Hotels near Suburbia SYMBOLS, Oaxaca

This place is TERRIBLE apparently anyone can just walk in and claim they have a room to get a key. My key was given to someone else, as we were checking in I stood at the desk for 10 minutes while the receptionist held the door open for some construction workers that were finishing up carrying bags of debris at 8pm instead of addressing the mistake, she never asked for my ID or anything no explanation as why my key was given away she just ignored me like I wasn’t there, she never offered any type of assistance, basically there’s no check in process. This property is under remodeling or construction the noise didn’t stop until past 9:30pm. No bell staff to carry luggage upstairs either. THE ROOM IS A NIGHTMARE!! We booked a family room with 3 beds since it was 5 of us, literally a dungeon, dark with broken furniture and with the dirtiest carpet I’ve ever seen in my life! It looked nothing like the pictures!! The beds were so hard with stained sheets and hard pillows as well. Only 1 dirty towel was offered and the bathroom was disgusting, the shower had a torn plastic shower curtain, a broken window (please see picture) and a water heater inside the shower, the receptionist will not tell you that you have to turn it on 15 minutes before you shower so be aware, no fans in the room, beds are hard as rocks, no remote control for the TV we asked for one on our way out to dinner the receptionist said it was lost, no A/C in the room (they claim they do), no WIFI either maybe the receptionist should give you the access code but again she ignored me and never offered assistance, no room service (they claim they do) only a KFC QR code on the wall. And to my horror a broken door latch, or none whatsoever. We used a chair to to block the door just to feel safe. Terrible practice of lying to get people to book a room, the rooms look nothing like the pictures. They are scamming people in their ads. Maybe I wouldn’t mind the accommodations if I knew upfront what I’m getting myself into. But don’t lie to my face showing me pictures and offering amenities you don’t have. It’s just wrong. Either they are pretending to be a part of the OYO hotel chain or they have just been neglected by the chain.

The hotel has some good things to offer. The central courtyard has maintained its feeling of antiquity and is thus quite beautiful. And the few fully modernized rooms on the top floor are attractive and comfortable. But for us, the bad outweighs the good. We were a group of seven, and had reserved four rooms. The dates for one of the rooms had to be changed after we had reserved, and one of our party called to make sure that everything was in order (she speaks near-native Spanish) and she was assured that it was. When we arrived, we found that our reservation had been totally bungled. Two of us had reserved modernized rooms with a terrace; we got one of those, while the other party was put in a dark, rather dank room in the corner of the first floor. The third party landed in a room somewhere between these extremes. And the fourth room had only been reserved for one night and not the four we had booked; that person had to find another hotel. When I showed the manager our reservation numbers, he claimed that our friend who had spoken with him on the phone had made these changes and in fact *cancelled* one of the rooms. To add insult to injury, one of our party was told on the morning of our next to last day that they would have to change rooms because another party had reserved their room. They weren't happy, but they complied. When we all returned from a day's activities, it turned out that the hotel staff had asked the *wrong party* to change rooms and now wanted my wife and me to make yet another change. This is where we put our foot down. The helpfulness and friendliness of the staff is very mixed. The bartender is charming, and one of the ladies at the front desk is helpful. But, in general, the staff is neither helpful nor notably friendly--judge by the standards of most Oaxaca hotels and restaurants. If you do go, insist that you stay in one of the modernized rooms on the top floor. And get your reservation in writing! With a professional management, some needed renovation, and better staff training, this hotel might live up to its four star rating. Just for reference, we are frequent visitors to Mexico; we have been to Oaxaca for three of the last four years.