Royal Inn Richmond Hill

I called ahead on the day we arrived to say we’d be getting there after midnight, but it still took about ten minutes for someone to wake up and check us in. The bedding, towels, and walls were covered in stains, and I was honestly worried about cockroaches and bed bugs. There were barely any outlets, with none beside one side of the bed. The place smelled strange, looked grimy, and felt wildly overpriced for the shabby furniture and features. The photos bear little resemblance to reality. Somehow I missed the other bad reviews. The whole stay was awful.

The shower had no working water, and the room smelled like mildew and sweat. The floor hadn’t been vacuumed. We had one towel, no face cloth, only half a roll of toilet paper, and an empty tissue dispenser. One pillow was yellowed and wrinkled, as though its case hadn’t been changed. Easily the worst hotel I’ve ever seen.

We were in the room for less than ten minutes, and the toilet wouldn’t flush. I went to the desk around 2:30 a.m. to ask for a repair or another room. The night clerk was asleep, and when I woke her, she insisted the toilet worked without even checking. I was outside smoking, nowhere near the room or building, when she said we had to leave because my boyfriend had supposedly said only one person was staying. He says nobody asked him, and he never said that. She also used the smoking as a reason, even though I was outside. There wasn’t even a phone in the room to call the desk. She kept telling us to leave and threatened to call the police when we asked whether we’d get our money back and why we had to go. I told her to call, because I’d do the same. We hadn’t sat on the bed or touched anything beyond trying the toilet. She made us leave and kept the money. It was rude and unprofessional, and we still don’t know why we were made to go. Maybe she was upset about being woken up, I don’t know. The place wasn’t very clean either. I spoke with law enforcement and plan to pursue this in court. I’m also going to have the place investigated and speak with an attorney Monday. I think they should return our money and cover the cost of the room we had to get afterward. After reading other reviews, I wonder whether some of the praise is from paid reviewers or fake accounts. That’s my suspicion, not something I know. Please stay away. You shouldn’t be able to take people’s money and get away with it.

The room cleaning was poor, and there were no towels or washcloths. In the morning, the woman at checkout gave me a fake $10 bill. When I pointed it out, she took it back and replaced it with a real one, then put the fake bill right on top in the drawer. I’d be cautious about staying here.