Classic British Flight Sim

Since reaching State pension age and having had to take early retirement due to disability three years ago I decided to treat Babs to Christmas away at a hotel.

The hotel chosen was one we used some 11 years ago when we took the family with us and although not four star rated it provided evening entertainment which was enjoyable so we thought we would be OK for Christmas.

Without going into the full details our bedroom was very cold as were other guests whom we spoke to, the staff in reception informed my wife that the heating is turned off at 17.00hrs then back on at 22.00hrs as the hotel is too big to heat all the time, the heating was kept on slightly longer after a number of coaches arrived with more guests, the main reception area where there are couches to sit was extremely cold and quite a few guests took to wearing coats, in the bedroom the double glazing leaked with the wind blowing through, other guests also complained of this.

The food, well the choice was terrible, soup to start with and was watery and far too salty, main course was either chicken, beef which appeared as though it was last weeks dinner reheated and fish with only a few choices of veg. The sweet were a choice of....wait for it......cold slices of gateaux and ice cream if you felt that way inclined.

Now comes Christmas Day Lunch, we all assembled in the large entertainment room where all the tables were laid out which seated eight people in a circle, the starter arrived and yes.....watery tomato soup which was to me undrinkable!!

The main course came next, at this point I must stress that I do not like Brussels sprouts and never have done, when the main course was served they had put all the veg on the plate and there was an awful stink of Brussels Sprouts to the point that I was nearly barfing, (Babs likes Brussels Sprouts and the smell of them when she cooks or has them on her plate does not affect me) also the turkey was not as expected, no lean turkey breast but instead.............a turkey roll with stuffing inside it..........you can guess the next reaction.......I do not like STUFFING!!

Babs took one mouthful as I again nearly barfed on the table, took one look at my now green face and led me out of the dinning room. Don't know what they had done to those Brussels Sprouts to smell so badly as they did but it was really unbearable. The end to this so called Christmas break came as we packed our bags and left on Boxing Day, I have since e-mailed the hotel group and await a reply though don't for one minute expect I will get anything from them.

A lot of money for a crap Christmas, next year we will stay at home.

I have not mentioned the name or location of the hotel as my complaint is on-going and I will be taking it a stage further should I not receive a satisfactory response.

Regards
Nigel

Sounds similar to an experience we had with a "Special Get Away Deal" we had to a hotel in Torbay many years ago. Treated like absolute crap, dumped into a damp basement unheated room with peeling wallpaper and broken TV and cigarette burns on the night stands. Treated to shitty "romantic" meal in a cramped corner of the dining room where several offices were having their Xmas do's. We didn't last the night and went to a motel for the night and drove home the next day. Some money was refunded eventually, we were served dinner don't forget. Happy times.

Sadly places like this can be easy to fall into, particularly if you've been before. The problem isn't helped by online review sites; for example we were nearly put off a hotel in the Canaries because reviews talked about an annex "several minutes walk away". In fact, it turned out to be about 20 seconds further away than most of the rest.

I hope they take on board your complaint and maybe offer some compensation.

Sorry to hear about you Christmas, Nigel. I find dining out on major holidays - Christmas, New Years, Mother's Day, Easter or Thanksgiving (in the Colonies) is not usually a wise move. Oh, I do like Brussels sprout, either roasted or steamed, and stuffing but I cook those myself and my stuffing always gets rave reviews. Got the recipe from a British cookbook and modified it a bit like my father's recipe..

Nigel²

Hi Nigel,
Pretty poor show, my friend.
Sounds like the sprouts were over-cooked; that will turn an otherwise delicious green into stinking slop.

Hi Chaps, well I sent an e-mail to the company and got the usual:

"Regrettably we can't put matters right if we don't know that they're wrong. The hotel has 24hr cover and all reported issues either with rooms or anything else are dealt with as quickly as possible.

They were informed that the heating was off but did nothing to rectify this!!

As for the other problems there were it would take months and even years to but the hotel right as the issues just can't be resolved overnight!

I have been offered a suite at reduced price should we wish to take up the offer but I have rejected that due to the standard of food being very poor and also of the condition of the hotel and have in the e-mail stated that I would have thought that they would have the decency to offer a refund for the one night of bed and breakfast that we had forfeited.

Thanks Mike, that is just what Babs thought, they were over-cooked.

Will have to wait for a reply and see what they intend to do!

Regards
Nigel.

Hi Nige..

I have to confess your tale read like an episode of 'One foot in the grave' though for you.. it wouldn't have been funny.

Did you complain about the food at the time? We always ran a policy that tables were checked 5mins after receiving their food as a bare minimum so that if anything was wrong.. it could be rectified quickly. Some folk still chose to say 'yes' and complain when they'd finished One reason why the general public pi$$es me off If no one checked your table.. they have only themselves to blame.
Your sprouts had probably been 'held' in a bain marie too long. I used to hate serving the bloody things because you could only 'hold' a few and the water needed changing constantly to avoid the hideous pong you experienced. The same will eventually happen to most veg so kept but for sure.. sprouts are king among them all

Fingers crossed you get something back you're satisfied with
ATB
DaveB

The "coaches arriving" leads me to think Shearings maybe? Coast and Country? Same firm.

Been there. Done that. Got the T shirt. Never had cause to complain though.

On the subject of complaining... I received an outright ban from SWMBO from complaining when asked and at the end although I often snuck in a surreptitious complaint if given the chance. Not that I'd complain at the drop of a hat but if paying good money for food that was poor then something needs to be said. Otherwise staff and kitchens are lulled into a false sense of security. Nowadays there's always Trip Adviser.

I have to confess your tale read like an episode of 'One foot in the grave' though for you.. it wouldn't have been funny.

Hi Dave, sadly at the time I did not, the meals were not served to you at the table (apart from the soup when the waiter came and asked if you would like some, if not then you had to go without a starter)

After the soup you just got up and helped yourself at the servery. To be honest and having worked in a hotel restaurant it was always our policy to approach the diners as you did and ask if they were happy with the meal as well as asking if they would like any more vegetables or potatoes...Yes, we did ask them as it was our policy to make their dining experience more enjoyable. We gave our customers silver service but always after serving the vegetables put the dishes to one side of their table so that they could help themselves to the remainder.

With this hotel the waiting staff only cleared the tables and neither they or the restaurant manager came around asking if we were satisfied with the food, I don't think that they dared!! I knew that even a complaint would not have done anything to change the way the food was prepared, in fact I do believe that the hotel is running on a very tight budget due to turning off the heating at certain times.

As for the sprouts Dave, when my wife put her fork into one it just fell apart and I will never forget that smell.

The "coaches arriving" leads me to think Shearings maybe? Coast and Country? Same firm.

Nope.........It was the National Coach Company as well as some that I have not heard of before and there were a few who we spoke to who stated that if they had come by car then they would have left but as they were on a coach they had no option.

So far I have not had a further response from them but will give them until about Tuesday then send them an other e-mail but don't hold out that they will give me a refund for the one night and breakfast.

OK, so I said that I would not mention the name of the hotel but........here it is, don't be fooled by the fact it has free wifi, it only works in the reception area which was bl**dy draughty and cold.

As previously written, we stayed there about 11 years ago and it was fine but now........................Don't be deceived by the photographs on their site, it is nothing like that now!!

https://www.britanniahotels.com/hotels/ ... tle-hotel/

Regards
Nigel.