Ewaa Express Hotel - Al Olaya ايوا اكسبريس - العليا — Hotel in Municipality of Olaya

An Urgent Caution to Potential Guests:

Before you consider booking a stay at this establishment, I implore you to read my recent experience, which was nothing short of a hospitality nightmare. While this hotel is not worth my time to write about what happened to me, but I hope this post helps those who consider to book. "STAY AWAY"!!!

Initial Impressions: Upon my arrival for a month-long business trip, the hotel presented a facade of adequacy. However, this quickly deteriorated as I encountered a series of unsettling issues: a pervasive, strange odor, eerie music reminiscent of horror films, and a complete absence of lighting in the corridors at night due to faulty motion sensors.

Reservation Fiasco: My travel plans necessitated intermittent stays, and I believed retaining my room throughout the month would be advantageous. To my dismay, during an absence, the hotel unilaterally canceled my reservation and re-rented my room for additional profit. Upon my return, I was confronted with the demand to re-book and pay anew, despite having prepaid for the entire month.

Unprofessional Management: The General Manager, Mohammed, displayed an appalling lack of professionalism, falsely claiming I had checked out and brusquely directing me to "deal with Expedia!!!" before abruptly ending our conversation. My attempts to resolve the situation through Expedia confirmed that my reservation was still active and non-cancellable, directly contradicting the hotel staff's assertions.

Communication Breakdown: The language barrier further compounded the issue, with the staff's limited English proficiency hindering any meaningful dialogue. It became evident that the staff operated under a climate of fear imposed by the absentee General Manager, who was only reachable by phone.

Evasion Tactics: Despite repeated attempts by Expedia representatives to contact the hotel, the staff consistently denied receiving any communication, a clear indication of their intent to manipulate the situation to their advantage.

A Call for Action: This hotel's practices are not only unethical but also deeply disrespectful to its guests. The General Manager even had the audacity to thank me for enabling them to double-dip financially by renting out my room while simultaneously evicting me.

Final Word: In light of these experiences, I urge you to reconsider your stay at this hotel. The bellboys, with their better English skills than front desk staff, were the only glimmer of competence in an otherwise dismal setting. There are far superior accommodations available in the area that respect and value their guests. Do not subject yourself to this hotel's...

While the decorations and rooms of the hotel are quite good and inviting. The hotel has weird management style and strange policies. ||They give only 2 Water Bottles and don't give more water even if you want it. |There is no food available in the hotel after breakfast and their explanation is, you can get food from anywhere. The restaurant in the hotel claims to have stale food which can't be given to customers. ||Additionally, I had a very strange experience with them. On the day of my Check-In, I wanted additional hangers and they were not giving any for a while, so I took an extra hanger from bathroom on which the Bath Robe was kept and when the Housekeeping gave me hangers, I gave the Bath robe to them to take away from my room since I didn't want it as I was also using the hanger on which it was kept.. ||After Check-Out, very strangely the receptionist started investigating from me - "Where is the Bath Robe?, We can't find it" and the manner in which they were asking me, it felt insulting and humiliating as if I was taking it with me in my bag.||Not only the left hand doesn't know what the right hand does in EWAA OLAYA, they are not at all process oriented. Obviously their housekeeper who took the Bath Robe away from my room should have updated the system that he had taken the Bath Robe out so it is not in the room. ||Finally, I had to really raise my voice and show my un-pleasantness at the incident and asked them to check with their own teams before they question their customers on such things. ||All in all while room wise the hotel is great, their service and lack of proper processes and bad customer service makes it a very...

Avoid EWAA AL OLAYA – Terrible Experience!

I made the mistake of staying here for six days, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Here’s why: • WiFi is awful – There are multiple connections, but they constantly drop. Even when it says connected, it doesn’t work. • “Free” cycle bikes are unsafe – They’re completely unmaintained and a serious hazard. • Staff are unhelpful – Only one person speaks English. Most staff either ignore you or just look away, including the receptionist, who was incredibly rude. • Swimming pool is a joke – It’s tiny (3m x 3m), more like a freezing cold hot tub than an actual pool. • Gym is useless – No dumbbells, no weights, no machines except a basic chest press. Just an old treadmill and a bike. • No towels by the pool – Basic amenities are lacking. • Room barely cleaned – Only cleaned once, and that was after we specifically asked. • Breakfast is unreliable – They bring it whenever they feel like it—8 AM, 8:30 AM, 9:30 AM—so we gave up and bought our own food from the supermarket. • Unbelievable noise at night – Workmen were literally knocking through walls just a few meters from my room. It was insanely loud.

I respect that it was during Ramadan, but the level of service here is unacceptable. With the World Cup coming in 2034, I really hope things improve—but for now, do...