OYO 416 Bonais Hotel

The rooms were so narrow there was barely space to move, and the bathroom had no towels or hot water. They didn’t provide drinking water either, and there was no way to make tea or coffee. The carpets stank and the walls were dirty. I recently stayed at this hotel in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia, and it was a real disappointment. For what we paid, it wasn’t worth even half. One of the worst hotels I’ve stayed in.

We only stayed because we were exhausted and it was nearby and not too expensive. The night before, we’d found a cheaper hotel that was much better, and I wish we’d stayed there. This place doesn’t look at all like the pictures. The beds had hair on them when we arrived, including hair folded into the quilt covers, which looked like they hadn’t been washed in at least five uses. The cleaning was poor throughout, and the toilet was disgusting. The two rooms we booked were arranged one behind the other, so anyone in the second room had to pass through the first to reach anything or use the toilet. The AC units were awful and nearly broken. There were hardly any sockets: you had to unplug the TV to charge a phone, and the second room had none at all. The fridge was broken, though they replaced it with one that worked. The hotel seems at least 70 years old. We were so tired that we went straight to bed and didn’t take pictures before putting our things down.

Even with the low price, I wouldn’t recommend staying here. The room had a strong, unpleasant smell, and its old AC couldn’t cope with Ahsa’s heat and humidity. The entrance and lobbies weren’t properly cooled either. I asked the night reception for one small thing, and they didn’t even try to help. And the elevator... I don’t know how to describe it. The room itself wasn’t inviting.

I booked a standard studio on Expedia, but the actual room was much smaller than the pictures and had no windows. The bed was small and looked dirty, the TV was tiny and old, and both the room and bathroom looked filthy. When I raised the mismatch with reception, they said they couldn’t give me the pictured room and offered a full refund if I canceled. Since my booking was non-refundable, I said I couldn’t cancel it myself. The receptionist told me I could leave and he’d handle it. A week later, I still haven’t heard anything or received a refund. There was no parking, the rooms were dirty and didn’t match the Expedia photos, and the staff seemed untrained. The furniture, elevator, and electrical equipment were very old. They promised a refund and didn’t follow through. This is the worst hotel I’ve ever been to.