Monte Carlo Inn Toronto - Markham

I regret staying here and wouldn't choose it again. The room had such a strong cigarette smell that it was almost impossible to stay in it. The breakfast description is misleading. Toast and cereal are all that's included; a proper breakfast costs an extra $8, and the portion is tiny, just some potatoes, eggs, and bacon. Tips were also charged without my permission, which was disappointing.

The room mix-up was handled quickly, and the place was a good deal. Rooms were clean and spacious, a little dated but still comfortable. Breakfast was very basic, though you could pay extra to upgrade to a full hot meal.

The location is very convenient, but I wouldn't recommend this hotel and won't stay at this brand again. On arrival, I didn't feel welcomed. The lady receptionist was the only one smiling. A male receptionist told my friend that two of her three rooms had been double-booked through a third party, even though she'd already canceled one. He canceled the double booking on another room but couldn't remove mine from their system. We checked all three rooms, and each smelled terribly bad. They were small and dark. The bathtub had no safety treads. The next morning I asked housekeeping for more towels, but she said there were only two sets and I should ask the front desk. When we came back the following night, there were lots of dead ants around the sink. The safe was broken, with two corroded batteries inside.

I paid $120 and it was nowhere near worth it. The manager eventually took $30 off, but the breakfast included with the room was awful: stale, hard muffins, water that wasn't hot enough for tea, watered-down juice, and more problems. Back home, I sterilized everything that had touched the hotel. We'd left our bags when we arrived and gone out for the day. At bedtime, I turned down the sheets and found bugs in the bed that looked like ants. The front desk moved us to another room, but I had to repack everything and go downstairs for the key. They even asked if I'd taken photos of the bugs. The room and halls smelled like stale smoke. The room was so hot that I ran the air conditioner all night, and it was very loud. I would have changed hotels if anything else had been available nearby. Disgusting, and by far the worst hotel experience I've had.