Stephen P.
The main reason I am writing this review is to express my disappointment with the fire evacuation conducted at 11:40pm on the 22nd of September at Beach House Seaside Resort. I am in no way shape or form angry about the "fire" situation which occurred in the bike hire shop downstairs (koolbike&hires)... these things happen, a lithium battery was leaking due to being left on charge too long and the steam /smell set the water sprinkler to go off, which furthermore set the buildings evacuation alarm off. So yes, it was real, there was an emergency situation. Again, these things happen. What shouldn't happen is what happened when the evacuation alarm went off. I am upset and absolutely livid, yes, LIVID, about the Beach House Seaside Resort's fire evacuation system. It is completely unsafe, and probably ILLEGAL, and I'll explain to you why. On each floor there are 3 fire alarm speakers. One outside the elevators, which are supposed to "notify" rooms 04/05 and then another one in the dome of 01/02/03 and same thing with the dome of 06/07/08. These speakers were nowhere near as loud as they could or should have been. This leads to my next point of the fact that there were no speakers in the actual rooms themselves. I have NEVER stayed in a hotel where the speakers are outside in the corridor, rather than in the rooms. This is so dangerous because heavy sleepers like me can't, and we DIDN'T, hear the siren go off. The noise of the alarm must travel through the unit front door (which is heavy and thick), down the long hallway in the unit to the bedrooms, and then actually get through the gaps of the door in the bedrooms. (I have attached a video below of how long the distance was from my bedroom to where the fire alarm speaker was, in some other units, this distance is longer). We had the doors shut for privacy but now we won't anymore after what happened last night. I was in 1006 with my elderly grandparents who sleep through noise and the rest of my family was in room 1005. Thankfully they were up at the right time and actually heard the alarm go off (they could barely hear it) and quickly came running down the hallway to notify us. They were banging on the door and yelling. They also rung our mobiles which woke us up. The fact that the banging and our cellular phones were louder than the evacuation alarm is absolutely RIDICULOUS. We heard the knocking and didn't know what was going on. As we got closer to the door then we could hear the alarm going off and we could smell an intense amount of smoke. Imagine if our family wasn't next door and we were just by ourselves. We wouldn't have heard it nor evacuated on time. The alarm continuously repeated the phrase "evacuate as directed". We were given no instructions, so we just had to follow everyone down the fire escape stairs all the way down 10 flights of stairs with elderly people and hope for the best! Many people who were in wheelchairs were carried down... no staff came to help. The smoke occurred on the left-hand side of the building (McLean St) and they were still letting people evacuate through that side of the building. On the news, you could see people walking right past it! How darn dangerous! We evacuated on the other side of the building which was safer. Once we got down, we sat in the freezing cold and waited for the fire department to come. There was no sort of explanation nor any instructions from firefighters. They simply just did a thumbs up and everyone was back in. Once back in the room the smell of smoke (well overheated lithium battery) was so strong I was just about ready to vomit. We had to wet towels and put them on our mouths, so we didn't get smoke poisoning. There was not an all-clear alarm put on the PA system saying that everything was safe or didn't even bother to tell people that they would try and deal with the smell of smoke. Not only this, but there was no sort of roll marking or anything of that nature. They make you go through all this paperwork at reception when you check-in about fire safety regulations and who is in your unit blah blah blah, and they didn't even check to make sure everyone was out safely. Even when we were sitting on the road, we could see people in their units up on the balcony, I even saw someone sleeping still, probably didn't hear the alarm like us. I understand that it would be way more expensive to install speakers in each individual room, but it just has to be done for the safety of everyone. I was talking to a few people while waiting for the lifts today and they stated that they didn't hear the fire alarm or the people who did could only just hear it. An elderly lady on the top floor (level 17) did not hear the alarm go off, furthermore sleeping through the whole thing and not evacuating AT ALL. Is this concerning to you? Considering she was elderly and on the top floor would mean she should be one of the first to evacuate to actually get out quicker. But nope, slept through the whole thing because she couldn't hear the alarm. That is so dangerous. Imagine if the fire was on her level and in the corridor, she wouldn't have heard the darn alarm and would've just passed in her sleep. This is seriously ILLEGAL and if it were to ever happen in that amount of seriousness, the hotel could be sued or even shut down. I am so, so, so disappointed. My question and something that has been on my mind is why when the hotel was built, they didn't install speakers in every room? How dumb can people be to not install speakers in the rooms?||||I also went to reception to notify staff that we couldn't hear the alarm and that many others couldn't either, and they responded with the blankest look on their face and said, "oh you probably just slept through it". First of all, the guest is always right, and the fact they didn't even seem to care that we couldn't hear the alarm and evacuate on time?! Or even an apology!!! Or to say that they would get someone to check on that?! And secondly, I did not sleep through it because I was awake at the time the alarms went off, which was at around 11:40pm and I heard my phone ring and the banging on the door at around 11:43pm, but surprise surprise, couldn't hear the darn fire alarm in the bedroom (IN WHICH BY THE WAY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACE TO BE ABLE TO HEAR IT, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT). We could only hear the alarm once we opened the door into the corridor. Soooooo dangerous, and sooooo disappointing. I will be writing an email to management about this, as it is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. ||||The majority of the staff here at Beach House are really nice, helpful and friendly, but a few can be quite rude and judgmental. For example, I accidently mis-heard how old you have to be to hire a bike out on your own and the reception lady wasn't happy, even though I mis-heard and apologized. One day she said, "are you over 16" and I thought she said "15" so I said yes, and then another day she checked the paperwork when my grandparents checked in and saw that I was 15 and rolled her eyes and said that I have to be over 18, in mind you, a bit of a smarty pants way. She was basically all over the place which is very unprofessional and confusing to the guests. I was also in the reception when someone was checking in and the receptionist and the guest were having a full-on heated argument about room allocation. I completely understand both sides of the story, but when you are in your workplace, you should always remain professional no matter what, especially when there are other guests walking through the reception TRYING TO HAVE A HOLIDAY. Maintenance guy Craig (whoever came and fixed the door in 1005 on the 15th of September) is always super friendly and efficient and always remembers me when we come down to Beach House, as well as starting up conversations which is really nice. Another maintenance guy came up to look at the dryer and internet and was more interested in the view and whales splashing around then actually fixing what needed to be fixed, mind you didn't even fix it! Zali at reception is super friendly and efficient, and all the housekeepers are really nice and kind, as well as hard working and really good at cleaning the rooms, always left spotless and smelling really fresh, this made my holiday!! We felt bad one day when they came into service the room because we had a 2-week booking and we hadn't left yet even though on the paper slip they said to vacate the room while they were cleaning, so when they came and we hadn't left the room yet, the housekeepers swiftly moved in, smiled, worked around us and finished in lightning speed. That is truly great service. ||||I am also a little disappointed that last year we stayed in 2023, we were given level 14, we had only booked 8 months in advance and then this year, we were given level 10 even though we had booked 11 months in advance. As stated above we had 2 units. The 2-week unit was from the 14th to the 28th of September and that was 1005 and then the 1-week unit was from the 21st to the 28th of September and that was 1006. The 06 rooms are better as they poke out, meaning they have a better view... would've though the 2-week booking would have had that room. ||||Another concern I had is about the pool drains in the main big pool and the toddler pool. The drains on the bottom of the pool suck a fair bit of water. This is the most dangerous in the toddler pool as it is really shallow, and children's long hair can get caught in the drain. The big pool drains sucked a lot of water and when I put my foot on it, it almost got stuck from the force. This could be dangerous if a small child went down and put their hands on it, they would become stuck and drown! ||||It's just these little things that are concerning and should be fixed. The fire alarm however is a completely different story. That is not little, that is of major concern. ||||I will now also talk about some pros and cons of Beach House:||||Pros: ||- very clean||- very well maintained ||- modernish rooms||- great views from balcony||- self equipped units||- great location||- great facilities such as pool, tennis, putt putt, spa, bikes, games room and more||- comfy beds||- sound proofed rooms (might be reason you can't hear fire alarm)||||Cons:||- fire alarm system is unsafe and illegal ||- lifts are really slow and small, only 2 to service 132 units||- no 24-hour staff||- water pressure in kitchen and bathrooms are pretty bad||- basement is really smelly (PLEASE FIX THIS ASAP)||- basement is small, big cars struggle to get in||- very windy pool area (not hotel's fault)||- you pay the same price for if you're in 1703/1706 (best rooms) or 207/208 (worst rooms)||- ceiling fans go really slow on 1 and way too fast on 2 and then not much faster on 3, there is no in between||- carpet is outdated, stained, smelly, rippled||- internet can be slow at times||- sliding doors (screen doors) are old and dirty||- windows and doors which lead out to the balcony and in bedrooms need to be sealed, as the sound of wind kept me up ALL NIGHT, and the fly screens kept rattling, maybe some glue would fix that...||||Overall, Beach House Seaside Resort is a great resort in a great location. It has great in-house facilities and great views from balconies. The fire evacuation system MUST MUST MUST be updated ASAP; speakers MUST be installed in every room. Apart from this, and a few unprofessional staff, Beach House is perfect for everyone for a holiday.
