Residences Université Laval - Campus Accommodation

The front desk student was very nice, and upgrading from the cheapest room with a shared bathroom was easy. That first room felt more like a closet than a bedroom, though, and it had no AC. The “superior” room was awful. It was dark, and the portable AC was loud. The bed was comfortable, but the bathroom was dirty, with hair in the sink, and the bathtub drain was clogged. Water rose to my knees while I showered. The price was around 180$, which isn’t cheap for a residence. We were looking for a back-to-student-life experience, but expecting two students to stay in such a small space feels inhumane. After seeing how dirty it was, it’s hard to imagine people wanting to return. Such a shame.

The washroom facilities were below standard. The shower drained very slowly, and the toilet I used didn’t work properly. There was no air conditioning in the room either, which made it very hard to sleep at night. I can’t recommend this place.

I booked six nights for an academic conference because the rate was incredibly cheap. I’m on night three as I write this, and I’ll never do this again. The first two days were okay. The room was small and smelled musty, but I could live with that for such an inexpensive stay. This evening, several busloads of what I suspect were high school soccer players arrived. While I was showering, the hallway and bathroom filled with kids around 13 to 16. They shouted, jeered, sang badly, and banged on doors. One even banged on the door while I was in the shower. Their adult chaperones, some of whom looked barely older than the teens, weren’t getting them under control. I complained at the front desk and was told nothing could be done. It’s hard to believe they’d put a noisy group like that in rooms beside other guests. They should have put the soccer teams on a floor of their own. Management seems to have chosen to maximize revenue at guests’ expense. Another guest told me he had complained just moments before me, so I wasn’t the only person on the hallway being disturbed. I asked to move, but they said all rooms were booked for the weekend. I understand that, but they could at least have offered a discount or compensation, perhaps a refund for one or two nights while these kids are here for two nights. That could help cover a room at a quieter hotel, away from teenagers shouting, jeering, and banging on doors.

I gave up and booked another hotel after a confusing, drawn-out check-in. I’d reserved three nights and had an email saying I’d pay at check-in. I arrived shortly after 4 pm, but the visitor parking was under five inches of snow and there were no signs pointing to reception. At the entrance, instructions beside the locked inner door said to use the door phone for entry or security. I called security by mistake, and they transferred me to the front desk. After 15 minutes on hold, I hung up and tried again from my car while looking online for check-in information. Altogether I waited on hold for 30 to 45 minutes. One number went straight to a voicemail saying the desk was closed. I emailed to explain what was happening. An hour later, they told me to check in at reception. I asked where that was and got another reply an hour later, asking for my number so they could give me directions. By then I’d checked into a new hotel and was walking to a concert, so I didn’t see the email until the next morning. I replied, more politely than “I gave up on you,” and suggested they provide clearer instructions. Three hours later, they said all the instructions were in the booking confirmation.