Nicole62

Hello Dear friends, I will share my very unpleasant experience in Castro Exclusive Residences in Barcelona and believe me that is not a movie it's a real story
We arrive (me and my family) at Castro Exclusive Residences Sagrada Familia on Monday at 8:30pm. The reception desk was closed and nobody was there to give us the keys for our apartment. We saw self-check-in machine just next to the entrance and we try to do the registration entering names, booking references.....doesn't work!!! the machine was broken and some telephone numbers appears to the screen to call them in case of emergency. So we were calling for 2 hours at the tree Castro numbers and nobody answered. Finally we get in touch with one gay who told us that he will enter the reservation in the system again because seems to had happen that he reservation it wasn't in the system.....OK we agree to wait one hour more until the system work .It was a real nightmare we were staying for more than 3 hours outside with small children crying in rainy and cold October evening. After another 1 our waiting the gay call us to tell us that we can do the check-in using the machine.......OK we did it and the machine gave us a card keys and we enter in the building and SURPRISE THE APARTMENT THAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO SLEEP DOES NOT OPENS WITH CARD KEY IT WAS WITH STANDARD IRON KEY. IS THIS A REALLY BAD JOKE OR what I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT THIS IS HAPPENING? At the end we were so tired and frustrated that we did not call again the Castro telephone and just gone to find another hotel. The next day we go when the reception was open and we get into the apartment successfully. What can I tell you about - the flat is not the same as in the web pictures, this rooftop terrace DOESN'T EXIST, poor cleaning service - dirty and wet towels, small and slow elevator, bad reception desk service (they hardly speak English).
Conclusion - WE WERE VERY DISAPPOINTED FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END AND WE DIDN'T GET EVEN COMPENSATION OR UPGRADE FOR THAT REALLY UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE. I don't recommend this hotel IT'S A REAL NIGHTMARE.

Jean

Welcome to Fodors. Sorry you had so much trouble.

BigRuss

Why are you welcoming this poster, Jean? This post reeks.

(1) New user.
(2) First post.
(3) No other activity.
(4) Bashing a specific business.
(5) Marginally literate (or hopefully English not the first language - what's a "gay"? Does she mean "guy" or is she being derogatory toward the person who responded?).

These are clear indicators of someone with an ax to grind and potential troll.

TripAdvisor has been set up for the precise purpose that Nicole62 is using this forum: to provide detailed reviews of specific businesses that cater to tourists. The TA rating on this property is 4.6 out of 5.0. The TA ranking has it 43rd of 690+ specialty properties in Barcelona, which means the 93rd percentile or better. I've not stayed at the property. That forum is designed for this issue; this one is not.

Robert2533

Yes, it does reek somewhat...

mamamia2

If one plans to arrive at a B&B or an apartment late evening, unlike a hotel, one should contact the place, let them know and arrange it in advance. That's just common sense.

I'm not here to doubt the OP's story, but I already learned that one can always find bad reviews on even the best product... I do LOTS of research before I order anything, whether a product or a service or hotel reservation, I rely a LOT on reviews, and I learned to distinguish between the substance and the "fluff." One Amazon review I love is of a poster who gave 1 star to a Sony TV set he ordered but never got because (as he tells us) it was stolen from the lobby of the condo he was living in....

danon

Agree with PP
Reminds me of some other( first and only time) posters who whose " experience" in Barcelona
was terrible ( in some way).

Sojourntraveller

Well said BigRuss. It is far too easy for someone to join a forum and write a negative review. Who is to know if this poster is an ex-employee who was just fired or not?

A new poster should have no credibility in the readers mind Jean unless there is other evidence to back up what they are saying. As BigRuss has shown, the evidence says otherwise according to the TA reviews.

I am glad to see that some companies are now fighting back when someone posts a negative review. If what is posted is true and sticks to the facts, the consumer has nothing to worry about but if it is not true or strays from the truth, then I think they should be sued. They think they are anonymous and free to say anything they want.
https://www.google.ca/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=...+reviewer+sued

danon

sorry...whose

mamamia2

Another I remember was this lady tearing apart a downtown B&B that otherwise got superb reviews. The reason? She arrived with her rental car and they did not have a parking garage. They don't have a garage mentioned nowhere in their description, and she never bothered to check... Stupid people are a dime a dozen.

Christina

I really don't know why people think a new poster can't critique a business or complain. IN fact, I suspect that is fairly common -- someone has a bad experience and they go online somewhere to complain about it. So that fact doesn't mean anything to me in terms of believability.

I don't really care about this post, it's too hard to read, and I think Tripadvisor or some other place would be a better spot to post a review of a particular business.

Cathinjoetown

I just re-read the guidelines. This poster has not violated them.

I believe 3 hours to respond to a broken check-in machine is unacceptable. The place describes itself as 4-star; someone should have responded within an hour, maximum.

Yes, the poster did herself no favors with typos and emotive language but I want to know information like this.

Robert2533

> but I want to know information like this.< Even if it's bogus?

thursdaysd

I regard first posters with suspicion, just as I view one-post wonders on TA with suspicion. But the fact that that a property has a high rating on TA is no guarantee you will find that it lives up to that rating. I just left a top rated property (number one B&B in town) after one night, even though I had booked three.

Cathinjoetown

Sure it might be bogus but the description of the 3-hour wait seems truthful. This experience would probably make me wary, not necessarily avoid the propert entirely. I think I would make an effort to arrive before recption closes but that's not always possible.

RM67

I also want to hear people's experiences about car rental agencies, hotels, restuarants and so on, good or bad. What I don't ever want to be told is NEVER use this service, AVOID, AVOID, AVOID, This is a SCAM. Etc etc.

I will make up my own mind based on the thread and other sources of information as to whether I wish to use a particular company or not.

thursdaysd

Picky. Of course you can choose how to behave, but that's no reason to not issue a warning in a title, where it won't be missed. I just headlined a restaurant review on TA "Avoid!!! DCC Scam!!!" What would you prefer - "Please check your credit card charge carefully"? Hardly eye catching.

RM67

Yes, actually I would prefer less sensationalist titles - they really annoy me. Telling everyone to avoid somewhere because you've had an unhappy experience when thousands may have had a positive experience is unreasonable.

I think a useful message is often diluted by a hysterical reaction - it makes me think the writer is not particularly fair or balanced and I am less likely to take any notice of what they have to say. Doubly so when someone has few or no other post by which to gauge the quality of their information.

thursdaysd

Well, I have over 100 reviews on TA, so you should have no difficulty gauging the accuracy of my info. Although I typically only post if somewhere is especially good or especially bad (otherwise I would have many, many more reviews!) and as far as I am concerned, pulling the DCC scam indeed warrants shouting. If you want to ignore the warning, do, please, be my guest.

Sojourntraveller

How does anyone determine if 3 hours to contact someone and have that person fix a problem with the check-in machine is excessive or not? Has anyone had say 10 experiences with this they can compare to?

I recall once having to wait for a hotel owner to show up after a phone call. It was a Sunday and the hotel door was locked. Basically, the same thing.

I said to another local that I was surprised a hotel would be closed as someone could drive up looking for a room and drive away. That's lost business. Imagine a motel in N. America closed. Not gonna happen.

The response from the local was basically, 'Pierre has a life too monsieur and he is at home with his family.'

In this case, the guy who had to correct the problem with the machine could easily have been out to dinner. It was after all a Monday evening at 8.30pm. He has a life too.

If a hotel has limited reception hours, the assumption that someone is available somewhere 24/7 to answer a phone call seems somewhat disingenious to me. I'd say the OP was lucky to get anyone to bother at all before the next day.

It all comes down to expectations being out of line with reality. I mean, if you want 24/7 reception access, pay for a place with 24/7 reception staff. Duhhhhhh.

Also if you really want to know what bothered this OP, note the comment, "AND WE DIDN'T GET EVEN COMPENSATION OR UPGRADE FOR THAT REALLY UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE." Money would have made it all OK.

Good article here on the pros and cons of reviews.
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...ncan-bannatyne

Robert2533

> But the fact that that a property has a high rating on TA is no guarantee you will find that it lives up to that rating<

On that I can agree! We encountered the situation in Vejer last spring. Top TA rating, terrible accommodation.