Mina Hotel by PLI

HORRIBLE! There can be long stretches with nobody anywhere in the hotel. I get that a budget place may not have staff around the clock, but even during the day it was hard to find anyone to help. On my last day I waited ages for someone to show up around 10am and open the front office so I could leave my bags. I can’t imagine what would happen in an emergency. Would they just leave the place to look after itself?

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️BE AWARE: MOLD, DIRTY, RUDE STAFF + UNSAFE!!!! I booked through Booking.com when the rating was 7.2, then it dropped to 6 with lots of negative comments. This was my worst hotel experience. There was no welcome message or arrival information. At the hotel, the door was locked and I had to call several times before anyone came. They give you a code for the front door, and there’s no 24/7 reception, so anyone can get in. It felt very unsafe. Our basement room was dusty, dirty, and humid. There was visible mold in the room and bathroom, apparently covered up, and the pictures didn’t match the room. The cleaning seemed poorly done. The place is family-run, and the cleaning lady is part of the family and doesn’t wear a uniform. The mold is a serious health concern. The bed had very dirty brown stains that looked like poop, and the bathroom smelled like sewage. When I asked for a refund or another room, the staff were no help. A very disappointing and disgusting stay. Anyone can enter the hotel!

The staff member at reception agreed that the mattress was a problem, but the hotel was full, so there was no replacement or other room. After two nights on springs we could clearly feel, we both had significant back discomfort. The room was tiny, like Harry Potter’s cupboard under the stairs, and noise came through constantly: footsteps, the corridor, and the plumbing. Early morning pipe noise made it almost impossible to sleep. Turning on the hot water in the shower set off a loud, mechanical sound like a small tractor. The water wouldn’t heat properly unless it made that noise, and it was disruptive while showering. I can only imagine how it affected neighboring rooms. The location of Mina Hotel by PLI is convenient, with good transport access, but the room size, noise, and lack of basic comfort made the stay disappointing. There’s potential here, but a lot needs improving for guests to be comfortable.

The location is convenient, but that’s the only good thing I can say about the stay. We had trouble getting into the hotel in the evening, with no clear instructions, and nobody answered the phone. When we arrived at 3:20, our room still wasn’t ready. There was a bad smell from the drains and loose, broken bathroom tiles. The TV was crooked, looked like it might fall, and didn’t work. Poor service and sub-par rooms. Staying here wasn’t worth the hassle.