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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Family friendly hotel

58 replies

beachesforme · 07/02/2011 13:00

to complain.............. we have just arrived home from a family friendly chain hotel in london.

the spacious family room we booked turned out to be the usual bed for us but our DD bed was on the floor under the window right next to our bed DH had to climb across me to get out!

we stayed for two nights but the sheets were not changed.

Has anyone else had this?

OP posts:
Original poster
beachesforme · 07/02/2011 13:59

no it was like they had taken two base cushions fron a cair and put them on the floor and crurled the duvet around them.

like you would do at home if you had an unexpected guest

OP posts:
Myleetlepony · 07/02/2011 13:59

I help to run an AA4* B+B. We change sheets and towels on every 4th day and have never had any complaints about that. In between, there is a notice in the bathroom asking that towels needing changing be put in the shower tray.

Original poster
beachesforme · 07/02/2011 14:00

sorry chair and curled were the words i was looking for!

OP posts:
ViolaTricolor · 07/02/2011 14:02

Hmm that does sound like panicky improvisation -- even the pull-out bed things in family rooms are not like that. Sheet-changing and noise are a different business.

slhilly · 07/02/2011 14:03

Beachsforme, what you describe re the bed is unacceptable. As I say, it won't help your daughter, but I would write to complain to the manager and cc the complaint into Whitbread Group (which owns them). Your daughter should have had a proper bed, or it should have been made clear to you in advance that this wasn't going to be the case.

But for her sake, I think focusing on the cinema trip would be worthwhile...

MorticiaAddams · 07/02/2011 14:05

No DD was crying as she was sleeping on the floor

Why didn't you take her into your bed or one of you swap with her if she was that upset?

Emmanana · 07/02/2011 14:05

Don't book through one of the chains websites. Instead, book through an agency who will block book 20 rooms at a discount, and will be cheaper. I always use www.superbreak.com (based in Yorkshire I think) Recommended them to a friend from abroad, who paid £60 a night for a hotel just off Oxford Street. I went to meet them, and the hotel was clean and spacious. Think they also do packages with theatre/concert/london Eye tickets, which again they bulk buy, so cheaper.

everythingchangeseverything · 07/02/2011 14:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MorticiaAddams · 07/02/2011 14:06

no it was like they had taken two base cushions fron a cair and put them on the floor and crurled the duvet around them.

Didn't you complain at the time?

slhilly · 07/02/2011 14:06

Based on what you've said here, I'd compare what you had with what the promise was on the website:
"Family friendly.

We?re great fun for kids and great value for parents. We offer spacious family rooms at no extra cost and under 16s can stay and eat breakfast for free. Stay with us from just £29 a night and see why we were awarded the Tommy?s Parent Friendly Award for Best Family Travel Facilities in 2007 and 2008.

Every family room has a double bed and two comfy pull out beds or sofa beds. You can get cots for babies too and don?t forget that under 16s stay for free..."

I've bolded the relevant bits. It sounds like they stuck you in a standard room and hoped you wouldn't make a fuss.

MorticiaAddams · 07/02/2011 14:08

Thank you Emmanana you've just given me an idea. Nothing at all related to this but solving something I was a bit pissed off about. Smile

DrNortherner · 07/02/2011 14:10

You should have complained about the childs bed there and then. It is not acceptable she didn't ahve a bed.

I am going to disagree with Emmanana and say always book direct with the hotel if you can afford it. 3rd party agencies cahrge huge commissions to hotels and you are more likeley to get allocated a last let room.

GloriaSmut · 07/02/2011 14:13

I can't imagine why you thought Hammersmith would be some sort of oasis of calm. Or that a Premier Inn would be like the Ritz. I realise that £215 is quite a lot of money but London is expensive and noisy. Like most capital cities!

Also, why was your DD sleeping on the floor? In your OP you said she had a bed.

GloriaSmut · 07/02/2011 14:15

Just read your description of the "bed" and while hindsight is a wonderful thing, I'm afraid I would have complained as soon as I saw this excuse for a bed. By putting up with the arrangements for 2 days you've made the job of complaining rather harder.

COCKadoodledooo · 07/02/2011 14:21

So did she have a bed (even a pull-out/put-you-up one) or didn't she?

When we stayed at Premier Inn Southwark, ds (then 4) was on the sofa bed. Huge adventure for him, he loved it. I suspect though that had I been unhappy with that situation I could have easily projected it onto him and he could have been upset. Just a thought.

If it wasn't a bed, but just the cushions on the floor, then by all means complain. I would have thought you would get a better response had you complained at the time though.

Original poster
beachesforme · 07/02/2011 14:35

Dh went down stairs to complain but another room had just been burgled so we left it .

OP posts:
curlymama · 07/02/2011 14:39

YABU, it's a Premier Inn, not a 5* hotel. If you weren't happy with the bed, you should have complained while you were there, they are usually quite good for what they are.

Dh and I have stayed in loads of Premier Inns, I'm always quite impressed that they are almost identical no matter where they are!

Have yet to find a room for £29, and we have tried in our bored moments. But we have been given money back before with the sleep guarantee thing. They weren't exactly happy about it, but there was a group of us, so about 5 or 6 rooms with alot of money to give back, and the heating wasn't working properly so we were all freezing.

lessnarkypuffin · 07/02/2011 14:41

Er, you didn't know the hotel was in the centre when you booked it?????

"Dh went down stairs to complain but another room had just been burgled so we left it"
Why?????

The sheets complaint is ridiculous, the noise is due to location which you didn't bother to check. The 'bed' for your DD was a perfectly reasonable thing to complain about and you decided not to bother.

I can't understand why, as you spent a lot of cash, you seem to have done no research and then when you had a legitimate complaint not actually complained for two nights.

Rindercella · 07/02/2011 14:46

I think you should put your complaint in writing.

Please, do not complain about the sheets not being changed on the 2nd day - they won't take any of your complaint seriously if you do. But state the Premier Inn family policy from their website, as highlighted by slhilly and then state why your stay fell way short of the expectation set by them. Room too small to accomodate all three of you, cobbled together bed, etc.

Say you were very disappointed with your stay and that you hope they look into the issues raised and to contact you to let you know what they intend to do about it.

Original poster
beachesforme · 07/02/2011 15:01

Thank you all we will complain we are not very good at doing it in person and DH thought that us getting out and about was better than waiting in reception

OP posts:
FindingStuffToChuckOut · 07/02/2011 15:59

Oh that is just down the road - not been inside but Hammersmith is not what I would describe as 'family friendly' for a weekend visit to London by any means.

Sorry you had a crappy weekend (agree with others re not changing sheets being v normal)

oopslateagain · 07/02/2011 17:04

Not the best way to celebrate your dd's birthday, and I'm sorry she was upset about it. But at 6yo our dd wouldn't have been upset about the bed or the room unless WE made a point of it.

I'd have been privately seething, and yes I would have complained. But in front of dd I would have made it out to be a Big Adventure, ooh look at the lovely little bed, how exciting to be in London, and dd would have thought it was the bees knees. If I'd thrown a strop and been upset about the room and moaning, dd would pick up on it and would have been upset too.

So yes, you should definitely complain about the room as they did NOT give you what you had booked. But I do think your dd would have had a nice time if you had handled it differently.

COCKadoodledooo · 07/02/2011 17:19

That's the point I was rying to mae too oops.

COCKadoodledooo · 07/02/2011 17:22

make Hmm

COCKadoodledooo · 07/02/2011 17:23

Gah! Must stop chiddlers playing on laptop! Trying.

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