Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Whitecourt

The sewer backup was hard to ignore. You’d keep catching whiffs of sewage, and when my boyfriend flushed the lobby bathroom, water shot out and hit the room. On top of that, the lobby sliding doors were broken, so it was freezing in there, including when we tried to eat breakfast. We were in town for a hockey tournament, and everyone from our team and the other guests we spoke with agreed this was the worst hotel they’d stayed at. The breakfast was awful: muffins were partly frozen and tasted burnt. Our sink took half a day to drain. There were four of us but only three towels, and when I asked for more, I was told they don’t give out extras because the others were in the dryer. After I explained again, I got one towel; for two more, the best offer was one towel and two hand towels. We also had to practically beg for a second room key. This place is a dump, and I strongly recommend avoiding it.

The room was spotless and the bed was very comfortable, but the amenities were disappointing for a price similar to other hotels nearby. We found just one glass, so we shared it and skipped having coffee or drinking water from the room, using the bottled water we’d brought instead. I didn’t want to make a third trip to the desk. We’d come to White Court for a shopping trip and, after checking in, found our first room freezing with a heating and cooling unit that didn’t work. The manager agreed it was too cold, so moved us across the hall. The TV in that room was already on and wouldn’t respond to the controls. A different manager spent about ten minutes trying two remotes, then unplugged it for a hard reset, which fixed it. At checkout, I tried to tell the third manager about these problems, but he quickly dismissed my concerns, thanked me, and wished me a good day. I don’t understand how a broken climate unit or a TV left on by housekeeping could go unreported to maintenance.

The towels they called clean had pizza crust and cockroaches in them, which made me doubt the room was being cleaned at all. They only service rooms every three days. When we arrived, the room smelled bad and the bedding didn’t look clean. Breakfast was undercooked too, and seemed likely to make someone sick. I wouldn’t recommend staying here.

The breakfast was really good, thanks to the friendly, amazing staff member serving it. The hotel was nice and the rooms were clean, though towels were in short supply. There were four of us and we could only get three; the front desk said there weren’t any more. I asked whether I could come back after laundry, but was told no.