Hotel Festival Plaza en Rosarito — Hotel in Baja California

We arrived on Father’s Day. The room was decent. Wasn’t swept on the floor. Breakfast was amazing. They where very over whelming when leaving the hotel parking garage.

The last night we stayed there which was Wednesday night, we received a phone call from “the lobby” let’s keep in mind that they have protocol to keep us safe from scammers and people getting thru to us. ( it’s very common for this type of scan)! They called our room at 8:53 pm and told us we where held up by cartel. The whole hotel was held hostage until they would clear the hotels investigation of who dumped a truck full of drugs and fake identifications. And they wanted to make sure no one in the hotel was a part of this! Hotel lobby was a part of it! They transfered the call. When they protocol to call our room and ask if we are expecting a call, before they pass the phone call. We believe the staff was in on it. It’s sounded like the receptionist. When they told us they where downstairs and the receptionist passed the phone to the “cartel” they than got our info becauSe if we ddnt give it to them he would have the receptionist give it to them. In a moment of panic we freaked. Gave them our numbers. They than called our phones and had us call our family and tell them we where kidnapped! And they want money. The whole time we thought we would get killed if we did lie thinking they grisly where down stairs. I called my family on a cell phone that belongs to my son and texted them what was going on and had them listen to everything the “cartel” was threatening us with. They than called my dad and my brother and sister tried to call the hotel lobby and see if something was going on or suspicious to see if we where in danger. Hotel lobby would not transfer the call because it was against hotel policy to calm our room or give out information to our family. When our family gave them our room number our names and they would not transfer the call. When we finally heard a knock and the whomever knocked knocked a few times we finally answered because the guy kept telling us it’s his man to ignore the knock! We figured something is up. We then opened the door and fled. We took the stairs in case we where in trouble with the own staff involved. When we walked out to the lobby the gentlemen behind the desk was shocked and terrified and told us he would call the cops if we left the hotel. Panicking turning off the wallow talkie he said you guys can’t leave. Knowing we had bracelets for staff to recognize we where guest there and knowing who ever stays at the hotel pays in full when they check in the first day.! So everything has been Said to the manager and manager continues to tell me he is looking into it. Per protocol and why the call got transfered! Then he said I will reimburse my stay for at least one night and call me when he gets to the bottom of it. He then never called me back. I hunted him down phone call after phone call and he still hasn’t reached me since Thursday last week 6/24/21. Isn’t that a schocker! Please be aware...

If I could give this place zero stars I would. The front desk staff (especially Alicia) extremely rude and unprofessional. When we checked in on Friday night (had a group of 12 for 3 rooms), they assigned us 2 rooms next to each other and 1 room far from the others. Additionally, our group was staying 2 nights, but I had to leave early Saturday. The security guard wouldn't let me into the elevators since I had already removed my wristband while at the beach because I didn't want to get a tanline and since I wasn't planning on staying the night, despite the fact that I had the key to my room and I had signed my name on the list for the room when we checked in. I even told the security guard that I can prove I am taking my stuff because my passport was in my luggage. He walked me to the front desk and they were extremely rude. I told them to check my name on the paper we signed. They only referenced the name the room was originally reserved by, whom I mentioned was my friend. They told me that I had to take all my stuff and not go back to the room after this visit, which I agreed was fine since I was getting picked up to head home. They had another security guard awkwardly escort me up to the room, which I was able to easily locate as well as easily locate my bag in the room (behind the door). I even took out my passport to prove to the guard that it was my bag. He told me that I had to take all my stuff and not leave the extra key in room. I had no way of telling the other girls to grab the key at the front desk, but the guard gave me a pen and I wrote a quick note on a tissue. To make matters worse, I was picked up 1.5 hrs later than planned, so I had to stare at the rude guard (I took a picture of him) originally denied me access to the elevators AND witness him let other people who didn't have a wristband go through and take the elevator. I felt discriminated against and was extremely embarrassed by the whole incident. Other notes worth mentioning: One of the girls in our group ripped off her wristband in the middle of the night because it was irritating her wrist. When she asked to get a replacement the following morning, the front desk staff said it would cost her $20 (they even insisted it had to be American dollars). We all thought it was a scheme to rip us off even more. The rooms were clean, but extremely outdated. There is no AC in the rooms, just 1 ceiling fan, so the rooms were really warm. There's no escaping the loud music from outside. I suggest you bring earplugs if you expect to get any sleep...

Completely terrible. From start to finish the worse hotel in Baja probably. The rooms are definitely not the rooms shown in the Expedia ad. I requested beachfront and got a room with no windows. There is no AC, only a ceiling fan that didn't work well. -The restroom: was dirty upon arrival, towels in it were yellow and torn, mold everywhere, toilet was not flushing (front desk did not send anyone in to fix it). The only ventilation window in it was stuck, and after a couple of yanks opened only to reveal a dead pigeon hanging in between the water pipes. Horrible. -Beds are old and uncomfortable. All the linen seemed 30 years old. -No TV inside the room -Carpet is nasty dirty. -There is a $5 dll. surcharge for parking, even though it is the hotel's parking. -There is a $100 dll. mandatory deposit fee which is only returned if paid in cash, if you use your card they will take forever to release the hold. If they ever do. However, I am sure that all the furniture inside the room is not worth $100 dollars. The lobby is in terrible conditions as well, seems like this hotel and its linen is all from 1960. Just completely horrible. Pool area: Water was dirty, there was trash inside the pool. Could not find a pool chair that was not broken and clean. Nasty as well. Administrative: My family and I arrived around noon and had to wait exactly until 3 pm to check in. Even though I assured them of my early check out, no one listened. The "manager" is rude and treats people as if it was him paying for their stay. The young lady that checked us in was also rude and uncooperative. It is a shame that people like this work in tourism which is the major income source of not only Rosarito but the whole state of Baja California, Mexico. Everything is just terrible here: administration, lobby, building, rooms. Everything. I am pretty sure authorities could shut the place down if somebody did a conscious...