Hotel Catalina — Hotel in Avalon

Ok…I am going to warn you as others have before me….do yourself a favor and stay SOMEWHERE ELSE! When we docked, we called the hotel and was told where to find the shuttle. “Not included in the $600 per night” When we pulled up to the hotel, and went into the lobby, that’s when we discovered that we were not staying at the Hotel Catalina, which they DO NOT clarify on their site or any booking site….there is a Hotel Catalina and a Courtyard Garden Suites. The penthouse is NOT at Hotel Catalina…the blue sign you see from the ferry, it’s actually at the Courtyard Garden Suites. We arrived at 1:40 and was told by Ignacio that check in is at 2:00 and that we could not check in earlier. With only 20 minutes to go (or so we thought), we camped out in the lobby. While sitting there, we noticed Ignacio taking other guests to their rooms. With my background, I am aware that if rooms are ready, you can check in a little early, but we were not offered any explanation as to why he was allowing other guests to check in and not us again as he was adamant, that check in was 2:00. 2:00 came and went with no sign of Ignacio. By 2:15, we called the mainline and spoke to another manager who promised to call him. To our dismay, he left his cell phone on his desk, so nobody could contact him. At 2:30, we saw Ignacio and housekeeping leaving from the Penthouse and he finally gave us keys without any apologies for the delay or any explanations. We were directed to our private elevator, but due to the age and claustrophobic nature, we sent our luggage up and decided to take the stairs. While it looked as if the furnishings have not been updated since the hotel was first opened, we were quite impressed with the space and the modern upgrade to the shower in the master bath. What we were not impressed with was the fact that we found remnants of dried food on the dining room rug and throughout the entire unit which we found gross and alarming, particularly since they keep a vacuum cleaner in the closet and this is the most expensive unit on property. It was also quite hot and after noticing the thermostat said 77 degrees we turned it down to 65. Nevertheless, we just wanted to head to our friends yacht. After being gone for 6-7 hours, we returned to a locked hotel entrance. Our key only gave us access to our elevator, but to use the stairs, we needed actual key cards to get into the hotel, which Ignacio did not provide. We called a staff member and when they arrived, their key card did not work. It took an additional 10 minutes and 2 staff members to get us access to the hotel. Upon entering our PH it was still hot with the thermostat reading 81 degrees! We called engineering and after about 15 minutes, he declared “It’s broke”, without explaining what exactly was broken. As we were sitting around trying to figure out what to do as it was 11:00pm, we got a knock at the door and were surprised when 3 cops entered our room along with Cathy, an Asst Mgr we had not previously met. Apparently, Ignacio sent them to kick us out because we complained too much! The cops were very nice and very sympathetic to our issues as they too were hot and they also understood that when you’re paying $1800 isn’t worth it, especially when the hotel takes advantage of the fact that the island sells out most of summer so you listen to their lies or you leave. My advice to you would be to book early to avoid this mess of dump. It’s disgusting and so is the...

BED BUGS AND HORRIBLE STAFF. Possibly the most unprofessional hotel experience I have ever had. Hotel condition and amenities are either old, dirty, or not functioning. There are a plethora of hotels at a similar price point that offer a much better place to stay. Spent the night here with my family with the intent to stay another, and woke up covered in bed bug bites. We contacted the front desk. We were greeted by the hotel manager Charlie knocking at our room door, asking for proof of bed bugs. After showing him the bug bite marks on our shoulders, legs, arms, and hands, his demeanor completely changed. He raised his voice and told us we had to vacate the room so they could “fumigate” it. To which we were at first receptive to as we were sure it was standard procedure to relocate guests to a different room in the case of bed bugs or other infestations. However to our surprise he clarified that he was not getting us another room and that we needed to find another hotel. Rather taken aback we requested an answer as to why this was his first and seemingly only solution to the issue. He said that due to “legal reasons” we needed to “vacate the premises”. To which I being in the hospitality industry requested to know what legal reason allows hotels to kick guests out of hotels after they report something wrong with their room. To which he responded verbatim “It’s hospitality laws, I know them, you don’t, get out so we can prepare your room for the next guest.” I was blown away. We even asked if they had any recommendations of other hotels to go to, he responded with “I don’t know, the hotels around here are booked up by now. you still need to leave, good luck.” then walked away. Never have seen a hotel staff member supposedly in charge act in such a rash and immature way. I do wonder if he has heard this complaint before and has done this to other customers. Truly unacceptable for an employee. Not to mention the fact that the hotel had bed bugs leads me to believe the whole place is in desperate need of cleaning. We booked a room at the Hermosa down the street and had a significantly better experience. If you want to bring yourself or your family to a nice stay, stay FAR AWAY...

The first thing you notice as you step in is the smell. It's not good... Not just at the front but in the rooms too. Everything inside is old but also cheap and battered. The sheets and blankets desperately needed to be replaced. Some screens on windows were falling off and quickly patched up holes in the walls were not painted over. There is no AC so good luck with those hot summer nights. The walls are paper thin and you can pretty much hear every word your neighbors say when they speak in normal voices. We had some talkers who stayed up well past one AM. Be aware that there is no one onsight to address complaints or issue with a loud neighbor. I think they said there was a phone downstairs that connected you directly with someone in that regard. The refrigerator would kick on and make a high-pitched ringing sound. Maybe not everyone would notice but for those who do, it can be very agitating when you're trying to sleep. I didn't care, but some may like to know that the tv only has a dvd player, no cable or satellite. It was probably the cheapest hotel on the island but it doesn't mean it was worth the cost. Btw, different services say that this place offers breakfast. It just offers Quakers oatmeal with hot water or donuts (plus tea, coffee, or juice. Oh yeah! It is not accommodating to handicap ornthose in wheelchairs. Three stories and no elevator. They offer free WiFi but even with a strong signal, the WiFi was terrible. My 3G worked better on my phone but even that was bad on the island - I usually have 4G. The workers were nice and I think they try to manage it with their budget as well as they can but its in desperate need of some renovation. I don't feel so bitter about staying here but I feel that future customers should be aware of what they are getting. We didnt...