Digby Pines Golf Resort and Spa — Hotel in Town of Digby

Spent one night as a quick weekend getaway in one of the cheaper "Resort Rooms". Enjoyed our evening but the stay was a tale of 2 halves. Some really nice parts to the hotel but a significant number of niggles. Part Fairview, part Butlins! I would recommend it as a place to dine but be prepared to line up for a while for check-in, breakfast and check-out.

The nice: Wonderful grounds, fantastic views. Nice pool Outdoor chess set was fun Pleasant trails within the hotel grounds Really nice, old world charm, public areas inside the building Polite staff, eager to help Bedroom was quite nice, bed was comfortable Evening meal and service was really good Lots of gluten and dairy free options Breakfast was quite nice

The niggles: The pelmet in the bedroom was hanging down on one side and had paint on it. Looked real amateur paint job Outside of the building is really grand and imposing when seen from a distance but close up, it desperately needs a fresh coat of paint and lots of small repairs are needed around the building Obviously switched over to heat pumps throughout recently. Hasn't been incorporated in with the buildings aesthetics very well in the public areas, vast runs of piping visible externally and internally, even in the grand dining areas. No decaf coffee pods available for the room Alcohol free options were a bit limited. They had the standard soda's but nothing more fancy like mocktails that you'd expect of a 4 star hotel. There were a couple of alcohol free beer options but would have liked a bit more choice. The sound proofing in the rooms is not that great which is too be expected of a 100 year old building and it's not the hotels fault that a guest decided to play what sounded like opera pretty loudly at 3am. The wait to check-in was quite slow. There were 2 people on reception and one appeared to be a trainee so even though I was about 4th in line it was still about 15 minutes before I got to the front desk. Check-in process itself was was good though. The staff were showing signs of stress but kept professional. The line up for breakfast was pretty long. We only waited 5 minutes for a table but at this level we shouldn't have had to wait hardly at all. And the line up got longer after we were seated. Line up for checkout was the same as check-in. 2 people on the desk but it seemed to progress slowly. One person obviously was annoyed believing they had been overcharged but not being rude or aggressive. Again the staff remained professional but you could tell it was taking a toll. And it just meant the rest of us were delayed. Handling of gift vouchers seemed to confuse them. They use a 3rd party to handle the purchasing of these but when it came to using them to pay for the room it proved difficult for them to process through their system requiring me to email them copies of the gift certificate which should have already been in their system in my view.

The not so nice stuff: The bathroom was pretty terrible. They'd tried to keep it clean and there was fresh caulking around the bath and sink but this really was lipstick on a pig! The underlying grout was black so the mould is going to come back through pretty quickly. The ceiling above the bath/shower had mould starting to form and paint was peeling. The toilet seat had been repaired but looked like it was hanging on for dear life with bent hinges and a missing screw cover. It worked fine but looked like it had had enough. The bathroom was too small and too dated. At roughly 4' x 6' it is quite an acheivement to cram a bath/shower, toilet and sink into that tiny space, but comfortable it was not. Especially with the toilet roll holder positioned pretty much in my armpit and it hadn't been clean properly for some time by the look of it. It was probably "modernized" back in the 1970's or 1980's and really needs a rethink and an overhaul now. There was no extracter fan so it fogged up very quickly and that isn't helping...

During the period 16 to 18 August, 2024, I stayed at Digby Pines with multiple family members to celebrate my Birthday. This was the latest in multiple stays we have experienced at the resort over a span of many years. I am sad to report it was not their finest hour or advertisement. We stayed at Cottage 32 and other family members were in rooms in the main house. My concerns here today are about Cottage 32, although I am aware my daughter experienced problems also in the main building suite she occupied.

Immediately upon arrival at Cottage 32 there was a problem. We tried to use the toilet in Room A, and instead of flushing normally, the bowl began to fill but not drain. The cistern refill water line was also shut off?? The bowl flooded to the rim and we had not been in the room for 5 minutes. We called the front desk to report the problem and after a while got through to someone who offered to send a plunger to the cottage. Whoever turned the water supply to the bowl off knew that the toilet was blocked?? A plunger was subsequently delivered and I plunged successfully and cleaned up the floor. I turned the water supply back on and allowed the toilet to refill. It ran and filled constantly, overflowing from the cistern into the toilet bowl and now that the blockage was clear, down the drain. However, because the handle did not reseat itself after the cistern was full, water ran and ran wastefully down the drainpipe.

I removed the toilet tank lid and adjusted the handle as best I could, and eventually got the toilet to fill, flush, drain and recycle as it should but even then, it would frequently drain through into the bowl for way too long. The handle needs to be replaced.

In cleaning up the bathroom floor we became exposed to the tub/shower space. The surrounding tiles above the tub are cracked, loose, dirty and allowing water to pass to the gyproc or wall behind. When we went to operate the tub/shower faucet, it came away in our hand. I suspect maintenance work has not been completed on those fixtures, or has ongoing problems. The bathroom walls and surfaces were far from clean.

What is meant to be the closet in bedroom A could not be opened at first, both door handles were missing, the door was filthy and either scratched, primed or sanded in some areas like someone was meant to be decorating the room. There wasn't even a hanging rail or hook in the closet and no hangers. Had we brought our own hangers, the closet would have at least needed a clothes rail?? Trim wood in that room was scratched or dirty as was the window frame. There is a double bed in that room. Not sure how or why there is metal under the mattress but it's broken or loose, the metal can be felt when lying on the bed and an obvious metal stress or strain sound can be heard as the mattress moves when you lay on it. The bed was a disaster, it was mine, and I did not sleep on it. I couldn't. I sat upright in living room chairs or on the sofa for two nights.

The floors were dusty and dirty, the main cottage entrance door was also scratched, dirty, dusty, primed or sanded like it was to be painted as well. The windows were full of mould and debris. I think our cottage was meant to be out of service for maintenance. The walls looked grubby, the beds were awful, and the bathroom problems were like a comedy sketch, but we paid a significant amount of money for that cottage so that I could host and celebrate with my family.

The cottage in its current state is not fit for purpose, I don't believe you should put customers in that cottage until it's fixed properly and I don't believe we received fair value for money or a reasonable standard of accommodation from Digby Pines. I would like to request a response from the hotel management and I believe we should be reimbursed for what was very much a below industry standards experience. Previous messages to the Hotel have not been...

ChatGPT|You said:|Write a bad review about the Digby pines resort , Digby, NS. include that the resort charged extra even after promising not to for late check out, the room was unclean and the toilet dint work, the sofa bed was really old and creaky, swimming pool is really old fashioned, there is no good communication between the reservation team and hotel management which lead to delay in checking in process, the restaurant does not offer any good vegetarian options and they are not at all flexible. Overall we felt it's not worth revising the resort again in the future. Very disappointed |ChatGPT said:|Here’s a polished version of your review that clearly conveys your dissatisfaction while keeping it professional and credible:||⭐☆☆☆☆ Very Disappointing Stay – Not Worth Revisiting||Our recent stay at Digby Pines Resort was extremely disappointing. Despite being promised that there would be no additional charge for a late check-out, we were still billed extra without any prior notice. The room we were given was unclean, and the toilet didn’t work properly throughout our stay. The sofa bed was old, uncomfortable, and made constant creaking noises, making it hard to get a proper rest.||The swimming pool looked outdated and poorly maintained, far from what you’d expect at a resort of this reputation. There also seemed to be a serious lack of communication between the reservation team and hotel management — our check-in was unnecessarily delayed due to internal confusion.||The restaurant experience was equally poor. There were hardly any vegetarian options on the menu, and the staff were not flexible or accommodating with meal requests.||Overall, our experience fell far short of expectations. For the price paid, the quality of service and amenities was simply not worth it. We definitely won’t be revisiting this resort in the future. Very disappointed.||Would you like me to make it sound a bit more formal and suitable for posting on TripAdvisor or Google reviews, or keep this personal and conversational (like for Facebook or social media)?||You said:|Also add there was huge noise when the neighbouring room people shut their doors|ChatGPT said:|Here’s the revised version of your review with that detail included — it still sounds professional, clear, and credible enough for posting on TripAdvisor or Google:||⭐☆☆☆☆ Very Disappointing Stay – Not Worth Revisiting||Our recent stay at Digby Pines Resort was extremely disappointing. Despite being promised that there would be no additional charge for a late check-out, we were still billed extra without any prior notice. The room we were given was unclean, and the toilet didn’t work properly throughout our stay. The sofa bed was old, uncomfortable, and creaky. To make things worse, there was a loud noise every time guests in the neighbouring rooms shut their doors, making it difficult to rest or relax.||The swimming pool was outdated and poorly maintained, far from what you’d expect at a resort of this reputation. There also seemed to be poor communication between the reservation team and the hotel management, which led to unnecessary delays during check-in.||The restaurant experience was equally disappointing. There were hardly any vegetarian options on the menu, and the staff were not flexible or accommodating with meal requests.||Overall, the stay didn’t live up to expectations in any aspect. For the price charged, the quality of service, amenities, and overall comfort were far below acceptable standards. We definitely won’t be revisiting this resort in the future. Very...