Gary .. (.
3/5
We top tier reward collectors for BW hotels. Use BW all the time. We took two rooms for two nights. We arrived at about 2 pm on the first thursday of febuary( no school for grand kids) and were given our key cards for Room 504 and 523. 504 had someone still in there when we opened our door. no problem, we just switched to Room 310 and kept 523. There was no hot water coming out of the bathroom taps, it can't be from all the departing persons checking out by 11 am. As a Retired HVAC guy the hot water boiler should have a revolving circulating pump so the hot water is always at the bathroom taps the moment you turn on the hot-water tap. The hot-water was there later in the early evening. So to me, it looks like the management has decided to alter the system so it is not circulating hot water during low demand times( saving them money) they could have installed a timer or do it manually. This was my biggest peave, it was that way for both rooms and both days we were there. The hotel was not booked up as you can tell from the parking lot with so few of autos. So if you want a hot/warm shower then choose another hotel unless this one gets its act together and puts it the way it is suppose to be. Also the 5th floor had cigarette smoke so bad that it required me to go into town to shoppers drug mart and get a Ventolin inhaler as I was wheezing. I told the girl/lady at the front desk and showed her my inhaler that I just purchased. To give you an idea the smoke was so heavy in the hallway and seeping into our room that Our clothes were smelling like we were smokers. I never need an inhaler unless I am around cats and some breeds of dogs.( hence not having mine on this trip) I met a man manager/employee at the 5th floor elevators to show him what I was talking about, he exclaimed this is not allowed, but did nothing to curtail the situation, at least while I was there in the hall with him. I would have started knocking on doors. The front staff, cleaning staff, maintenance man, were all great to deal with. it was like they were all Happy to have you at the hotel. We go as a group some times to Hinton ( time before last was 5 rooms we booked for 3 days) and since I am a BW Rewards member we stay there and the kids like the pool and hot tub. They were clean and heated, so everyone young and old was happy. Just fix fix the hot water challenge... please. PS: Ricky's Resturant was great and lots of selection. They were very accommodating to the children's requests/needs. Unless you like toast/bagels/muffins the free breakfast is a joke compared to other BW Plus hotels, powdered eggs? bacon one day and sausage the other day. The food was cold, it was like they were trying to save money on the chalfing pans to keep the food warm/hot. Management should take a look at what the included morning breakfast is like at other BW hotels ... lots of them do a great job. Like Valemont,BC ...Stony Plain , AB... it gives a person a feeling that this just done to comply with BW Corporate policy, or is it the Hinton BW not wanting to spend the money in doing it right. May I suggest that Owners/Managers fix this. The reason for my more detailed review is we would like to keep coming to the Hinton one as our base for Jasper, even before fires. Please and Thank you.
