Sign in with Facebook
Do not stay here!
Don't stay at the Best Western South Coast Inn!
We are posting this here to warn you and we are filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau as no one should be subjected to what we endured. This is a hotel where the owner and the manager have demonstrated they don't care about their customers. During our second stay at this hotel we were in a room where the toilet wouldn't flush. It wouldn't flush even if the toilet was empty. We had to call the front desk twice to get it fixed, and each time they sent a new maintenance person, and each time we were told the problem was fixed. When it wasn't fixed for the third time, I called the front desk in frustration. After being put on hold for a long time, the front desk person offered us the use of the bathroom in a room about 10 doors down from ours. We couldn't just move into that room because it had only one double bed. We were four people in a suite with a king and a sofabed and no working toilet. No other rooms were available for that night. I couldn't imagine getting up in the middle of the night and walking outside in my pajamas to use the bathroom. We weren't camping here. We were paying lots of money for a hotel room for four nights. So, I explained how I didn't see how the two rooms could work being so far apart and I said in frustration, "How about just comping us a couple of nights and bringing us a plunger." I added that I had to think about what we were going to do here since we had been told that most hotels in the area were sold out. After a few minutes, I called the front desk back and accepted the offer of the second room for the toilet. We were also offered a new suite room to move to the next day, which we gratefully accepted. We thought everything was all resolved. We would have a new room with a working toilet and everything would be fine. .....but it was not to be.
We were meeting friends for dinner so we had to leave. When we returned, the same front desk person knocked on our door and told us maintenance had snaked the toilet so it was working now. I wish maintenance had done that after our first call. We thanked him and gave him back the keys to the second room. I was told to talk the front desk the next morning about the situation. The next morning I talked to a new desk clerk about the nonworking toilet and he said he knew about it and the owner had heard and we were told we were required to vacate the premises immediately that morning and we were never going to be allowed to stay there again. I was in shock. We have been staying at hotels on a regular basis, including many Best Western's, with no problems. And during our prior stay at this hotel the front desk person said our file said "really nice people" and how we must have made a great impression. Now, because we were frustrated that we were in a room without a working toilet, we were told we were required to leave. It didn't make sense. We still had two nights on our reservation.
This new clerk told us that last night's front desk person relayed to the owner that I had demanded to be compensated for two nights when all I did was ask as a suggestion in frustration. The desk clerk was apologetic and made excuses for the owner telling us he was under stress because of the renovations and also how the main computer system had gone down that night. We asked to talk to both the hotel manager and the hotel owner but we were told neither could be reached and the situation wouldn't change even if they could be reached. There was apparently no way to get this miscommunication undone. He was sympathetic and he did comp us $30 which we appreciated, but there was no way we could connect to the two decision makers, the hotel manager and the hotel owner to get the situation fixed.
This is not the way you treat a customer. No one talked to us except the front desk person who was accusing us of demanding something we only asked for in frustration and as a suggestion. Plus, shouldn't a hotel do something more when your toilet doesn't work? The broken toilet wasn't the only problem. The cold water at the faucet only turned off at a precise point that took a while to find. The shower had very low water pressure. And, the next morning, the toilet wouldn't flush again. Plus, we heard another customer complain about how a hotel staff person walked in on them in their room really early in the morning.
In the end, the owner did us a favor. We found Pacifica Suites. It is closer to our Goleta destination. The toilets work and work and work!! The rooms are much cleaner. The breakfast is better. The people are nicer. And we are very happy to give them our business - we have many trips we will be making each year to Goleta.
Do yourself a favor and don't stay at the Best Western South Coast Inn.
Starbucks in Santa Barbara
Mission Santa Barbara
even if you're not buying it's a nice stroll
the jacarandas were in bloom
