Motel La Marina

I arrived around noon on a Monday in September and politely asked if the room might be ready early. The gentleman seemed annoyed, said no, took my number, and said he'd call. I waited outside and enjoyed the view, but saw no one going to clean rooms, and the parking lot was empty. When I checked again around 3, he said it still wasn't ready and had to be inspected. There was nobody else around except another couple waiting. At 4, after nothing seemed to happen since noon, he finally said it was ready. I understand check-in is at 4, but in the low season, with nothing going on, it felt like he could have been honest with me. Check-out was 11, yet at 8:30 I heard a key in the lock and a very loud knock. They wouldn't let me in early, but seemed keen to get me out well before their schedule.

We booked through hotel.ca, and an internet problem duplicated the reservation within minutes. It was clearly a mistake, but the motel wouldn't refund the duplicate charge, so beware. The motel itself was convenient and waterfront, and our room had been updated.

The room was immaculate, and the view over the St-Lawrence River was breathtaking. But in the middle of a major heat wave, the room stayed at 27°C all night because there was no air conditioning, so we barely slept. The mattress wasn't very comfortable either. The ceiling fan was oddly placed above the foot of the bed and wobbled badly at top speed, enough to worry us, so we kept it slower. At almost $250 plus taxes, I'd expect at least basic AC and a newer, properly balanced fan in a better spot. I realize Matane probably doesn't get heat waves like this often, but AC is becoming a necessity, and these spells will only get more frequent and severe. If the price had been more reasonable, I might have thought we got what we paid for. At $250, I expected more.

It was an okay room in an excellent location, and the woman at reception was very kind and polite. There were a lot of flies, but it was late and we were exhausted after an eight-hour drive, so we didn't bring it up. Since it was just one night, I put up with it, though they should check into fixing the problem.