, making it impossible to get a good night’s sleep. I woke up multiple times during the night with aches and pains. The air conditioning unit was loud and barely worked, so the room was stuffy and hot throughout the night. On top of that, the windows didn’t seal properly, letting in noise from the busy street outside, which made the whole experience even worse. 🛌🔥🔊

Cleanliness is a basic expectation when you pay for a hotel stay, but Eetelham Raby clearly failed in this department. I found crumbs and sticky spots on the floor and surfaces, and the trash bin was overflowing when I arrived. I reported these issues to the housekeeping staff, but no one ever came back to clean or even acknowledge my complaints. It felt like they simply didn’t care. 🧹❌🤷‍♂️

One of the worst parts was the customer service. Whenever I tried to reach out to the front desk or management about any problem, I was met with apathy or outright rudeness. On one occasion, I asked for an extra blanket because it was cold at night, and the staff member responded with an annoyed sigh and said they were “too busy” to bring one. Seriously? For a hotel that advertises hospitality, this is unacceptable. 😠🙅‍♀️📵

The facilities themselves were also a big letdown. The gym was tiny and had broken equipment, making it unusable. The pool area was dirty and poorly maintained, with grimy tiles and cloudy water. I couldn’t even consider using it. The restaurant had limited food options, and the quality was subpar — everything I tried tasted bland and overpriced. On the plus side, the Wi-Fi was decent, but that’s about the only thing I can say positively. 🏋️‍♂️🏊‍♂️🍽️😞

Security at Eetelham Raby was another concern.

Hashtags with Emojis:

#TerribleStay 😡 #DirtyRooms 🤢 #RudeStaff 👎 #PoorService 🚫 #UncomfortableSleep 🛌💤 #UnsafeEnvironment 🚷 #DisgustingBathrooms 🤮 #NoCleanliness 🧹❌ #NoCustomerCare 🙅‍♀️ #AvoidThisHotel 🚫🏨 #WasteOfMoney 💸 #BadExperience 😞 #NoisyRooms 🔊 #OldFacilities 🏚️ #NoRespectForGuests 😠 #RunDownNeighborhood 🏚️🚷 #OverpricedAndUnderdelivered 💸❌ #UnprofessionalStaff 🤬 #StayAwayFromHere...

This is a long one but I feel like I have a lot to share (not all negative). First of all, none of my qualms have to do with the hotel staff directly. Everyone we had interacted with at the front desk was very kind and accommodating. I also want to mention my experience was during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, so my experiences may be out of the norm: we found a prescription pill on the floor beside our bed that did not belong to us so that is certainly concerning from a safety / cleanliness standpoint. there is LOUD construction going on at this hotel that starts at 6:30a every day. By the reviews it seems this has been going on for a while and the hotel is aware of it. The front desk staff was very accommodating and luckily we were able to be moved in a room further away. But the hotel was booked for the rest of the weekend so I know for a fact someone else had to then be put in this room…I have experienced hotels in the past offering discounted rates for inconveniences such as this, Chelsea should really be following suit here. this is a bit more of an admin complaint, Chelsea was one of the first hotels to open up Nov 2024 booking for Taylor’s tour (yay!) which was very much so appreciated, but you could only book starting Nov 13. We wanted to start our trip arriving Nov 11, so we were told to call back closer to and book separate reservations. This caused us to have THREE separate reservations during our stay. The staff was so kind and accommodating making sure we were in the same room for the duration of our stay but I could tell this was not an easy process and also, we had to pay 3 separate security deposits for each stay. not everyone would be able to have all of those charges pending at once so that was inconvenient. this is minor, but for a 4 star hotel I expect a higher quality shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo is a body/hair wash so the girls who know, know. My hair has never felt more gross in my entire life and I am a scuba diver… the AC…I will caveat this with the fact that we are from the states and I know we are known for being fiends for our AC. One of the first things I do when I check into a hotel is turn down the AC (I also don’t book hotels without it) so when we checked into our room and the AC wouldn’t kick on, we called the front desk. We were told the hotel itself was switched to heat therefore we could not turn on the AC. They were kind enough to give us a fan but we ended up sleeping with the balcony door open…every single night…in Canada…in the winter. Like I said I am from the states, maybe this is not a Chelsea specific thing and this is truly all Canadian hotels? But did not enjoy that. I do want to commend Chelsea for the extra touches they did for the eras tour! They had a really cool AI robot wandering the lobby dressed in eras garb talking to guests, they had a few Taylor cut outs and photo ops, a popcorn machine, and Taylor music was playing 24/7 :)

Overall, I might stay again. I wouldn’t write it off. But I would certainly explore other options if I had...