Dodgy Hotel, advice required!

[bluesandtwo]

Hello all,

Last year I booked a hotel to stay the night of my sisters wedding. It's the same hotel as the bride and groom are staying at, along with various family members. I paid the substantial fee for the 1 night in advance over the phone, to secure the reservation. It was agreed that there would be no refund in the event of cancellation, as the first night is deducted and we only booked one night. All ok. Reviews, website etc all seemed fine (a year ago).

In the last week or so, I have seen this hotel mentioned several times on Facebook, with huge threads of people complaining about the hotel management, cleanliness, attitude of staff, basically that the place has majorly gone downhill. Trip advisor seems to prove this, with many 1 star reviews with a copy-pasted apology after them.

I'm just wondering what (if anything) I can do, am I still entitled to a refund if we turn up and it's terrible? I would like to cancel and book somewhere else but that doesn't seem to be feasible without losing the £169.

Thanks in advance!

You agreed to the t&cs. You knew there was no cancellation. So it would be up to the hotel's discretion if you complained whilst there.

I would just go and enjoy myself. Don't be thinking negatively before you go as you will be looking for problems.

Thanks bowser. I'm trying to stay positive, but I can't find a good thing written about the place in the last few months. I know we agreed to T&C's (these are now mysteriously missing from the hotel website, I did check them before booking but that page is "dead" now).

I just wonder if there is recourse if the place is nothing like what was described? We have booked a hot tub suite, apparently all the hot tubs have been broken for a while. The room came with breakfast, but again apparently this is no longer offered as the restaurant shut down after they couldn't pay staff.

Did you book the hotel directly or through a booking site or agent ?
Also when is the hotel booked for I’m assuming soon?
This is a tricky one as it sounds like you agreed terms and it was clear it was no refund for cancellation. If you’re family are all staying there and it’s only 1 night I’d be inclined to suck it up and just check in as planned. If it’s genuinely terrible they may offer you some money back if you ask to leave rather than risk further bad feedback but it’s not guaranteed.
One thing to bear in mind with review sites, is that 1 disgruntled person, who posts and gets others to can really damage a hotels reputation sometimes unfairly. There have even been instances of disgruntled former staff using it as a way to get their own back.
I’m not saying the reviews are not genuine but even if they are it may have been kick up the backside they needed to make improvements.
If you genuinely feel you don’t want to stay and don’t want the stress of potentially having to look for a new hotel last minute then book something else but don’t expect. Refund at this stage.
I’ve worked in travel for many years all be it overseas long haul but the principles are the same .

If they cannot deliver what you have pid for then you may be able to claim the contract has been breeched. Might be worth emailing (or getting your dsis to) to confirm your bookings in writing. If they are in financial difficulty it will not only affect you. However agree you tend to see more negative than positive on likes of trip advisor as people are far more willing to moan than praise.

I thunk it's worth a conversation with them. You booked it in the strength of a hot tub and breakfast now they're not going to meet your expectations.
Would you consider posting a link?

Why not ring up and ask to Forskitt to the manager and express your concerns? Say you have read numerous poor reviews and are concerned for your sister as well as yourself and don't want anything to spoil her wedding night.

Can't hurt, may make them up their game a little and possibly prompt them to offer a bottle of fizz for the newlyweds.

Thanks everyone.

The website is : www.bayswellparkhotel.com

This website is different from the one I booked on. There was no flexible booking option when I booked. Also the photographs and descriptions that were used are now different.

I am well aware of bias re: online reviews (people trying to blackmail hotel owners with trip advisor etc).

However, my doubts were set off by a post on Facebook of an acquaintance who had booked for an anniversary and was told by rude staff there was no alternative to a dirty and run down room with no hot tub, when they had paid for a hot tub suite. They asked to see manager, but he was not there and has not contacted them about their request for a refund, as they refused to stay but the staff said they couldn't issue refunds.

I'm not sure how I would prove if was not what they promised if the original site doesn't exist.

Thanks for your help everyone.

I would email them and ask for confirmation that they can still deliver what you contracted for: hot tub and breakfast.

If they can't confirm this, they have broken the contract and you are entitled to your deposit back.

The plot (sort of) thickens.

I mentioned what I had seen to my parents who are also planning to stay at hotel (I didn't want to tell my sister right now, she has a lot going on already.)

They said that they had heard from a different local source that the hotel had gone into receivership.

Several people have now called trying to confirm this, the desk staff all denying it. No one is able to talk to the management as they are never on site or available, and no contact details can be given out. He is always coming back "in a few days".

Father of the groom called and asked if he could have a list of all the guests the night we are staying, as he thought we had booked all their rooms that night. The receptionist sent him the names and contact detail of EVERYONE that's staying that night (not all are wedding guests).
Can't really believe they did that as it must be a data protection act breach.

Sorry no resolution at the moment!