Hummingbird GuestHouse & Charters

Unprofessional management, HORRIFYING CUSTOMER SERVICE. AVOID at all cost. A simple miscommunication turns into a NIGHTMARE. Cheryl was unprofessional, RUDE, and INSULTING. Never come across such a mean spirited person in the hospitality industry. In short, the host DOWNGRADED OUR ROOM over a simple miscommunication, threatened to NOT REFUND should we cancel, INSULTED me many times, and ACCUSED ME of hiding my identity? I am SPEECHLESS. ALSO, all this happened ONE DAY prior to our departure. My boyfriend (Canadian national) and I (International student who works and studies in Vancouver) were looking for a simple weekend getaway on the Island. We know traveling during COVID can be delicate and were willing to be cooperative. ONE DAY BEFORE our stay, Cheryl sends me a message warning me my address on our Agoda reservation seems to indicate Thailand, and that my number is an American number. She asks me to call her to confirm my identity. Additionally, she says she has taken the liberty to DOWNGRADE me to a smaller room believing “we will not show up at all” and that “we are not legit”. Weird… I don't remember filling those in. I figure if I call to explain, all should go back to order. I WAS VERY WRONG. I call her and specify my situation (I lived in Thailand 3 years ago, but don’t know where the US number came from). I give my correct address in Vancouver, contact info and accepting to bring all necessary papers to confirm my status here. I refuse the downgrade of the room, as our room was suppose to have TWO QUEEN BEDS and a PRIVATE KITCHEN. The downgraded room has ONE BED, and NO KITCHEN. We are expected to pay the same. IS THIS ACCEPTABLE? She says in a rude and impatient tone that she has already agreed to give our room to another customer, so either we accept the smaller room or we can go someplace else. WOW. REMEMBER, this is the DAY BEFORE our departure. I send her a follow up email telling them if they cannot provide the room we booked, we want the reservation cancelled. Her reply was insulting beyond words, so i simply attached it. Note: I filled in Canada for country of residence, which is correct. After contacting Agoda (Took me a good while) for them to intervene, they accepted to cancel our reservation with no penalty. Now, we just had to find an accommodation on Vancouver Island one day prior to the trip, when all places are booked out... sweet... Honestly, never been so insulted by a service I paid for. I felt low the entire day. Save your time and don’t give your money to this unprofessional establishment.

The host had a very terrible attitude. Not friendly at all! Mentioned in the envelope that call any time, but when you actually call and needed help, the host was super impatient. Don’t listen to other’s requests and suggestions. only arguing! I would give 0 star.

We didn’t not stay, rather we inquired about purchasing the property. We were met with unprofessionalism irrational rude and likely due to some sort of mental illness. Steer clear as the owner has no intentions on selling as she was offered asking prices several times. The owner would rather interact with potential buyers negatively with no intentions of selling. Sad state of affairs

Rude email from owner: o, you aren't taking it the wrong way. My comments aren't meant to be friendly. I am informing you that what you did is wrong and impacts my business. You are holding one of my rooms which you should never have reserved. This impacts my bottom line. All because you chose not to fully investigate. Booking.com has a category called "House Rules" that is on the top of every accommodation's webpage. Arrow key down and you will find the pet policy. Mine says "Pets are not allowed". In the future, if you cannot find anything mentioned about being pet friendly, assume it's not and contact the accommodation directly. BEFORE you make the reservation. Now, please cancel the reservation or I will charge you the full price.

Absolutely Despicable! The owner is an absolute fraud, avoid at all costs. She has put essential workers out, has a terrible and unprofessional attitude, refuses to refund after charging more than 10x the cost of the stay.

No STARS or further recommendations for The Hummingbird Guest House in Port Alberni. Ignore the one star I had to leave because I can't post a review without it. I have not stayed here but after reading numerous emails written to friends from the owners AVOID this "Guesthouse" at all costs! Guests should not be treated with disrespectful text messages and emails from Cheryl the owner / manager or whomever she is. Please stay here if you like being threatened to vacate with police assistance. Please stay here if want to pay more than their posted rates. Please stay here if you want to be charged by the owner for cleaning (included in rate). Please stay here if you want to be accused of matters you didn't do. This is NOT a relaxing atmosphere. So many other friendly and welcoming guest homes in Port Alberni. Do you research readers.

After staying 1 night, I only write this as a warning to others. Cheryl the owner can be lovely, and many guests have written glowing reviews on booking.com, BUT if you get the sense that Cheryl doesn't like you, cancel! Also note the following... 1. If a guest leaves a review on booking.com, she has historically responded with personal details about the stay, including names, length of visit, what you did, etc.** 2. If a guest leaves any negative comments in the review, she has historically left negative comments about the guest and posted other things about the stay, including if you stained the sheets.** 3. If you ask the wrong questions, you may be reported (in our case, the question was reported booking.com as if a violation had occurred) **If you don't believe me, read the reviews and replies for yourself on booking.com. I gave 2 stars because to her credit, the place was clean and well maintained, and the breakfast was good. However, we felt too uncomfortable to enjoy it.

I stayed here for a week by myself in the main floor suite. It was very clean and well-maintained. The property is gorgeous. The guesthouse is very cozy and felt like a home away from home for me. It was really nice to have a safe and relaxing space to have family visit with me during the day while getting away from the hustle and bustle to get some work done in my down time. Cheryl was very kind and accommodating; I really enjoyed chatting with her and getting to know about her and the property and the city itself. If I had to list one downside it would be the noise levels from other guests upstairs who probably just didn't realize how heavy-footed they were being (in addition to generally dropping things and slamming doors, etc). Overall, a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones went a long way to deal with that! I would absolutely stay here again and hope that I get the opportunity to do so.