Some guests who were displaced by the Penticton Fairfield by Marriott fire on July 25 said the hotel left them “dry,” forcing them to book new hotels at long-weekend prices or lay off end of their vacation.

On Wednesday, several guests said they had heard nothing from the hotel and had been forced to return to their accommodation the evening of the fire.

“We haven’t heard of Fairfield yet. There was no communication. Security at the gate gave us the general manager’s phone number but his voicemail is full,” hotel guest Tanya Scanga said on Wednesday.

“All 120 of us were at 8:30 p.m. scrambling to find accommodation during the peak of summer,” she added.

Several evacuees said the city’s emergency services were wonderful.

ESS opened a reception center for evacuees and provided food stamps to Denny’s. This is where the majority of the evacuees met to find they were in the same boat.

Scanga said a mother was staying in Penticton with her son while he was attending an Okanagan Hockey School camp and scrambling to find a hotel.

Penticton Fairfield Marriott general manager Shawn Gill said the reason no one could reach him is that sprinklers flooded the hotel causing their phone and computer systems to fail, so they could not reach any customers.

“We have 84 rooms, so we’re working hard to be in touch with every one of our guests now that our systems are up and running again,” Gill said Thursday. “I was in Vancouver at a wedding at the time of the fire, so I came back as quickly as I heard.”

“We did not charge them for the night of the fire and as the hotel owner we will pay for their night’s accommodation for those who have been displaced, regardless of where they stayed. Send me the bill and I guarantee we will pay it,” he said. He encourages guests who haven’t heard from him to email him and provide their room number.

It is also considering additional compensation in a case-by-case scenario.

“We try to help as much as we can. We understand that this is a very difficult situation.

The Scangas were two days into a 16-day holiday when the fire broke out. They had booked this trip in October 2021 on points.

They are now staying at the Lakeside Resort, which has been very accommodating, compensating for their parking and giving a corporate rate because of their situation, she said.

“We’re very grateful for that, but we still have to pay for rooms we didn’t expect to pay for.”

Mike Marks had to cut short his family’s vacation in Penticton and return to Calgary. He found a two-night stay at the Ramada, but they were full for the long weekend, so they had to leave Wednesday morning.

“We pre-booked the Marriott at the lowest rate, not the long weekend prices,” Marks said of the high price he paid at the Ramada.

“We all needed help immediately and Marriott had no contingency plan and left us to find our own accommodations,” he said. “There was no communication from them that day.”

Marks went down to the hotel for answers the next day, but said no information was given to guests.

Gill apologizes for the lack of communication and said new staff were not fully conversant with protocols in these types of emergencies.

A fire broke out on the roof of a fourth-floor unit, forcing the evacuation of hotel guests on Monday afternoon, July 25.

Two catering crews are cleaning the hotel but it’s unclear when they will be able to reopen, Gill said.

“We hope to be open this long weekend, maybe Monday, but not to new customers, just those who have booked with us,” he said. All of their computers and printers have been destroyed by the water and will need to be replaced, but the hotel hopes to be operational soon.

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The cause of the fire is still under investigation by Penticton Fire.

Hotels