Bella Bella House

The location is excellent for the price, close to tourist attractions and restaurants. Rooms and common areas on most floors were clean, although the first floor wasn’t. The staff were really nice and polite whenever I could find them, but during my seven-day stay I only interacted with them three times. I looked for someone for hours after seeing rats in the luggage area, but no one was around. The promoter was there, but didn’t know where the rest of the staff were. I’d noticed what looked like rat poop on the shelves, though I’d tried to dismiss it as something else. On the third day I saw a family of rats run through the luggage area, past the lobby and onto the main road. I accidentally stepped on a small one, and I’m not sure if I killed it. I left it near the pool table, where it stayed for hours. One odd detail, they give you a medieval weapon attached to your key to turn on the electricity in the room. It’s awkward to carry in your pocket, but could be used to inflict blunt force trauma if needed. Keep your room key with you and no one’s going to mess with you. I uploaded a photo of the key. It’s a good hotel, but these problems cost it two stars.

The location was pretty sweet, with lots of great options nearby, and it was cheap. That’s about the only upside. Our room was really dirty, the bathroom door wouldn’t close properly, and it wasn’t the room we’d booked. The door felt flimsy, with a vertical deadbolt that seemed especially easy to open from outside. There were warning signs all through the building telling us to watch out for theft, which made it seem like theft was common. We changed to an upstairs room, but the neighbor screamed almost nonstop, day and night, and chain-smoked on the shared balcony outside our window. The walls were being slammed all night too. We planned to stay longer but left on the second night. I can’t say I’d want to go back.

We were first put in the wrong room and had to move the next day. The first one was much dirtier than the second, so it seems cleaning isn't consistent across the place. In the room we ended up in, the sheets had someone else's hair and odd stains, and the bathroom felt dark and damp. The deadbolt was vertical, which made it very easy to open from outside. The walls were paper thin, and we heard the neighbor screaming and shouting day and night. We shared a small balcony with that room, separated by a flimsy window, and the neighbor would stand outside smoking and yelling all day. The alley itself is popular and has lots of good places to eat.

The downstairs space and location were fantastic, and the room was clean with an okay bathroom. But it was incredibly hot, and we barely slept because the ceiling fan was so slow that even on its highest setting you couldn't feel it. If the fan worked properly, I'd give it five stars. It could be great value, maybe if you bring your own fan, though paying for AC is probably worth it.