The Marigold Hotel

A nice woman checked us in, but after that the place felt run down. Parking was very limited, the elevator was rickety and slow, and we didn’t trust its safety, so we used the filthy stairs for the rest of our stay. The sixth-floor halls were stuffy with no air conditioning. The room seemed okay at first, but once inside we saw stains on the bedding and floor, burn marks on the artwork, and filthy windows with outdated coverings. Never again.

I will never return after what happened with my deposit. I checked in on July 22, 2015, and gave the hotel a $100 deposit in U.S. currency. I have that in writing. At the time it was worth about $129 Canadian. When I checked out on July 30, 2015, manager Helen W. said she didn’t have my U.S. money and could only return $100 Canadian. I told her that left me short by at least $25. She said paying me $125 would leave her out $25, but couldn’t explain how, since she had received my $100 U.S. deposit. She told me to take it or leave it. There was another $100 U.S. deposit in the cash register from the night before. When I asked why she couldn’t use that, she said she didn’t know when that guest would check out. She said my deposit was at the bank and she couldn’t retrieve it. They had no problem taking that kind of money, though. I asked for the general manager, and she said he wouldn’t arrive until 9:30, though it was about 8. I asked her to call the cops. Once she heard they were coming, she said she’d spoken to the bookkeeper and could give me $125 Canadian. I waited for the cops to make sure the deal was fair. Having to call them just to get my money back says a lot about this hotel. I was leaving Canada and had no use for Canadian currency. I’d still have to pay an exchange fee to turn it back into U.S. money. A deposit is money held to be returned, so I expected my $100 U.S. back. I called general manager Norman Brady to explain what happened and how I was treated. He said the clerk had made a mistake taking U.S. currency and was supposed to contact me to fix it. I was there nine days and nobody contacted me. When I asked why, he said he didn’t know. He also had no answer when I asked whether preventing this kind of mistake was his job. I told him I had to call the cops to get the additional $25 owed to me. He called me stupid for doing that. Why call a customer stupid for calling the cops unless something shady is going on? If I’d accepted the $100 Canadian, I wonder where the extra $25 would have gone. I also wonder how many other tourists may have been taken advantage of. I wanted the business license so I could complain to the Better Business Bureau Canada, but Norman refused to provide it. I asked for the corporation or CEO information to make a formal complaint. He said he was the CEO and hung up on me. I had already contacted the Howard Johnson on the US side, and planned to contact Better Business Bureau Canada the next day. This experience has scarred me for life. I did nothing wrong, and all I wanted was my deposit back in U.S. currency. There was no apology.

I was there for a wedding and only saw the lobby and convention hall, but it was a really nice place, with classy decor, excellent bartending, and great amenities from what I could see. My dad worked there as a bus boy about 35 years ago and says it’s changed a lot. Looks like they’re still doing well.

The last time I stayed there was when it had just become a Howard Johnson, after being the Rose town. My room was so cold that a glass of water beside the window had a sheet of ice on it. I tried to give it another chance because the location would have been convenient, but it’s closed now and looks like it’ll stay that way. I can’t say why, so I don’t have any newer news or review of the place.