One of our worst stays out of literally hundreds of hotels around the world.
My partner needed a bed and a place to store luggage for a 25-hour stop over in Lisbon. A no frills guest house with good reviews, this seems like a great option.
Despite 3 flights of stairs to the tiny room, a helpful worker at check in assured him he could have a late check or store his bags until 2 PM. The next morning, however, the owner reneged on the agreement. She erupted into an obscenity filled tirade. He offered to pay extra, despite the promise from her colleague of a free late checkout. Fine. But when she learned he had to run to the ATM to get cash, she started literally screaming again and threatening him and his belongings. She refused to even store the bags for his flight later that day.
It’s perfectly fine to charge for late checkouts. And of course late checkouts are subject to availability. And things change and new bookings come in—though that wasn’t the case here.
However, it’s an entirely different story to reneg on a promise by your staff and to so aggressively disrespect another human in this way. He was worried about his safety after the surprisingly aggressive and unhinged verbal attack of the owner.
As polite travelers who spend more nights on the road a year than at home, we were dismayed by this harsh treatment. Hopefully she gets the help she clearly needs. But traveler be where: This place, and its owner come with a whole lot of baggage.