Ontario Gateway Hotel — Hotel in Ontario

Let me just begin by mentioning that I have never wrote a review before and have never complained to- or about a place before. I am basically a doormat person because I never speak up, I am too passive, and I am too nice. However my experience here was very uncomfortable, my partner and I discovered very disturbing things within this hotel, and the staff made us and our complaints feel very invalid which is the main reason I am writing this review.

I will start with the fact that my partner and I complained TWICE. We complained last night and today as we were checking out. As my partner was talking to the desk about our complaints, an employee went up to the manager and started talking to him, the manager did not look or acknowledge us and he in fact walked away and did not confront us. They told us that they can’t compensate for anything and that “it is out of their control.” They made us feel that what we were complaining about was not even an issue and made us feel that we weren’t valid. They were glad to take our money knowing that their place is a disgusting environment!

If anyone is considering on staying at this hotel and is checking the reviews, I highly suggest they consider what I have to mention about it.

THEY HAVE BAD AIR CONDITIONING AND THEIR ROOMS ARE HOT BOXES!

Upon entering our room, it was a hotbox! The air conditioner didn’t work at all. When we heard a group of people complaining about their rooms being hot boxes, my partner and I felt it was okay to mention ours was as well. They had their maintenance guy check out our room and then left. When we went downstairs the manager said that they may just move us to another room, we told him that we were stepping out for a moment and that we would be back. My partner and I went to get food and as we came back they set us up in another room. After moving our things we come to notice this room didn’t have a chair nor a mini fridge. When we booked our room we specifically paid the extra for a room with a fridge. My partner and I couldn’t salvage our food that night and decided to eat from the vending machine they had downstairs. We didn’t complain about the fridge. The new room also didn’t provide enough cool air but was still bearable than our last room.

THEY HAVE COCKROACHES!!!! AND THE PLACE IS FILTHY!!!

The first night we went swimming, it was trashy, and there was a diaper outside the edge of the pool. The next night we went swimming, given yes that kids will be kids, and although there were kids swimming earlier in the day, the fact that they had a pool security gaurd that walked around the pool three times, was not checking anything and was looking at his phone the entire time. I got into the pool and later noticed three areas of dark brown stuff at the bottom of it. My partner and I scooped it out with their pool cleaner and come to find it was poop. I got out of the pool and we went straight into the gym to wash ourselves off right away in their showers, but when we went into the gym bathroom/showers there were cockroaches everywhere and it looked so filthy! As we left the gym and began walking to complain at the desk, near the restaurant we found a dead cockroach, which meant that there weren’t just cockroaches in the gym bathrooms but they were inside the actual main part of the hotel near where everyone comes in and out and eats. We ate at their restaurant twice and went to their bar once. Also almost all their food is $10 and over and at the bar we ordered two water-downed drinks and one shot that came out to $45. In case anyone is on a budget. But we ate from their restaurant twice and later finding that they have a cockroach problem. I felt disgusted and leaving this place, I just felt I couldn’t be clean here.

What I’m upset about is how they treated us and how the manager didn’t acknowledge and confront us. No compensate, no validation, and no apologies. They took our money and made us stay in this filthy cockroach infested place. Seriously, not one sorry!

We also have pictures of the poop, the cockroaches...

Last year this hotel used to be the Raddison. It was sold and is now the Gateway Hotel. The general feeling at this hotel makes me think of a large motel rather than an actual hotel. I stayed here for Anime Los Angeles. It is conveniently located across the street from the Ontario Convention Center. That's nearly it when it comes to what I found favorable about this place. My experience with the staff felt somewhat bi polar. While for the most part friendly, my interaction with guest services didn't seem to work. The chair in my room was broken. I tried calling guest services, but no one picked up the phone. So I walked to the front desk on Thursday to let them know that the chair needed replacement. I arrived on Thursday and left Monday morning. The broken chair was never addressed. Maid service was efficient, but it took until Saturday before my room was cleaned. I am not bothered by this as I change the linens in my home once a week. Still it took two days for maid service to stop by. The bathroom tub has some brown stains near the drain. I cautiously wiped the area and discovered it was some sort of sealer. It worked, but still looked bad. My interaction with the restaurant staff went from one extreme to another. The first time I visited the restaurant for supper, the waiter was very helpful in guiding me to entrees that would not affect my diabetes, making substitutions as needed. The following night after working on editing my photos, I arrived late at the restaurant and ended up visiting the bar and grille instead. Both shared the same menu. I was told that there would be no substitutions as I had done the previous night. So I ended up picking all the croutons and the bread out of my onion soup and dinner salad. Plus I ended up paying $4 more for my meal. To cap my experience off, on Sunday morning I decided to try breakfast at the restaurant. I was trying to read the menu at the waiter's stand to see what I could eat (remember I'm diabetic) but the Sunday waiter kept interrupting my search for safe food for me. When I told him he was being rude, he huffed and puffed with a few choice remarks to me like a Matre D at an exclusive French Restaurant. I left and had breakfast at Spire's...

Please avoid this hotel at all costs, they scammed me out of an extra night's worth of money.

After checking in, we used the bathroom and discovered that the toilet didn't flush. The phone doesn't connect to the front desk, so instead we went down and asked that they send someone to fix it. After over an hour, we returned to the room and discovered that it still did not flush. We went down and asked for another room, and we were moved roomed.

Soon after, we found that we only had one towel in our new room. We asked housekeeping if we could have an additional towel, but they said they didn't have any available at the time. We told them we still had access to the other room and asked if we could just take some of the unused towels from the room with the malfunctioning toilet, and they told us it was fine.

Now we are being charged for an extra night from the hotel, and after calling twice about this issue, I was rudely informed that I had used the shower and that they had photo evidence of this and was not able to receive a refund for a room I spent maybe 10 minutes in.

Definitely stay away, lower priced rooms aren't worth it when the service is this bad and they over charge you anyway. The DoubleTree Hilton is very close by and attendees for my event were split between these two hotels. While I had a bad experience and several other attendees complained about the shoddy air conditioning in some of the rooms and the overall lack of care seemed to be supplied by the staff, the attendees who stayed at the DoubleTree Hilton seemed to have a much more positive experience.

Pay a little extra, and save yourself the headache of having to deal with shady business practices, clearly deteriorating standards, and an all around awful experience.

EDIT 10/2: Look at this response, they didn't even read my message. They told me to call the same number I've called multiple times to try to and fix this problem already. A hotel manager already accused me of something I didn't do and denied my request to refund the charge for something I never did. I've had to correct the charge via my own credit card to avoid getting my money taken. Stay away...