We were supposed to stay at hotel Malcot from December 24 until 26 during Christmas, but were sent away before we could check in. A pregnant lady sent out on the street on Christmas eve.
In the morning I called to ask some questions about facilities, to which I could not find the answer in the property description. I wondered whether towels and soap were provided, whether there was breakfast, and whether we could check in later than the mentioned time. I thought these would be appropriate questions for a hotel. However, when I asked my first question, the lady (receptionist/owner) responded in a snide tone ‘well of course, we are a 3* hotel. We have big towels and small towels. And little soaps. And there is a bed in the room’ and then she laughed. At me, that was clear. Then I tried to continue with my other questions but the lady kept listing things in the room which I did not ask about (‘we have a trash can’) and kept laughing. I said I thought she was laughing at me and that for now it seemed best to hang up and that we would see each other later for the reservation. Then I hung up. At least I knew not to pack towels and soap and the rest I would figure out. You maybe can imagine that I did not feel quite welcome after this interaction. But ok, we reserved and already paid so let’s try to make the most of it.
When we arrived, the doors were locked, a dog came barking behind the door. We rang the doorbell, no answer. We called, after a while a lady opened the door. She asked ‘ah are you the ones who called this morning’. I thought maybe an apology would follow but instead the lady pointed out how ridiculous she thought the question was again, while we walked to the reception for check in. She said again they are 3* so of course it is a strange question and asked if I was ever in a hotel where they didn’t provide towels. Actually that is indeed the case and I responded indeed there were many different kinds of hotels. But my answer did not seem to matter, she was asking rhetorically and continued to try to get me to understand how ridiculous my question had been. I felt very uncomfortable and said I thought it was not a strange question to ask a hotel. But this seemed to agitate her. I asked if please could we maybe not continue the conversation as I was uncomfortable and there did not seem to be a solution. Then she got angry, raised her voice, and said ‘I don’t want this sh** here. You need to leave. Get out.’ multiple times. I was surprised but after a few times of her saying this did not know what to do so just assumed we would have to leave indeed, even though we already paid and had no back-up. I asked about this; ‘will we get our money back, because normally there is such a thing as a cancellation period but we had no say in this cancellation so it should be a full refund?’ And she responded it was none of her business and that we would have to sort it out ourselves. That she doesn’t want ‘that sh**’ here.
I have never before experienced being denied entry to a hotel. Especially not because I asked about facilities, a hotel related question and very appropriate. Especially not without any information on a refund, or without any back up. Being left in the streets.
So please please please do not stay here if you expect a professional and kind treatment from the host.
And if you are planning on staying here, make sure to call first to check if they have towels… you’ll be able to see whether you feel welcome or not for yourself.
Furthermore, to stay in overall reviewing spirits, the location is not very good (25 min walking from the station and 10 min more to the center of Mechelen) and the rooms seem quite outdated in the pictures.
Oh and on our way out she said something about not wanting bad reviews on booking.com and that this was also a reason for not letting us stay there. So it might very well be that this has happened to others before, but that you cannot see their opinions for the same reason.
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