Reviews of MacKenzie House Tourist Home B&B (Zoo)

Mary Harding

On arrival we weren't sure if we were at the correct building. The driveway outside was meant for two cars and both spots were taken. There was garbage in the yard. I was quite certain we had wandered into someone's unkempt home and called out "hello" to see if perhaps I was in the wrong place. I was not. A woman who wasn't sure what to do with us called to a man who said he was the owner and that we were in #5. The Expedia listing stated, "Superior Room, Two Bedrooms, Balcony, One Double Bed and One King Bed". 24-hour front desk. Patio. Outdoor area. Air conditioning. Private bathroom with tub/shower combo. Made it sound like a lovely bed and breakfast scenario. It's not, not at all. It's like being at an aging relative's house that has not been kept up. We were first lead to a dark downstairs room with no windows and a single king bed. Obviously not what we booked, so we were lead to the room above it. This room had two beds, stains on the curtains, was very hot, and was no where near worth the asking price. We told them this was a complete misrepresentation of the room as pictured online, so they asked to see the listing. The woman said it looked like the rooms in a different part of the house where we were lead next. On the way, a room nearby was gestured to where we were told breakfast would be. It seemed we'd be walking through the house's kitchen, where dog food sat in little piles on the floor. The listing definitely didn't mention pets were in the home. There were children in swimming suits wandering through the house to get to some kind of small above ground pool out back whom were apparently not guests. They were told by the woman to be silent. We were lead past a bleach-scented area where a loud laundry room stood, which was immediately outside the two separate rooms we were shown. These were the rooms in the listing, but no balcony. It was a tiny porch on the ground floor instead. We were then told that if we wanted these rooms we would be charged $145/each normally, but the owner was willing to drop it to $105/each, $40 more than what the listing had shown! I've stayed in B&Bs, AirBnBs, and hotels worldwide. Never have I been in a situation like this. You can't just let people stay in your house, make them breakfast, and call it a B&B. B&Bs are clean, have privacy, are quiet, no animals indoors, and feel like a comfortable home-away-from-home. They are a step above an AirBnB in most cases. This was a step below. We've been staying all over Nova Scotia for two weeks in various accommodations, and the asking price here is completely unacceptable. We explained that there had been a total misunderstanding as the listing was entirely different, leading to a false expectation, and we'd like a refund and to cancel. The owner said that there is a 48-hour minimum cancelation policy, so we'd be charged the full rate to cancel, despite this egregious situation. How could we possibly have known 48 hours in advance that this would happen? How is it our responsibility as people on vacation to just accept the total loss when we didn't create the obviously false listing? The owner said it was nonsensical because he would have booked the space to someone else. Umm, I don't think so. The woman was showing us plenty of other unused rooms trying to get us to pick one. The owner said, "I'm not going to deal with this nonsense" and walked away angrily. I went outside to call Expedia and get this rectified so we wouldn't be charged. Ended up paying 50% of the room rate despite not staying and having to find somewhere with an accurate listing last minute. There was absolutely no way we were staying in that house, or even going back inside because the angry owner made us so uncomfortable.

Poul Pedersen

(Translated) Very friendly host, beautiful room, good bathroom facilities and a delicious breakfast. Easily accessible. Smell of heating was disappointing. (Original) Zeer vriendelijke gastheer, prachtige kamer, goed sanitair en een heerlijke ontbijt. Goed bereikbaar. Geur van verwarming viel wel tegen.