Brandon G.
Yelp
We were very excited to be spending a week in St. Croix for work. We have stayed at other properties on the island in the past and loved them, but unfortunately they were cost prohibitive this trip since my employer was covering the hotel. Our group had heard decent reviews about the Caravelle, and since we had a little down time from work, we figured the location would be good.
The check in process was smooth and convenient, and the staff was very courteous upon arrival...we were off to a good start!
Our stay got more and more disappointing from there...and by the end of the week, we couldn't wait to check out and leave the island.
When we got to our room, upon opening the door, we were overwhelmed with the strong, earthy odor of black mold. We reluctantly entered the room, trying not to be too picky. We understand the economic conditions on the island and the pandemic situation has made it difficult for everyone, so we tried to get through it, hoping that the issue wouldn't be too bad.
Within 2 hours of staying in the room, and after experiencing respiratory issues and nausea, my wife and I both couldn't take the mold anymore.
When we went to the front desk to report the issue (different front desk staff than when we checked in), the response we received was one of disbelief as though we were fabricating the issue. They sent another employee to inspect the issue, and he quickly agreed that the mold was present and a problem. The front desk staff agreed to move us to another room...so we repacked our belongings, moved to the new room, and unpacked again. This wasn't exactly how we had hoped to spend our first afternoon/evening on the island, but we were determined not to let it ruin the day or mood.
Later that evening, I learned from a colleague who was staying in another room on the same floor of the property that his room too was so bad with mold that he, too, had to change rooms. Apparently the entire 2nd floor was having the same issue, and in spite of the fact that they were unable to remediate the mold problem, the hotel was continuing to check guests into those rooms.
The new room had a mold issue as well, but not as severe as the previous room. So, again, we tried to move past the issue.
The next day, after receiving housekeeping service, we noticed that the "Damp Rid" moisture remover bag was completely full of water, so we asked if they could replace it. It took a long time for them to find one, but eventually one was located and I only lost 30 minutes to that little adventure...it seems as though they are only for show and not really replaced very often. The replacement bag was nearly full before the end of our stay 5 days later.
A couple nights later, while returning to our room in the afternoon, we noticed that the hotel had been working on pipes on the 3rd floor...extensive work that involved cutting into the walls to expose the pipes in question. We didn't think much of it until a couple hours later when attempting to take a shower, and there was no hot water. At that time we also noticed that the tap water in the sink was orange...a condition that we assumed was related to the pipe work and hoped it would resolve. After five minutes of flushing, still orange and no hot water. I went back to the front desk to inquire about the issue. The front desk staff reported that she had no idea about the issue, but acknowledged that they were working on the pipes earlier that day. She told us she would report the problem to maintenance and get back to us. After about 45 minutes of hearing nothing and the problem persisting, I returned to the front desk to get an update. She advised that the problem had been reported, but no idea on how long the problem would persist. She offered to move us to another room, back in the second floor...but obviously due to the mold down there and the lack of desire to change rooms again, we just stayed in the room with no clean or warm running water in hopes they would figure out the problem the next day. Apparently they figured out the problem...when we woke up the next morning, the water seemed back to normal. We learned later that day, that the people working on the pipes earlier forgot to turn the hot water back on.
For our problems with this issue, the hotel offered a 10% discount on one night of our stay...which I guess saved my employer $18 for our problems.
The last 48 hours of our stay were uneventful...thankfully. However, I can't ignore that both my wife and I have an annoying cough that we didn't have when we arrived here.
Next time, we will have to find another hotel option.
