The Great George

My wife and I stayed at The Great George, Charlottetown, for four nights in September on the fifth leg of our Canada Maritimes road trip. We arrived early afternoon and our suite wasn’t ready - we were asked to wait for the 4 pm check-in. After having a walk round the waterfront we returned to the hotel. We received a very warm welcome from the reception staff and formalities were dealt with quickly. We had a one bedroom suite, room 165 in the Hughes house. We had the whole of the top floor of the building which was up a short flight of stairs. We were surprised just how large the suite was. The living space ran the entire length of the building. The sitting room had a three-seater settee and an armchair, and occasional tables. There was a full kitchen area comprising a substantial fridge/freezer and a stove with a conventional oven and hob. There was a microwave and a coffee pod machine as well as a kettle. It was a great joy to have somewhere where we could sit comfortably to read or watch the large screen TV. In the bedroom there was a king sized bed provided with a duvet and large pillows. The linens were top quality and the bed was extremely comfortable. There was ample storage space with a large cupboard and plenty of drawers. The bathroom was very stylish with a massive shower. It was fully glazed so it did not allow for privacy if that is an issue for guests. The suite was very quiet - we heard a little movement from the suite below and occasional sounds from outside - the suite overlooked a narrow road. The hotel comprised multiple town houses as well as the main building. A self-service breakfast was offered, with guests eating in the opulent lobby area. On occasion space was limited and guests ate from trays on their laps. We found the breakfast offered at the hotel to be hugely underwhelming. There was fresh fruit salad and small glasses containing morning oats with red fruits. The cereal choices were mediocre and the fruit juice was economy branded. There were iced doughnuts and some sort of tarts. On our first day the hot selection was some anaemic sausages, some french toast and hard boiled eggs. This changed on a daily basis but the options never appealed. There was white bread, bagels and muffins with a selection of portioned cream cheese, preserves etc. On two of the days we were there the detritus left by guests wasn’t cleared away and basic items ran out. There seemed to be insufficient staff. For such a high end hotel the food offer was decidedly below the standard expected - it was like chain hotel breakfasts in the US. It could have so easily been improved with a greater range of breads, such as granary and seeded. How about croissants, pain au chocolates and Danish pastries? During our stay I asked to speak to someone from management about the breakfast situation but no one was available so I had to make do with addressing my concerns with the reception staff. Whilst thanking me for my obs

We were very happy with our stay at The Great George. The staff were friendly and our condo was spacious. There was a couple of issues but once brought to the attention of the front desk it was resolved to our satisfaction. A big thank you to Megan Bruce. PEI is a wonderful place to visit friendly people and stunning scenery and beaches. This is our seventh trip to PEI and we hopefully will be back again soon.

I booked this place based on the great reviews so I was surprised to find our stay was less than satisfactory. The carpet was old, the room smelled like feet, there was a little fridge oddly placed in the cramped room. Two big chairs and not enough space to walk or put our suitcases out. My husband left with a weird bug bite of some sort that he got over night. Our coffee maker was a k cup but we were given the wrong type of coffee bag to put in it so we couldn’t use it. The coffee mug had lipstick stains on it so I guess we dodged a bullet not being able to make coffee anyway. There is no guaranteed parking. The man at the front desk said if we couldn’t find a spot in their (tiny) parking lot then we’d have to move our car every 2 hours as street parking was the only other option. Maybe the other rooms are nicer but definitely not ours.

What a lovely place! After a number of nights in souless accommodation this was a breathe of fresh air. From the greeting to the homemade cookies, comfy beds, clean and well apportioned rooms. The reception team were friendly and helpful, pointing us in the direction of somewhere good to eat. We wished we were staying longer