We arrived quite late, after walking along the beach to enjoy a beautiful sunset. By the time we reached the hotel, it was dark, and we quickly checked into a room. On the way up, we agreed that reception staff are incredibly important in shaping a guest’s experience. Unfortunately, the man at the front desk was dry and unwelcoming, and his energy left us uneasy—even as we climbed a gorgeous staircase surrounded by fine furnishings and paintings. Our last hotels had left us with such positive impressions, so this was already disappointing by comparison. When we entered the room, things got worse. The air was heavy, and we immediately sensed the presence of mold. Both of us are sensitive to it, and we’ve dealt with mold-related illness before. Because of this, we’re always on guard, and sadly, we’ve often had to ask for different rooms—or even leave hotels altogether. I went downstairs to request another room. The response I got was: “You were supposed to get a regular room, but I upgraded you to a better one!” As if that solved the problem. I asked to see one of the regular rooms, and after checking a couple, my symptoms only grew worse. At that point, I brought my wife down, and we both knew we couldn’t stay. We had booked through Hotels.com, which backfired—of course, no refund was given. So, around 9 p.m., tired after a long day, we suddenly had no accommodation. On top of that, we felt unwell, our lungs heavy, and carried a strange, guilty feeling, as if we had done
We arrived quite late, after walking along the beach to enjoy a beautiful sunset. By the time we reached the hotel, it was dark, and we quickly checked into a room. On the way up, we agreed that reception staff are incredibly important in shaping a guest’s experience. Unfortunately, the man at the front desk was dry and unwelcoming, and his energy left us uneasy—even as we climbed a gorgeous staircase surrounded by fine furnishings and paintings. Our last hotels had left us with such positive impressions, so this was already disappointing by comparison. When we entered the room, things got worse. The air was heavy, and we immediately sensed the presence of mold. Both of us are sensitive to it, and we’ve dealt with mold-related illness before. Because of this, we’re always on guard, and sadly, we’ve often had to ask for different rooms—or even leave hotels altogether. I went downstairs to request another room. The response I got was: “You were supposed to get a regular room, but I upgraded you to a better one!” As if that solved the problem. I asked to see one of the regular rooms, and after checking a couple, my symptoms only grew worse. At that point, I brought my wife down, and we both knew we couldn’t stay. We had booked through Hotels.com, which backfired—of course, no refund was given. So, around 9 p.m., tired after a long day, we suddenly had no accommodation. On top of that, we felt unwell, our lungs heavy, and carried a strange, guilty feeling, as if we had done
