El Toro Motel

Not at a pleasant place to stay at all. Very run down property. Dark, smelly room. No power lead to the TV, and wiring hanging loose from ceiling. Barely hot water. Noisy live-in staff. Could find no reason at all to return or recommend to others.

My husband happened to stay here in September 2024. It was late in the day and there was only 1 x room left. No.14. When he arrived in the room, there were no towels, no toilet paper, no soap. The shower screen was in 3 x sections and 2 x sections were jammed, so they would not slide. He returned to reception but there was no one there. No mattress on the bed, only a mattress base section. All in all the room was definitely not ready for any guests. If there was a zero rating this would be the place to use it.

No staff at reception, told room open but not, toilet didn’t flush, no cutlery, shower dirty, no milk, no ordinary glasses, yard and surrounding really untidy, old mattresses laying around. O/side ash trays full of cigarette butts. Very uninviting

Arrived at 3.30pm, office unattended, manager did not answer bell or phone, did ring back to advise room not ready and come back in 30 minutes. Came back, no manager, sat outside room and cleaning staff (who were pleasant & helpful) said another 10 minutes. No key in room as we were told it would be, cleaning staff went to office and found it. Another room occupant arrived and she could not contact reception staff and did not have a key. On leaving still no manager to speak to and office locked. Room needed improvements including back door lock damaged (managed to make it work).

Fair bit of noise not sure if in motel or surrounds but lots of empty beer bottles around motel.

We had been forewarned by a relative who lives in town that the motel had gone downhill recently. We thought we'd give it a go anyway. Upon arrival there was no-one at reception and no response when ringing the doorbell. Another person staying there said they had to wander up to the local pizza shop (also managed by the motel owners) to get any service. We had to call two phone numbers listed on the front door before someone answered. Our first impression when opening the door was the overwhelming smell of cigarette smoke, in defiance of the 'No Smoking' signs. While the room was spacious and the bed comfortable, maintenance of the room and property was poor. The knob on the outside of the bathroom door was missing; the normal supporting bracket for the shower was loose so the showerhead wouldn't hold; one of the tap handles fell off when in the shower as the retaining screw was missing; there was no chair in the unit, and the chairs outside were in an unusable condition. One of the windows was cracked and had been boarded up. While basic tea making facilities were provided, there was no coffee or teaspoons. While we could cope with most of the above, the all-pervasive smell of cigarette smoke was the big downer for us. It is unacceptable in 2024 to allow guests to sleep in a room that has been smoked in and furthermore, there appeared to be no functioning smoke alarm. These are serious health and safety hazards that must be addressed by the owners.