Submitted by Ezra

When I came down to Anaheim for my birthday, I stayed at the Eden Roc Inn & Suites on Katella. A friend of mine paid in full for the room in advance as a birthday present to me.

The day before my birthday I called the hotel to advise them when I would be arriving that day. The person who answered looked up my reservation and said "I see here you paid through Expedia" and then immediately launched into a spiel about how an additional deposit is required upon check in. I would have to turn over $75 in cash or have a credit card available. The card would be charged the $75 deposit in case of "damage to the room", which would be refunded upon check out.

This situation took me completely by surprise because I always pre-pay for hotel rooms, and noone has ever required this from me. I explained that I had no knowledge of this fee, and that it wasn't on my agreement. The man (who turned out to be the general manager) said that it's all right there on Expedia. I told him that the reservation was not made at Expedia, it was made on the airline's website; and that my agreement said that I would pay for any additional expenses on upon check-out.

I told him that when I arrive, I can show him exactly what my agreement says. He said that what I (the customer) agreed to didn't matter. The information is on Expedia and if I bought it from some third party that got it from there made no difference. I would have to take it up with the airline. He was very beligerant and argumentative about it.

None of this would have been a problem if it weren't for the fact that my bank account was empty, and my wallet had only $15 dollars in it.

I told him that I did not have the money. He said maybe we could "work something out". He then offered to reduce the deposit to $40. I told him that a friend of mine paid for my trip because I only have $10 in my pocket and nothing in the bank. Did that mean that, when I arrived later in the afternoon, that I would have no place to sleep?

The conversation was getting nowhere. Ultimately, I had to cry into the phone and sob about how payday wasn't until tomorrow, and I didn't know what to do, and would be left stranded. You read that right: I had to cry. Finally he said that they could swipe my debit card, but not run it until the next morning.

I thanked him profusely (while inwardly seething with anger) and ended the call. — This is not a good way to start my special trip.

When I got to the airport and was waiting at the gate, I called the airline's hotel reservation service, and explained the situation to the representative. She put me on hold to do some checking, and to call the hotel herself. When she came back, she informed me that even though the payment page said "all incidental expences must be paid upon check-out" that if I had squirelled down through links, the deposit rider was buried somwhere in the pages of hotel information.

So, the hotel manager was right, sort-of. Even if he were completely in the right, good customer service would mean (at least in my opinion) providing the customer what they they were promised, or what they have good reason to believe they were promised. He was right. He was also a complete jerk!

Knowing that the reservations rep called the hotel, I called again, concerned about what would happend when I got there. I told him that it was explained to me that if I had followed several links I would have eventually have ended up with the deposit information. I'm ashamed to say it, but I actually apologized. He said that he made a notation that my card was not to be run until morning, and that everything would be fine when I arrived. I told him that I'd be arriving about 6:30pm, which was the sole reason I called to begin with.

At this point I'm not only angry with the hotel manager, and a little peaved with the organization of the airline's website, I'm very mad at myself for stooping so low as to cry into a phone, and apologize and grovel while being verbally abused by this man. I'll say this again: This is not a good way to start my special trip.





When I get to my room I set my luggage on the desk and peel back the bedclothes from one corner of the bed to inspect the matress for bugs. There were no bugs and the sheets looked nice and clean, so I unpacked my clothing and left the room to go to Downtown Disney, and to the ticket booths to find out when they open in the morning.

When I returned to my room I turned on the light next to the bed and noticed holes in the walls, and marks that look like furniture or fixtures had been moved, but not fixed or cleaned.





Looking around I began to notice how filthy the walls were. They had not been washed in a very long time. The wallboards had about a quarter-inch of dust on them, and there were stains and scuffs everywhere.







Since the beds are alright, and the furniture is dusted, I guess that's alright. The vanity area was nice and clean, too. Then I went into the bathroom. The toilet was clean (thank goodness), but the walls, and tile floor were grungy.









Is that... a squashed beetle?



Or even worse, a roach?



A dead bug in the bathtub. I suppose it could have crawled in there and died after housekeeping was here.



...but what is that? Some sort of goo.



I looked up at the showerhead. There was no way I would put myself under that!



I briefly considered washing out the bathtub to take a bath. Why would I do that? The motel has housekeeping services, right? Switching hotels wasn't an option. Since I was already so tired of the crud of dealing with the manager of this place, I decided that since the bed was clean, I may as well use it.

I wondered... Are all the rooms at Eden Roc a wreck? or was I put into this room as some sort of revenge for daring to have words with the manager?


In the morning, I decided to stand at the vanity sink with a washcloth and give myself a "sponge bath" rather than deal with the bathroom. I got dressed, put out the "maid service" sign and went to the park.

When I returned that night I found that the sink and vanity area were cleaned up nicely, as was the toilet. But the bathtub still had the dead bug and glob of whatever in it. I also noticed a burn mark in the carpet.



Someone did that with a clothes iron.

I actually began to be a little afraid. Why would they be so concerned about getting a security depost against damage, when the room is already a wreck? Maybe this is some sort of scam, where they put me in a room that already has burns and holes and then charges me for it.

Now I'm looking at everything really carefully. I'm getting paranoid. I pulled back the bedcovers and it all looked fine. Then I noticed one of my own hairs on the sheet. Do they only change the sheets between guests? Not every day?

Since It all looked perfectly clean the night before, I decided not to be concerned about it. I just need a place to sleep and dress (and not shower!).

In the morning, I did the "sponge bath" thing again, got dressed and went to the lobby to meet my shuttle to the airport. I did not let the hotel problem spoil my birthday strip, but only with great diffuculty. I would never ever stay there and would warn everybody off of considering staying at Eden Roc. It was the worst experience I have ever had in any hotel anywhere.

Submitted by Ezra