Comfort Inn Kenora

After a 12-hour drive with two small children and our dog, we arrived around 7 p.m. and felt we had little choice but to pay more to switch rooms. We'd booked through a third party that clearly listed the hotel as pet-friendly, but the room we'd reserved wasn't, we were told, and we'd also expected to pay the pet fee. When I questioned the extra charge for moving, the front desk clerk said we had to pay or find somewhere else. She eventually called the general manager, but the manager said hotel policy left us with those same options. The new room had just a king bed, while our original booking had a king and sofa bed, so we paid extra for a worse room. The way Sasha, the front desk clerk, and Mel, the supervisor who presented herself as the general manager, treated us made the experience especially awful. Sasha was volatile and belligerent, and kept trying to address my young daughter, which was inappropriate and made her uncomfortable. My family left feeling unsafe and uneasy, and even hesitant about visiting Kenora again. I have never been treated worse, and I won't come back.

We were very happy with this place, especially after two bad hotels before it. The people were friendly and helpful, and getting there was easy. Our room was clean, beautiful and spacious, and breakfast had plenty of choice. It’s also animal-friendly.

The room itself was good, but the heater was either blasting hot or off, so we left it off. Maybe the staff were having an off day, but they seemed surly and not suited to the job. The woman at reception didn't even stand up when checking us in. The parking lot was horrible and hazardous in the melt-and-freeze conditions, especially for anyone unsteady on their feet. Coming from New Zealand, nearly $400 NZD was poor value.

There was a dirty bed in the second room, so I went back downstairs, but the receptionist wouldn't hear why and just said she'd refund us if we didn't like the hotel and we could find somewhere else. She'd moved me after I complained about the first room on the second floor: it had crumbs everywhere, garbage under the bed, socks in a corner, hair, a dirty bin and a bad smell. The next room didn't smell, but still had crumbs and a nail under the sofa.