Comfort Inn Alma

This was one of my Trans Quebec stops by snowmobile. The room had a coffee maker, fridge, and microwave. If you're arriving by snowmobile, be aware that the trail shown on Imotoneige to the hotel doesn't exist. You have to find your way in through the residential streets at the back. If it's warm and the streets are bare, you won't be able to get there by snowmobile.

I was here for work for about six weeks. The breakfast was good, and I liked most of the staff. The people who work there made the stay pleasant, and I enjoyed the area, with restaurants close by. For a longer stay, though, it was missing a lot of usual amenities, like a washer and dryer.

The hotel is in a good spot on the main strip, close to some chain restaurants and fast food places. There isn't an elevator, and the rooms are quite small. The front desk staff were very friendly and helpful, and they were bilingual. Breakfast had a great selection. The cleaning staff were very noisy outside the rooms and took a long time to clean because they worked on multiple rooms at once.

We've stayed at this hotel for family visits for the past ten years. I used to give it four stars, but after our recent stay I'm lowering that to two. The room had a terrible damp smell. When we told the manager, he said it was normal and suggested opening the window. We asked if the room could be cleaned again or if we could move, but he said housekeeping wasn't available at night and the hotel was fully booked. I could understand both points on a long weekend. He did say he'd check and put out some soap. When we returned later that evening, the smell was still there. We traced it to the shower curtain liner. Taking it out of the room helped somewhat, but the smell never really went away. We put up with it for the rest of the weekend since all the hotels were full, but we'll avoid this one in future. I can't understand how the housekeeping staff or manager missed such a strong smell during cleaning or room inspections. I also can't imagine we were the first guests to complain, so why hadn't it been fixed right away?