My Bad Experience
I am a forty-year-old UK management consultant. Earlier this year, I found I had some weeks off work so, at short notice, decided to spend some of them brushing up my French in the south of France. I reviewed many courses advertised on the web and chose the Centre International d'Antibes (CIA). It had no on-line booking system so I telephoned to make my booking. I decided to book for only two weeks at first so that I could assess whether the course would suit me for a further month or so. Residential accommodation was available so I decided to take a room in the "medium grade" accommodation called 'Castel Arabel'. It looked fine from the web-site. As I wanted to start the course on the following Monday and it was already Friday, they reasonably demanded a credit card payment. I paid by Mastercard for the two weeks in early February.
I arrived on a Sunday evening. The assistant warden immediately took me to my room. At first sight, it seemed satisfactory if a little austere. It was cold but I saw a radiator in the bedroom and believed it would soon get warm when it was turned on. The assistant warden left and I unpacked. I then saw how dirty the bathroom was, especially the shower area but also the sink and the floor. From the lint and hair left in the sink, I suspected that the cloth used to clean it had also at least been used in an attempt to clean the floor of the bathroom. The shower curtain was also spattered with mould up to about three feet from the floor. Some mould came off when I wiped it with tissue paper so I doubt that anyone had attempted to clean it for a while. I then found that the heating barely came on in the bedroom and that the radiator in the bathroom seemed painted shut. The bedroom was also unclean although not as dirty as the bathroom but from the stains on the duvet covers, they had clearly not been cleaned for weeks. The pillowcases looked clean. I did not check the bedsheets as, by then, I had decided I would like to change rooms. I went to the reception area but it was locked as the staff had left for the night. I went back to pick up my cases and left. I booked into a nearby hotel.
The next day, I explained to CIA's management that the room was dirty. They were largely indifferent but said they would have it cleaned. They told me that I would still have to pay for the room even tough I had not stayed there. I would also have to pay for the whole two weeks even if I did not stay there, as it was their standard practice not to refund any money even for dirty rooms. I moved back into the room on the promise that it would be cleaned. The bathroom was cleaner but there was still mould on the shower curtain. The duvet covers in the bedroom were still dirty and there were still dead moths and other insects in the wall-light covers. I decided to endure it as I had paid for it and I did not want the state of accommodation to affect my lessons too much. I turned the shower curtain inside out so that the mould was towards the bathroom and away from the cubicle and cleaned it as best I could. Four wire and one tiny plastic coat-hangers had been provided for hanging clothes in the makeshift wardrobe. After dinner that evening, I realised that the accommodation was also very noisy. The floors are tiled, there are no soft furnishings in the room and the walls and doors are thin. Noise travels easily down the corridors and up the stairwells and virtually every movement and sound in adjoining rooms can be heard. My room had two beds. Both were short single metal-framed beds simply sprung, as you would expect in a dormitory. They were not comfortable but what was worse, to my horror, the undersheets and pillow were stained in yellow and brown patches. I doubt that they had ever been cleaned. I put on the undersheets and pillowcases from the other bed in the room as well.
When the noise had subsided, I went to bed but could hear the constant dripping of water in one of the next door rooms. My room was cold and the radiators did not work. Eventually, after putting on a second duvet from the other bed, I managed to sleep. At 0630, I was awoken by the lady next door getting up and showering. The German man in the next room did the same a little later. I got up at 0715. There was no hot water with which to shave or shower. I waited until 0750 but it was still cold. I had a cold shower but no shave. As I was now late, I went to school without breakfast. I complained. I was told later that the warden had said that they had run low on fuel to heat the water but that they had now put more in! I mentioned my problems to some other residents. They laughed because they knew that there was never enough hot water for showers in the morning especially on the top floor where my room was. I was told that one either had to get up at 0630 to shower and go back to bed (like my neighbour had) or to shower at 0800 and miss breakfast. I mentioned the dripping tap to the warden that afternoon. He immediately entered the room next door and fixed it. I jokingly asked if he had put in more fuel for hot water tomorrow and he (seriously, I believe) said yes!
Next morning, I got up earlier. I happened to have just enough hot water for a shave but not for a shower. I waited 20 minutes, then had a cold shower. I missed breakfast, again. The following morning I had enough water for a short, tepid shower but no shave. Another morning, I had enough hot water for a shave but the water was then cold. By now, I had learnt not to wait so I had a cold shower and went down to breakfast for the first time during my stay. On the way, I met the deputy warden. I asked him the reason for the water being cold this time. He asked if I had put the tap full on! Breakfast consisted of cheap reconstituted orange juice, one stale slice of baguette with butter and jam, and tepid instant coffee. Two other guests said it was always like that. It was also explained to me that the lack of cleanliness of the rooms might partly be explained by the fact that some of the students pay their way on the course by cleaning all the rooms. They dislike their work and are not motivated to do a great job. It shows.
By now, I was angry. The accommodation was so awful it was affecting my ability to study and the customer service from management was appalling. They offered me accommodation in one of their other residences but I had already been told by one of its residents that it was not much better. I left after lunch on Friday and moved into a clean and comfortable hotel with hot water, soap, towels and a decent breakfast for almost the same price per night that I had been paying for my room at CIA.
The management of CIA would not address my complaints in anyway. Speaking with anyone in management was difficult. Just talking to the student office at the school required queuing, during the short periods when the office was open, behind several other students wishing to discuss matters with her. These periods were clearly sometimes too short for the numbers of requests she had to address. I asked to discuss my complaints with the director. She would neither meet me nor listen to me but said she would send a fax to me at the training centre where I was still having lessons!