As the owners of Villa Gardenia Bed and Breakfast, it was extremely disheartening to read such a negative review about our property. We have been welcoming guests for over 3 years and have never had a complaint about any aspect of our operation. Our home was designed and constructed by us in 2002.
We will try to address the concerns raised by our guests during their one night stay with us. The room they are referring to is the Venice Room. It is our most popular room in the house. Our website CLEARLY shows 3 different photos of this particular room. There is nothing in the photos that is different than the actual room, including positioning of pillows or the cheesy fireplace that is referred to in her comments. All the furnishings in the rooms are COMPLETE sets and were purchased NEW from the most reputable furniture dealer in Niagara Falls (Saks Furniture).
All the wines that are included in the packages we offer, are from Niagara’s Award Winning Wineries. I believe the wine that was included in this package was a Merlot from Inniskillin Winery in Niagara on the Lake. Anyone familiar with wines knows that this particular winery has received hundreds of awards worldwide for their vintages. Most guests ask us where they can purchase the wines we offer. Some have literally brought cases back with them.
Our website states that a hot homemade breakfast is included with your stay. That is exactly what we provide. We have a menu in each room with three different entrées for guests to choose from. They have a choice of eggs with bacon or sausage along with toast and fresh fruit including oranges, kiwi, strawberries and cantaloupe. They also have a choice of pancakes or French toast along with all the items mentioned previously, as well as fresh baked muffins. And, of course, there is PLENTY of coffee, tea or orange juice for guests to enjoy. We literally discard extra pots of coffee daily. Most guests ask what is included in the breakfast and we are more than happy to oblige to their request. We are puzzled by the comments made by this particular guest, as we were informed upon their arrival that they would not be coming down for breakfast the following morning because they were meeting with friends at a local restaurant for breakfast. It had nothing to do with selection we offer. We do not advertise “gourmet” breakfasts and we find it strange that if the breakfast was such an important item for them they would have thought to ask us what is being offered upon booking the room as most guests do. All the other guests were finished breakfast when they came down from their room. It is true we had only two cups of coffee left at that time only because we were not sure what their intentions were. And YES we did offer to make more coffee. We also provide unlimited COMPLIMENTARY bottled water to all of our guests.
The home is equipped with central heating and air-conditioning for guest comfort. Each room has its own set of heating ducts. (Fire Department Regulation on newly constructed B & B‘s). So we are not sure what the guest is referring to. There are only two of us living in the downstairs part of the house and speak to each other in a regular tone. Breakfast is served between 8 am and 10 am. Perhaps the conversation she is referring to was between other guests on their way down to breakfast. Unfortunately, we have no control over noise transmission through the guest room doors. Just like any other B&B or hotel there is always hallway chatter. It is very difficult to control that unfortunately.
Prior to designing our home we visited several existing bed and breakfasts from Niagara to Quebec City. We picked the brains of all those owners along the way. If there was one thing they all agreed on was that the common room was the least used room in the house. In some cases never used. Most guests are too busy taking in the sites during the day. That is why we opted out of including this in our home. Instead we included a sitting area in each room with tv, dvd player and all the latest releases for their convenience. NOWHERE on our site does it mention, or refer to any sort of common room in the house. No other guest has even mentioned it until now!
We are very open to constructive criticism, and often ask our guests for their opinion on the suites and the service they receive. As stated above we have never received any negative feedback from our guests, ONLY COMPLIMENTS. We take pride in the quality of our rooms and the service we provide and have taken special care with our website developer to ensure everything advertised on our site, is what our guests will experience while staying with us. No detail is left out or erroneously included to mislead any potential guests.
When you are in the hospitality industry you open yourself up to comments and complaints, some justified, some not. At Villa Gardenia we endeavor to make sure all of our guests have a great stay and leave with a smile.
It is unfortunate that this guest left with a bad taste in their mouth, and instead of mentioning their concerns to us face to face, felt it was appropriate to air their apparent misadventure in an open forum such as this.
In conclusion, you only need to read the final sentence of this guests comments to get a good feel of the type of person we are dealing with. Niagara is filled with this country’s most beautiful bed and breakfasts and take offence to this most disturbing comment.
It just goes to show ,there are some people in this world you just can’t please.