Tropic Lodge — Hotel in Garden Grove

When we first arrived at the property, we went to the front desk to confirm our check-in and get the keys to our room. The first thing the young lady asked was to see the card which we intended to use to pay for our stay (side note: when originally booking this property, it stated that we would not be charged until after check-in, when in reality they charged my card for half the amount of the entire stay on the day BEFORE our arrival). Just to clarify, I asked for confirmation that they were going to charge the remaining amount owed since half of the price had already been charged to my debit card. She said no, it would be the full amount and that the other charge I saw was just pending to ensure I kept my reservation; this isn’t necessarily pleasant information, but it’s understandable. Then after processing my card, she asked if I wanted to use the same card for the $50 security deposit— yet another charge that was listed NOWHERE within the property information when I first booked the room. I was immediately hesitant, but agreed. Then she continues to tell me that I won’t be getting my deposit back until about 3-4 WEEKS after my stay has concluded. At this point, I’m completely shocked... this totals to nearly $320 for two nights in a single king bedroom. To avoid becoming visibly upset, I thanked the young woman as she gave us our keycard and left to start bringing our luggage into the room. Upon entering, at first glance, everything seemed to be fine; the room looked relatively similar to the pictures posted online. Having driven for over two hours, I went to use the restroom just to see that the doorknob was completely non functional, the bath tub literally was so filthy it had black stains, and pieces of the wall/mirror were either chipping or cracked. Then I go back to the front desk to ask why on Earth our room was in such condition, to be greeted by an entirely different person (this time a man) who seemed to be just as shocked. He apologized, asked for me to send the pictures I took of the room’s condition to their property email, and gave us a key to another room. Luckily, this room had a functioning doorknob leading to the restroom, but we were downgraded to a Queen size bedroom and the bathroom was in even FILTHIER condition than the previous one. Not only was the bathtub stained, the floor itself looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months. However, the cherry on top of it all had to be the surplus of human hair dangling from toilet, shower, bathroom walls, AND OUR “CLEAN” TOWELS. Beyond disgusting! After taking more pictures, I wrapped my hands in toilet paper and cleaned the hair off of everything myself... and simply decided not to walk barefoot anywhere in the room. Feeling anything but comfortable, my boyfriend and I left to enjoy the remainder of the evening by having a nice dinner out. Afterwards we made a dreaded return to our room to get some sleep, since we’d needed to be up early the next morning. There was not a single parking space available to park our car, and when we asked the third new person at the front desk where we should go, they told us that we could just park in the handicapped spot, illegally. By midnight, we were finally settled in and about to fall asleep when we hear yelling coming from the room directly next to us. Thinking this would hopefully blow over within a few minutes, we tried to ignore it until it suddenly turns into a full-blown argument that could wake up the entire block. Apparently, all forms of staff must have completely left for the evening because after an hour of nonstop yelling, screaming, crying, and throwing things, we were forced to call the cops ourselves. Even after the police arrived, the noise didn’t die out completely until 4am... when we FINALLY were able to fall asleep. This establishment was BY FAR the absolute WORST place I’ve ever had the displeasure of staying at... let...

We booked a Double Deluxe Queen Bed room but at the time of check in, the lady at the front desk told us that in their system they only see a "single queen bed" room instead of the "double deluxe queen bed" room that we booked. Even in the confirmation email we have the picture of the room with the double queen bed and a room description " double deluxe queen bed" room. When I asked is there a mixed up and is there anything that they can do for me to sort this out, the lady just said this is not their problem and nothing they can do about it. Very inflexible and answer with a tone that "we don't care about your problem and you need us, not we need your business". This is just rude this was the first time we came across customer service like this. The weird thing was, we have booked a few times in the past with the exact room description and picture in the confirmation email and got the double deluxe queen bed room, BUT NOT THIS TIME. We tried to contact the online agency where we booked the room and they said that the hotel is trying to play around with wording and with the picture of the double queen bed in the confirmation email, this is consider false advertising. They said that they have heard a few customers reported to them about this hotel but unfortunately they cannot do anything to help me. So please beware and book else where instead. This hotel Tropic Lodge is just plain rude and should be avoid at all cost. I normally don't write bad review, but I just want people to beware of this hotel and avoid...

The hotel facade is not anything to write about but don't let this deter you from booking. The hotel is 25 minutes to OCCPA where we needed to be for a wedding. I picked the hotel because it was reasonably priced and had decent reviews. The parking lot is free of clutter and the room is extremely clean. The beds are very comfortable and so are the pillows. While the room had a small refrigerator, a microwave, a pretty large TV and excellent air conditioning it didn't have a blow driver and had very minimalistic toiletries which included 1 small soap bar and a couple of shampoo sachet packs. I'm not sure if this was made clear on the webpage when I booked but it is very minor; I just wished I paid attention to it so could have brought my own )I have long hair that needs conditioner and I tend to like my hair styled before going out). The one thing that was a bit of a bummer is the pool; it's a small pool but that's not the issue. It was that it wasn't open and it didn't state that on the website. I've had a few experience like this where small boutique hotels don't keep it open. It would be better if they would have some sort of disclosure on the web that would say what months it's functional so there's no disappointments. |For the price I paid and the comfort of the room it exceeded my expectation, I give...