Ramada Ramblings
May 7th, 2009. Filed under: Thursday's Travels.I stayed at the Ramada Bayside in New Port Richey, FL when I spent a week on the mainland last month. I checked it out on the web before making my reservations. Very nice looking rooms and facility. Well, I have to hand it to the photographer. The pictures were amazing considering what I encountered in real life. My memories of past Ramada stays and the photos just didn’t jive with the real thing.
The employees were very nice and helpful, but the facility had definitely seen better days. I know that the Ramadas are now franchised out, but made a mistake in assuming that they would have to meet quality standards. The room I had was a mere hint of what it probably was at one time. The furnishings were past their prime. I did have a fridge, microwave and coffee pot which were thankfully all in working order. I probably came near to wearing out that little bitty coffee pot as I have a tendency to consume large quantities of coffee while I am working and writing.
So, even though I had everything I needed, it was far from being a well kept, clean place. The carpet was dirty and stained. The vacuum never made it past the middles. This was not a place where I would have been comfortable walking around without shoes on. I don’t even want to get into the state of the shower tile or the silverfish in the tub. Someone needs to give these people some FlyLady dusters along with a bunch of old toothbrushes and a jug of bleach.
There was a pool there, but I don’t know quite where it was located. Certainly not anywhere on my side of the building. No complimentary breakfast buffet. The internet access was slow enough to make a person weep, and that’s on the days when it was actually functioning. And the topper. I couldn’t even get any credit for my stay applied to my Wyndham Rewards card. Ramada is supposed to be part of the program. I never did get a satisfactory answer as to why they wouldn’t apply any credit to my card.
I would definitely not go back there again. Maybe I’m just spoiled by Wingate, but that isn’t available in New Port Richey. Actually, a lot isn’t available in New Port Richey, but that’s another story.