Hotel room difficulties

[Gizlotsmum]

So have spent a lovely day at legoland curtesy of a voucher we got for a Christmas present which also included an over night stay in a hotel. Pre booked this, confirmed it was a family room and the ages of the children over a month ago. Arrive this evening about 7:30 and get room. It is not made up as a family room and certainly doesn't match their description of the family rooms on their website. Staff very apologetic. Finally get two kids beds and bedding ( took 3 attempts) at 8:45. Lots of apologies but can't refund as a voucher. Can talk to manager in the morning. What should I be asking for? Anything? Feel like even a token amount would be nice. Or do I contact the voucher company and feedback to them? It wasn't cheap for the people who gifted it to us and although it hasn't ruined the day it hasn't ended it well either.

[IllBeAtTheSpa]

Hi op not a brill start to your trip!
I handle customer relations but not for legoland sadly!!

If I was looking at your situation I wouldn't look to reimburse the costs of the hotel stay or park access as you still benefit from them BUT it's been massively inconvenient that the bedroom wasn't as advertised caused you distress and overall can say it's affected your experience.

Have you already accessed the park? If not I'd be asking for food vouchers/speedy passes for rides/or such. If you have already made use of the park I'd be asking for a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience caused by the room not being right. This could be financial but they will have guidelines for how much they can offer there and you may need to pass your complaint onto "head office"

Maybe suggest that some time of merlin discount voucher for another attraction you could use du ring the summer etc would be a nice idea?

[honeyroar]

If breakfast isn't included they would usually offer you a free breakfast as an apology (I'm cabin crew and this seems pretty standard service recovery at most hotels).

[SnowiestMountain]

I worked in a hotel for many many years, if you're on a voucher it is a total pain to refund money off your accommodation and really complicated to do, ask for something they can take off 'easily' instead, dinner/drinks/breakfast whatever, DO NOT under any circumstances do anything ridiculous like threatening trip advisor, you will massively piss them off and they will likely not do anything!

Be nice, ask for something simple and I'd say there's a 99% chance you'll get it, to be quite honest, they'll just want to make you & your problem go away!

[Gizlotsmum]

The hotel is not a legoland hotel. It's a deal through virgin vouchers. If we didn't live over 2.5 hours away and hadn't promised the kids a second day in the park I would have told them to stuff it after they first came round with dirty, uncovered bedding.

[SnowiestMountain]

'An unacceptable level of inconvenience' is a good phrase!

[Gizlotsmum]

Breakfast is included and we haven't eaten here :(

[Namechangetempissue]

Yes to the free breakfasts or perhaps a couple of free tickets for another time?

[RandomMess]

Is it part of a chain?

[IllBeAtTheSpa]

Ah so it's not legoland hotel... Sorry I wrongly assumed

So the issue is purely with the hotel/Virgin vouchers.

Complain to the manager in the morning about the "unacceptable level of inconvenience" I would then complain to virgin vouchers about the poor standard of their provider and how that impacts the overall experience

[Gizlotsmum]

Thank you. The staff were very apologetic and I wasn't too grumpy. Although they could tell I wasn't happy!

[LouHotel]

If its part of a chain such as Holiday Inn/IHG or Hilton you could ask for reward points around 10,000. These can then be used for either love2shop vouchers online or a free stay somewhere else.

[Gizlotsmum]

No it seems to be an independent hotel..

[LouHotel]

You can go back to Virgin to complain and they should work as a mediator with the hotel. Guests do this via booking.com, expedia ect so it is doable but as it was a gift might be slightly awkward for the person who paid for it.

From a hotel point of view I would have offered complimentary dinner and free parking with a late checkout to make up for the late night.

[Gizlotsmum]

I think they would have done the dinner thing but we had already eaten and just wanted to get the kids to bed (5 yr old was awake at 4 asking when we were leaving!) and we are going back to the park tomorrow so want an early start ( which I know isn't the hotels fault and stops it being a quick fix)

[Gizlotsmum]

Luckily it was my family that paid for it ( my mum will be the most upset by it) but I suspect it was my sister who did the actual purchasing so my mum might never need to know!