A column dedicated to travelers and spa owners who can ask a variety of questions that can be answered by Editor Mary Hughes and professionals in the spa industry.
Dear Mary,
This was my second time visiting this well-known Canadian spa. Unfortunately my partner and I noticed a different in standards since the last time. One of the big annoyances for us was the amount of groups of women that seemed to make noise where ever they went in the spa and a particularly noisy bunch that were under our balcony talking and laughing till all hours. The rooms were very warm and we prefer not to have the A/C on and rather to have the balcony door open. This lead to the smell of cigarette smoke from below wafting into our room from the noisy bunch of hens below us. There are a few little things that would have improved our stay, such as having tea and coffee making facilities in the room and a little fridge. Part of their reason for not having these in the room I assume is so that you spend more money on room service and to prevent you from bringing your own drinks and food. The spa menu was the same since the previous year, which was a bit disappointing. I think the fact that we came at a busy time affected our stay too. I wish we had chosen a better time.
D&D Sudbury, Ontario
Dear D&D,
I think two things I think could have been done by you that would have taken very little of your time to result in a better stay. First would have been to call the front desk and ask them to speak to the ladies below you and ask them to be quiet and go elsewhere to smoke.
Sometimes in a group people loose their sense of ‘disturbing others’ and don’t realize they are being a nuisance. A girl’s trip is fun but they also need to stay quiet after hours. Whether it is a busy time or not, your stay should have the same experience of good service and food.
Secondly, tell the hotel and or spa that the menu is the same and don’t be afraid to speak your mind while you are there because when you return home problems like yours can’t be fixed.