Four Star Visit Britain Hotels With Horrendous Guest Reviews - on Visit Britain's Very Own Site

After the last blog regarding Visit Britain and how I think it should set up a Trip Advisor model, I received a message from Tnooz saying that this was pretty much already on the cards, with Visit Britain planning to run reviews alongside their listings.

I then received another message with a link on, to a review site that Visit Britain already run alongside their accommodation listings.

At first I felt silly that I didn't know that they were already doing something. Then I read the reviews and quickly found a fundamental flaw in their system, which immediately made me feel superior again! (that was a joke, ha ha.)

Visit Britain can't give a hotel four star status and then let the guests review it too. The two cannot run side by side, as they will contradict each other. All the properties below have been given four star status and then on the same site attacked by guests.

There isn't enough reviews on the site to counterbalance these negative ones, so if these are just one-offs or fake reviews then the hotel suffers.

A fair, monitored, guest review system is what we all want isn't it? If you made this possible VB then I believe every hotel in Britain would pay you at least £10 a month.

Rudstone Walk

Visit Britain Four Stars

Sleep in your car rather than stay here. Why this has any stars, let alone 4 Visit Britain, is beyond me. There is carpet in the bathroom and it is so filthy you can't walk on it. In fact everything in the room and bathroom seems coated with 20 years worth of filth. You don't want to touch the light switch even. The sheets and towels were being sorted by throwing them into piles on the dirty concrete. The chairs in the room were so filthy you could not sit on them. The breakfast bar fruit was the old fashioned canned grapefruit and stewed prunes!
Dirty, dirty place
The people are pleasant and that's about it.

http://www.visitorreview.com/visitbritain/England/AccommodationRudstoneWalk

Geometric House, Old Market

Visit Britain Four Stars

Myself and my family stayed at this place and it was horrendous,the area is so run down with drunks hanging around outside. The rooms are dirty yes it looks clean on the web site but when you get in there and take a look around its awfull. I wanted to warn people not to go here there are much better places to stay in bristol. And much cheaper. I couldnt wait to get out of there.

http://www.visitorreview.com/visitbritain/geometrichouseoldmarket

La Suite - Executive Hotel, London

Visit Britain Four Stars

La Suite Executive Hotel (at 37, Nottingham Place, London) is a shame in the name of hotels. We had harrowing experience with them. When we arrived at the hotel on 3rd May with a confirmed booking, I was shocked to see when without my permission or approval, the check-in manager made photocopies of my passport and credit card! This is not a usual practice in any hotel. On being questioned this manager misbehaved with me and my wife and threatened us. He mentioned that they don’t care for any law and they also do not need permission of the guest to make photocopies of passport and credit card. He gave no explanation about why he made photocopies of passport and my credit card. He further mentioned that if we will not give these photocopies to him we can leave from the hotel and he will still charge us for one night stay. This manager was abusive and had no courtesy. Conflict reached a level where we contemplated calling police. The entire hotel had only one manager and there was no other staff or manager. On our insistence a senior manager talked to us on mobile and he mentioned that we can check-in without those photocopies. He even reprimanded this manager on duty. When we checked-in (as we had no choice in a new country and a new city) there was no help available to even move our luggage. We had to carry our entire luggage one piece at a time in a small lift. The room was small (what they call as suit) and had non-functioning air-conditioner, non working internet connection, dirty tea cattle, and water purifier with thick layers of scaling. This manager told us that air-conditioner will not be repaired today and we will have to stay in cold room. He had no replacements for other items which were dirty or worn out. I had to immediately call a few hotels and make alternative arrangements for our stay. Within few minutes we came down with our entire luggage and left this hotel after going through one of the worst experience of our life.

A detailed letter was written to the general manager of this hotel on my return and in spite of several reminders, I never heard back from them. Visitors to London, if you want personal safety and want to avoid abusive language and threatening managers then please avoid this hotel.

http://www.visitorreview.com/visitbritain/England/LaSuiteExecutiveHotelLondon

School Farm Barn, Suffolk

Visit Britain Four Stars

This was a desperately needed recuperation trip. My first weekend away from family in 10 years.We booked The School Farm Barn on Last Minute.com as it sounded luxurious and restful. 4 stars from my experience is meant to mean in simple words high quality.

The 2 nights accomodation cost us £390 for a twin room and 2 spa treatments to be booked on our arrival.

4 or 5 days prior to arriving I received a phone call about the treatments saying we had to take these on the first day (arrival day) and they had to be one after the other. This, I stated was not as per our booking and did not suit us. I explained that this was to be a "healing" weekend and our first away a friends. If the treatments were to be together on arrival this would not suit and we would find alternative accomodation. I was then told they would get back to me, which they did. And... the result was that everything was sorted and that they would keep all available slots over the weekend for us.

On arrival we were told our treatments were at 4.30 that day and they had to be together, I was told that I had agreed to this to my shock as I had been very specific... This was not as we booked. We were shocked. When we asked for a refund for the second treatment we were told that this was not possible.

Everything about the booking was a scam.

The accomodation consisted of 2 single beds which were, in fact, cheap bunk beds split. "Relaxing aromatherapy toiletries made locally and using the best natural products and blends" - this consisted of a tiny piece of soap one inch long that had been cut with a knife for ecomony. There were absolutely no other toiletries and this tiny bit of soap was for 2 people. On our booking confirmation we were told everything was supplied so we didn't bring shampoos, shower gels, soaps etc.
To add to this there was no hot water so showering was difficult to say the least.
The room was cold when we arrived.
The lady made minimum contact with us during our visit. She was cold and brittle.
The gentleman I will say was warm and very much included us. He made us welcome and if it wasn't for him I would have packed my bags and gone home. We made the decision to make the best of a bad situation and laughed our way through this place calling it our "hostle", which as a good word to describe the place. We just do not want anyone to experience this place like we had to.
The money we paid was definitely 4 star £390 for 2 nights for 2 people.
The accomodation was definitely 1 star and should be classed as so.
On departure the lady said to me "I'm glad everything worked out in the end". Well at no point did she try to assist us, she was only interested in our money and if we hadn't paid in advance we would not have paid for this and "no, it was not sorted at any point.". At no point throughout the weekend did she try to make things better even though she know we were very unhappy.

http://www.visitorreview.com/visitbritain/England/SchoolFarmBarnPentlowSuffol...

The Most Horrific Reviews on Trip Advisor - THOSE WITH A WEAK STOMACH BEWARE!

How can any of these hotels respond to these reviews? They can't really and probably don't even know they, (or probably even the internet) exist...

 

The Continental Hotel, London

Entered the building to an awful smell that i cant even describe and a man walking around looking like he just left a mental home! As you walk up the stairs you get the smell of a sewage and in every corner of the hallway there are bags of rubbish!

We had a family room for four people. There were four beds, a TV (which didnt work). The carpet was not hoovered with tissue on the floor. The curtain rail was hanging off the wall and the net curtain half falling off and looked like it had NEVER been cleaned! The toilet and shower was brown and had limescale all over it. We moved the bed-side cabinet to hold the toilet door closed to keep the smell of sewage out of the room.

We even had to run over to Mcdonalds to use their toilet as we didnt want to use the one in the room. After our night out we returned to the hotel and slept in our clothes as didnt want to touch the bed sheets. Insted of using the pillows which had stains on, we used our coats. We had a family room which supposed to be for four people but we couldnt even all stand up at the same time as it was so small. 

Overall it was a terrible experience and in future we will be booking into well known hotels.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186338-d1119551-Reviews-The_Continental_Hotel-London_England.html

 

 

Hillhead Hotel, Glasgow

Well, where do I start.
I booked for a double room with en suite, and what I got was a room with a shower door that didn't open fully, a hole in the floor next to the door, 2 out of 3 bulbs were out on the ceiling light, a bed that looked more like a slightly larger single bed, dirty carpet, broken chair, crap little tv with poor reception, a kettle with a lead far too short and could cause a serious hazard, and the ultimate in bad hygiene - a sink not in the tiny 'en suite' but in the bedroom.
When it was time for breakfast, I asked for my scrambled eggs slightly under done, it was micro waved to a dry substance only resembling clumps of sand. The bacon was cheap cuts, baked beans were cheap and few, toast was that cheap budget price bread with no taste and nutrient value.
I should have checked this site out first, but like a fool I looked at the highly impressive photo gallery - again a big laugh on that front, because a wide angle lense can make a matchbox look like a football stadium. 
I positively and highly recommend you stay in a shop doorway than stay in this hotel, and I am not joking either. I payed £56 for one night in hell - never again!!

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186534-d210864-r21688935-Hillhead_Hotel-Glasgow_Scotland.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

 

DonnyBrook Lodge, Dublin

Fawlty Towers didn't have a look in! Sausage, egg and beans for breakfast EVERY morning. We were looked at with disgust if we mentioned bacon. The toast was regularly burnt and you could hear them scraping it off before they brought it out. The place would have fallen apart if it was to receive a good clean! One bath towel each, no hand towels, no shower mat. The cheapest loo roll in town, if you're looking for value for money, camp in the local park, do anything but stay here, another thing, they make you pay in full on arrival, so you cannot get your money back. The photo's make it look great, but don't be fooled, it must be someone else's place! The only good thing about DonnyBrook Lodge was the road out...........

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186605-d288123-r34110309-Donnybrook_Lodge-Dublin_County_Dublin.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

 

Sutherland Hotel, Newquay

Put it this way, I wouldn't let my cat stay here, we only stayed one night. When we got there we went to the bar to book our room, £25 per person per night, which we thought wasnt bad. We went up and found the bar area which looked nice, leather couches etc, looked inviting, we were given room one. When I opened the door I was greeted by a smell of extremely cheap perfume, it smelt like someone had sprayed the whole bottle, made me feel sick, then I stepped in a hole on the floor, very nice. The walls were a pink colour that looked like they hadn't been re-done in 30 years. The bathroom was green, but the linoleum didnt fit the floor properly and guess wot, there was another hole. I found three altogether, the wallpaper was patched up with different patterns then painted over, the curtains wern't hanging properly and our room looked over a derelict building. Then there was the bed, there was only one very skinny pillow each, I had to fold mine over, but the worst part of it all was that the bed was broken!! The base was completely knackered!! It felt like you were sleeping upside down and the duvet was very thin, didnt keep me warm at all, this place should be SHUT DOWN or taken over to fix it up and bring it up to date.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186239-d253127-r44703771-The_Sutherland_Hotel-Newquay_Cornwall_England.html#REVIEWS

 

Hotel Roma/Roker Blackpool

Well, where do I start? I booked this hotel before reading the reviews on here and I have to admit I was a bit cautious when I finally did check out what people were saying about this 'hotel.' We went to Blackpool for the Easter bank holiday weekend and needless to say all we wanted was a place to crash after a long day exploring the sites. The Roma/Roker hotel is situated on the new south shore area of Blackpool (about five minutes from the entrance of Pleasure Beach) and although I was skeptical after reading what people were saying on this, I decided to grit my teeth and hope things wern't going to be too bad. Oh how wrong! 

Upon arrival at about 9pm we were greeted by an Italian man (who I presume was the owner) who took our details and confirmed them with the booking I had made (£59 for the night for 2 people.) Only problem was he hadn't actually book us in. To top this off he told me to place my debit card into a card reader so he could charge me again! Luckily I had withdrawn all of the money on my card so there was nothing there to take away. After a much heated discussion on why he had charged us but not booked us in, he said he would 'take our word for it' that we had booked and he let us have the keys to our room, but not before ordering me to call my bank, so he could confirm that he had taken money out and added it to his funds!

The room itself was bog-standard and very dated. The bathroom was nice but the sleeping area was dirty and there was a greasy hair in the tea/coffee tray. The bed had a strange red stain on it and there were leaflets and brochures from 2004 inside the drawers. The TV was tiny and wasn't even worth the bother trying to figure out how to use it. To top this off the hotel was crowded with rowdy tourists shouting long into the night. One even got locked out of his room (which was next to ours) and kept shouting obsceneties down the phone. He then kept knocking on our door trying to get in. Never have I felt afraid to stay in a hotel! 

Needless to say we left early the next money after another encounter with the manager. He reminded us to call the bank otherwise he would charge us again (the cheek!) The next day he called us and said he was sorry but he had booked us in but with the wrong surname, so basically we went through all that trouble for nothing! Oh and by the way this hotel may be called the Roker but on the signs in the hotel it says Roma. Talk about lazyness. HORRIBLE place. AVOID!

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186332-d662115-r68659358-Hotel_Roma-Blackpool_Lancashire_England.html#REVIEWS

 

 

Here's my nice Trip Advisor review of The Moor of Rannoch - The most Remote B&B in Britain.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g1077016-d507332-r70000429-Moor_of_Rannoch_Hotel-Kinloch_Rannoch_Perth_and_Kinross_Scotland.html#UR70000429

 

 

 

 

 

One Burnt Breakfast And Your Reputation Will Be Ruined In Seconds

One of my last posts about Trip Advisor taking over the accreditation system prompted a comment by a company called Eezeer. They have a mobile review application, which is something you need to watch out for.

It's one of the many 'NOW' applications floating around on mobile phones that are set to change the way in which the world interacts. Instead of waiting 'til guests get home to write a review, they simply upload a picture from their phone, write a few words and off it goes out in 'Real Time' on a Twitter like feed on the Eezeer network. 

If you are in the hospitality industry and plan on increasing profit margins by providing inferior food or service, then you better watch out because consumer finger tip power is to become very frightening. 

Eezeer's main goal is to keep an eye on the airline market in America, where more use of wireless networks is allowed on flights. One simply takes a pic of the appalling nosh served on flight and send it out, telling others not to fly with said airline.

These kind of products will soon be common place and within two years' time I predict that if your sausages are burnt or your eggs too runny then within seconds they'll be subject to worldwide incrimination. It's just Trip Advisor on the move really, but the cool bit is that reviewers are monitored by GPS, so have to be in the place they are reviewing. This will cut down on fake reviews as rival B&Bs and hotels will have to come and stand outside your gaff to tell everyone how bad you are.

As a forward planning traveller 'NOW' reviews are far more appealing. If someone writes their feelings about service there and then it is far more likely to give an accurate account of their feelings of the situation and will be more interesting. I know the reason that I don't write Trip Advisor reviews is that I don't always have a clear recollection of everything that happened when I'm at home and my mood generally becomes far more forgiving after the holiday.

When 'NOW' reviews combine with 'NOW' accommodation decisions, that's when things will become even more interesting.  

Planning ahead for accommodation for people, especially in cities will soon be obsolete. Here's a little scenario for you of a city traveller's movements:

You, the future traveller arrive at a city, ready to stay anywhere you fancy. You look on your phone on your Eezeer (or any other similar) network and find the most recent/live reviews of hotels in that city.You choose one based on the best reviews and value for money. You then book the stay on your phone, just by a click, because your phone automatically links to your cc details. 

You find the hotel via GPS and check in by putting your phone through an electronic scanner (like the ones at Tesco, lol). 

You feel satisfied with your stay and are grateful to those reviewers that helped your booking decision so are obliged to write a review of your stay over breakfast and repeat the process again. 

God help your hotel if your beans are burnt.