Grand Vista Hotel and Suites — Hotel in Vonore

By far the worst hotel experience we’ve had! We arrived in the area super late, after driving 15 hours from MA we found this hotel online because it was local to the family we were visiting. Red flag #1… if the hotel is located down a dark driveway with no brightly lit sign illuminated, a scary dark parking lot welcomes you to what looked like a scene from a bad horror movie.. no light on the building, overgrown planters full of decomposing plants, and a pile of debris next to a dark danky pool.. you should run not walk.. but again we were exhausted..and definitely were far from the city.. When entering the lobby we were hit with the aroma of curry and a weird, unappealing combination of floral and fruity potpourri..a variety of unmatched furniture and more poor lighting options.. Check in was quick.. license and payment.. in return you get two card keys and pointed towards the elevator. During the short trip from the desk to the elevator.. more aromas.. none appealing. Multiple bowls of dried potpourri, and glade plug ins in every socket we passed.. and a family cooking food in what appeared to be a dining room closed off by a divider.. The elevator ride to floor 2.. creepy! One fluorescent light flickering, the other out. The darkness hiding the disgustingly stained carpet.. and when the doors opened.. your welcomed by a pinch in the face of more mismatched glade plug ins, a broken ice machine with an out of order sign and a hallway divided by plastic sheets ( maybe rooms closed for renovation? Let’s hope!! ) The room - outdated and rundown. Wallpaper peeling, dirty floors, curtain rods hanging awkwardly, a shower curtain that appears was just pulled out of a dingy musty basement that had more wrinkles than I’d ever seen.. the amount of dust appeared the room hadn’t been booked or visited by housekeeping in a LONG time! Counters separated from the wall, stained lampshades, mismatched couch cushions that were stained and ripped, old stained carpet, and furniture that looked to be selected from a yard sale.. scratch and dent special! The desk attendant must have left after I checked in because it was a ghost town the entire night other than a sign to pick up the phone for help - I’m assuming for someone who lives on site because the only person I saw was a man who walked the hallways every few hours. The same man who was putting out coffee at 6am that should have come with a sign don’t drink me.. it was a weird mixture of instant and brewed flavors that literally couldn’t be drank. There won’t be a next time.. the following night we drove over an hour to stay at a Hampton inn.. which exceeded in customer service, cleanliness and welcoming atmosphere. Not sure HOW anyone has rated this hotel more than 1 star unless they’re related to the owners. ** At MIDNIGHT ( 4 hrs after posting my review) last night I was woken by my phone ringing - an incoming call this late is never good - this was no exception! It was the lady from the hotel calling to “discuss my review” I quickly replied “AT MIDNIGHT?? Can this wait until morning?? “ I returned the call the following day, heard multiple excuses, told that it’s my fault we had a bad stay because I didn’t call to complain, and was REFUSED a refund but claimed she’d send me a refund if I pulled the review down - not before. All again my fault for not calling and telling her.. The plug ins are because guests complained about the smell of hotel, and the cleanliness issues because they have no staff, and renovations and upgrades halted cuz they can’t find help. NOW I’ll...

This hotel has great potential, but isn't quite there.

I will start by saying, if you are scent sensitive, DO NOT stay at this hotel. As soon as you walk in you are met with a strong fragrance from wall plug ins. This smell is throughout the entire hotel, and is impossible to escape. I had a headache and sore throat before I even went to bed.

That being said:

Location is great - away from town with a lovely parking lot and lots of space. This was my main reason for booking here. Very quiet (at least outside of the hotel...)

When I arrived, I was greeted by a nice lady at the front desk. She was friendly and helpful. I checked in around 7:30pm (had booked online).

My room overall wasn't great.

Pros: The bed was clean and comfortable, and the size of the room was nice.

Cons: There was no seal under the door to the room. I could hear every single person walking by, conversations in and up the hall. My room also connected to the next room via a door in-between - I'm convinced this door was hollow as I could hear every conversation, argument, the TV... you get the idea. The AC unit was ridiculously loud. The fan itself was enough to not want to run it, then once the AC kicked in I'm amazed it couldn't be heard in town. My TV didn't work when I turned it on - luckily I was able to troubleshoot the connecrion myself to get it working. When I went to have a shower the next morning, one of my two towels in the room was stained to the point I didn't feel comfortable using it. Luckily the other was perfectly clean.

The continental breakfast is nothing to write home about. It's fresh, but not many options. I had toast, a muffin, and a banana.

Upon check out I was hoping to talk with someone about the issues that I had, along with some other questions I had about the area. No one was at the desk, and there was a basket left with a "leave room keys here" sign.

With some work and renovations/updates, this hotel has fantastic potential. Unfortunately, it's not there. I won't...

This was our third or fourth time to stay at the Grand Vista (which really has only a view of trees on one side and the parking lot on the other!). Since 2023, the rooms have been redecorated. The 1980s border wallpaper is gone and replaced with fresh white paint, new light fixtures, new window coverings, new toilet, new or refurbished bathtub. The work is meticulous! |Carpet is gone and replaced with luxury vinyl tile (I think). As always, the room was spotlessly clean. Our room was set up as a handicap-accessible room, with a lowered peephole in the door, taller toilet, tub with optional seat, plenty of grab bars around toilet and tub, and a hand-held adjustable spray in tub. However, the bed was set up extremely high. Someone in a wheelchair would have no hope of easily transferring from chair to the bed. I brought a small step-stool; otherwise, I would have had t o take a running start and leap up to the bed.|A few other drawbacks: one of the bedside lights in our room was not working (as were the charging and electrical outlets build into the light - room 114). The furniture has NOT been replaced and it is a bit worn looking. The refrigerator had several dents, but it still kept food frosty cold. We had two upholstered chairs in our room which we really appeciated, but they were old and a bit threadbare. The air conditioner worked very, very well. |We hope to...