Not a great place. The very small air conditioner ran but did not cool room. The window coverings were missing pieces and were dirty. The blanket on bed had a hole in it and was too small for a queen bed. Generally run down. Would not recommend.
I have stayed at this hotel in the same room annually for 10 years. It has been going downhill every year but this year it was just not acceptable. I wrote a note to the owner on day 2 with a list and asked the owner to contact me to rectify the items but he did not do so and has not contacted me since. Here's the list:
The secondary entry door lock has been broken for over a year. This year it was screwed shut so poorly I could have pushed my shoulder to open it. This must be against building code and unsafe to sleep beside it.
The remote for the a/c did not work and unit was not accessible from the floor. I had to push a dresser over to the door, climb on the bed, then the dresser to manually turn it on and off.
The bed has one threadbare twin coverlet on it with a blanket between two sheets. Couldn't even rate that 2 star.
Drawer below oven had dirty cooking trays in it. Fresh grime not baked on.
Pots cupboard had not been cleaned and was full of crumbs, onion peels and other debris. Pots were unorganized, missing and extra non fitting lids.
All dishes, glasses and silverware are mismatched. Room was a 2 bedroom and did not have appropriate supplies for the unit.
The stove was covered in grease and the elements do not fit. They are too big and are obviously from another stove. Have to cook with pots on an angle,
No kleenex, No tea towels.
Only one light bulb was working in the entire living area. Supposed to have track with 3 lights and a side lamp. (they did get the track light working but no side lamp was found).
That was my experience. My friends were shown into a room that was still actually being painted! Their second AND third rooms were already occupied. Finally got a fourth room. I have several friends staying there for a tournament and all reported the same shabby condition of the entire space.
Great location across from the lake with a patio and picnic table to sit outside and people watch, that's where the positives ended for us. Our unit, unfortunately, was filthy. It was the dirtiest accommodation we have ever stayed in. The beds had clean linens and the towels had been changed, but I'm skeptical anything else in our unit had been cleaned before we arrived. The appliances were not clean inside, the refrigerator had a spill in it that had poured out onto the floor. The oven had cheese that had melted through the racks and onto a tray underneath from someone baking a pizza directly on the racks. The bathroom did not have any toilet paper, no rolls at all, there wasn't even any hanging on the holder when we arrived, just the empty cardboard roll. There was toilet paper on the floor, though. The toilet bowl didn't look like it had been cleaned in weeks, there was an orange moldy ring around the water line. There was mold growing on the shower curtain, not just a bit, but a lot. I asked if they could provide us with a replacement curtain, that I offered to change, but was told they didn't have any extra. There was dust on the ledge of the counter behind the sink that made me suspect that the bathroom counter had not been cleaned. When we first arrived, and I noticed the mess in the fridge, I went to the office and was given a bottle of multi-purpose cleaner and some rags because the cleaning staff were gone for the day. I ended up cleaning myself, with what I had. There was a broom in the kitchen, without a dustpan that I had to go get. When we were leaving on our last day, I looked under the beds to make sure we hadn't left anything behind and discovered that under one of the twin beds it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months. It was full of dust, hair, and garbage from other guests. So, the entire experience was very off putting. I don't understand what their business plan is, but they obviously need to fix this. Needless to say, we won't be returning.
Why can’t I leave 0 Stars?
I have been staying at the Golden Sands Resort in Penticton for about 15 years. As an Ironman athlete, I have stayed every August as well as 1-2 other times through the year for training. I have both recommended and brought dozens of friends here over the years as well. While I fully recognize that this is not a 5-star resort, it has a always been clean, welcoming, and the location is awesome! This past August we arrived for our one week stay and to say that this motel has gone downhill, is an understatement.
We arrived at 5:00pm, and our first red flag was being asked to pay in full up front. Once I did that ($3000), I was presented with a piece of paper stating that there would be no housekeeping services during our stay. While not ideal, I understand the difficult staffing issues being felt by the service industry. We went to our room to find that it HAD NOT BEEN CLEANED…. AT ALL! The sheets and towels appeared to be clean, but nothing else was. The bathrooms were filthy… sand and hair in the showers, fecal matter and urine on the toilets and floor, food smears and grime in the fridge, a coffee pot still on and partially full, dust caked the air conditioner units, fans, and baseboards, the stove was filthy, dust bunnies under all the beds and mouse droppings in corners. There was a 1/2 inch of caked-on insects all around the outside of the front door (which attracted hungry wasps for the entire week). It was absolutely filthy. When I went down to voice my concerns, I was told that housekeeping wouldn’t be back until the following day. Yes, we had to clean our own room!!!! We had to go to Walmart for cleaning supplies. We had issues all week to which the response was always the same: “we’ll check into it.” The final straw was on our second last night, when I saw A MOUSE scurry across the kitchen floor (2nd floor room). The next day they set a trap and caught the mouse. The man who set it told me they usually only see them on the first floor!!! OMG. I tried every day to have my issues resolved, as did friends in 2 other rooms, all to no avail. Once I got home, I sent a detailed email with all of the deficiencies, asking for some compensation (at least for the cleaning supplies) and heard nothing in return.
Folks, this place has gone so far downhill in every department, I’m really not sure what can be done at this point. I believe they have a mouse infestation and quite probably will have a black mold problem in time as well. My friends’ air conditioner leaked all week, behind the wallpaper, into puddles on the floor. They were just told to put a bucket and towels underneath.
If you have another option (which we didn’t as it was the busiest week of the year), stay somewhere else. Stay clear of this place.
I noticed that they have removed both their website and Facebook page. They used to offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. I’m guessing that got them into some hot water and they have now removed everything.
Upon entering our room there was a strong chemical odor which I am guessing was Raid as the window sills in both rooms were COVERED in dead flies. Live flies were all over the bathroom and I found dead ones in the kitchen drawers as well. The room was very dirty. We let the office know and there was nothing they could do until the next day so we were stuck in that room for the night. We moved to another unit the next day which was much better but that first room put a damper on our experience and of the motel overall. All rooms could really use a deep clean (walls, doors, etc).
