The Catrina Hotel, San Mateo — Hotel in San Mateo

I found this hotel really nice and modern. Speaking of modern: this hotel is probably not for the technologically-challenged. There is no face-to-face check-in- which is part of why the costs are reduced- and, while, the online check-in process was pretty smooth, I had a few bumps that took a moment to figure out. I saw a front desk area, which seemed to be closed most, if not all of the time, but the Q&A section of the guest website is super helpful. The location is conveniently located near a small shopping plaza, the freeway and the Hillsdale mall is just down the road. Parking was plentiful, though the driveway for entering/exiting is a little tight. I loved the electronic lock on the door! So high-tech! The decor was fine. The bathroom had great lighting. There was water and a little treat for us on the side-table. The TV was Smart so you could log in to your Netflix/Hulu/Amazon etc to stream your shows. There was laundry somewhere, but not sure what, if any, cost there was. An appropriate number of toilet paper rolls and towels were provided for the length of our stay- plus a makeup remover towel- though I'm sure we could've requested more as needed. The check-out process was swift- put the "Checked-out" tag on the door handle when you leave. That's it. So simple! I took off one star for three things: first, because the bathroom door was VERY creaky and in serious need of WD-40 or something for those hinges. I'm not sure how thin the walls were (I didn't hear anything from my neighbors if they were present) but I feel like they could've heard that noisy creaky bathroom door. Second, the bathroom was nice BUT the floor was dusty like it had just been tiled, and not cleaned thoroughly. Lastly, there was no facial tissue, like Kleenex and the location of the lights didn't illuminate the closet enough. Our experience wasn't particularly diminished by any of that so still just one star. Overall, we would...

It’s quarter past midnight, a mosquito buzzes near the dim light of the night light as I write this review. It’s been a long day and I was looking forward to resting my head on a soft pillow, but instead I’m writing this review because I cannot sleep.

Check in was fine, but the first red flag reared its ugly head immediately after I opened the door. The smell of mold; sharp, repulsive, and yet completely invisible to the manager whom I had waved down from outside. I asked him if I could change a room.

“Sorry, we are completely booked,” he says, as I explain how the room smells like an AC unit that’s been sitting around for too long. As we both enter the room, I smell the faint smell of cigarette smoke emanating from him. I ask him if he can smell the mold, and with a straight face he tells me “No”.

Like having just asked a blind man for directions, I realize the folly of my logic. Ok, fine, maybe he really can’t smell it.

After showering while unsuccessfully trying to mask the putrid smell of mold with shampoo and body wash, I quickly get the bed ready to finally rest my weary eyes. As I pull the bedsheet cover, a small yellow blob on the bed catches my eye. I look closely, and it looks like, an insect egg? A dead bug? Whatever it was, it was accompanied by an assortment of hairs sprinkled across the linens.

I call the office, and ask if I can get some clean linens. “I’m so sorry,” the person on the other end says, “our housekeeping is not available right now.”

Ba dum tiss… was what I was hoping to hear. At least then I would know that this was just a cruel joke. A laugh track will play as a reminder that at least someone got a kick out of my suffering. But alas, there is no punch line, there is no joke. It’s just me, sitting alone and tired, on top of the only clean part of the bed cover I could find, and wondering if it’s too late to look for...

Be warned: the management of this hotel is dishonest. They will take your money, but when you get thete, you may not have a room. They keep the money and leave you.scrambling to find other accommodations. They took my money, almost $400 for a two night stay that I had booked the day before arrival. I checked in with the virtual assistant, and he processed my credit card for the two nights plus the dog fee of $70. When we went to get into our assigned room, someone else was in the room. They gave away our room! We had called multiple times saying we were on our way, rushing to see a critically ill family member. Both times we were told it was no problem if we checked in late...the room was reserved just for us. Locked out of the room we had just paid for, we called the virtual assistant again, and they sent a woman, I presumed was the manager to assist us. She told us there were no more rooms, except one upstairs. When making the reservation, we made it clear that we needed a downstairs room to accommodate a disabled person as well as an old dog. Since the management could not accommodate us properly, she promised that our money would be refunded promptly. This never happened in spite of multiple phone calls and requests. Twice we were simply.hung up on. We ended up searching for a room until.3 am since most everything was full. This place took our money for a two night stay plus a pet fee, services and accommodations we never received. My efforts to resolve the matter have been futile and frustrating to say the least. Unless you have money to.throw away, find yourself a reputable hotel chain that isn't going...