Best Western Carlton Plaza

We were on vacation, and we had a special request in advance for my young son's birthday, but unfortunately it was ignored.

My friend and I stayed at the Best Western Plus Carlton Plaza Hotel in Victoria for 4 nights/5 days during exam season. We are both students and booked this trip entirely out of pocket as a way to make an intense week of classes and studying a little easier on ourselves. We specifically chose this hotel because of the downtown location and paid extra for valet parking so we would not have to deal with the stress of parking while balancing 8-9 hour school days and late-night studying. Unfortunately, on the very first day of our stay, valet services damaged the front rim/tire area of my vehicle by hitting the curb while parking it. To their credit, the hotel and valet company took full responsibility for the incident from the beginning. The damage was witnessed by us directly and captured on both hotel security cameras and my vehicle cameras, so there was never any dispute regarding fault. However, simply taking responsibility for damaging a guest’s vehicle is not enough. This situation should never have happened in the first place, especially when valet parking is a paid premium service that guests are specifically paying for to reduce stress and inconvenience. Instead, during an already exhausting exam week, we had to spend our time arranging mechanic inspections, opening an ICBC claim, completing paperwork, communicating with insurance, and determining whether the vehicle was even safe to drive back home. Because of the damage and resulting complications, we also had to cab back and forth to school throughout parts of the trip. To be fair, the hotel did reimburse taxi costs and offered to cover one meal delivery, which we appreciated. But the overall experience was still overwhelmingly negative because the issue itself completely disrupted our stay and added significant stress during an important academic period. What left the worst impression was the response afterward. We requested a partial refund or compensation toward our stay given the extent to which this incident affected our trip. Instead, we were told compensation may only be considered toward a future stay. Respectfully, after having our vehicle damaged by valet services, returning to the same hotel is not something we would feel comfortable doing. Overall, staff were polite, and responsibility was acknowledged, but accountability alone does not undo the inconvenience, stress, lost time, and disruption caused to paying guests. What was supposed to be a productive and relaxing exam-week stay became centered around vehicle damage, insurance claims, mechanics, and transportation issues instead.

Had an amazing 2-day stay here! 🫠 The service was top-notch, and the staff went above and beyond to feel us welcome. A huge shoutout to the team for the awesome birthday surprises for my wife she absolutely loved it! ​Highly recommend this place, and we’ll definitely be back!

Great location and Historic hotel is well taken care of. It was clean and spacious, and the staff was helpful. We only stayed 1 night and we traveled here on Victoria Clipper from Seattle. Main stop was Butchart Gardens. The restaurant in property was very good. This hotel is just a short walk from the waterfront, and in heart of town. We definitely look forward to another stay soon.

Fantastic location to use as a base to explore downtown Victoria. Consistent friendly service from all of the staff. I appreciate the text "check-ins" and even more surprised with the speed of responsiveness. The rooms very clean, nice to have remote controls will fully charged batteries where the TV is very responsive, and even nicer the windows open a bit for fresh air. A very nice touch with the coffee and hot chocolate machine next to the elevators to the left (suggest put a water thing there too). The valet parking with unlimited in/out privileges is an excellent value, especially given they park it in a secured covered parkade around the corner. Very efficient check in/out front desk. Both Nadine and Nick super professional, friendly, and helpful. Nadine took it to next level when I was in a rush and she walked me to the secured parkade to get my car. Definitely will be back in the future.

Front desk and valet service were excellent. Favourite detail in the room was the HDMI extension attached to the TV for easy access. The window was a little bit stiff to open and close, but central and walkable location were a definite bonus.

Just spent only one night there recently on a tour Hotel staff was exceptional when there was any kind of problem they were very quick to try to work out any issue and when even there was a slight delay in our room being ready they offered us to Starbucks cards and it only turned out to be like a 15 minutes they just seemed to really go above and beyond what most Hotel staff that I've seen do the bed was extremely comfortable the room was well-appointed definitely a stay again place for us

The only hotel I stay at in Victoria. Excellent customer service and management. Rooms are great and location fantastic. Ive stayed her a few times and have been so impressed that I've booked for my wedding and guests to stay here. Excellent all around and the hotel Restaurant, Ruby, is best breakfast place in town.

Location and customer service are great.

Great location to everything, including walking to the tourist sites. Excellent staff, comfy bed and dark, quiet room. The valet car park service was very welcomed!