To consider lveaing the following review on trip advisor

[listsandbudgets]

Can't decide whether to or not as hostess was actually very pleasant and I suspect she's a single parent struggling to keep things going. Upset though as we paid a lot of money for this. We won't be returning :(

We booked a last minute break for myself, dp and two DCs. I'd start by saying this is a small b&b and the hostess herself was very friendly and helpful. Also it was a bank holiday which might explain some of the issues.

The room was described as a family suite to sleep 4 and was £XXX. The website stated breakfast was included and that it was possible to buy dinner.

The problems started when we received a phone call at lunch time saying that although the website stated a 4pm in check in it would not be possible to book in until 7.30pm.

By that time were were on our way and knew it would be hard to find another room in a similar location so we rejigged our day and decided to go out to dinner before arriving.

On arrival we were shown our room which turned out to be so small that we could just get the travel cot in at the expense of opening the door all the way. A suite it was not. We had a short but comfortable double bed with a double sofa bed stuffed in at the bottom of it for DD. The hostess made it quite clear that she would have expected the children to share a bed if we'd not had the cot.

The blinds were broken and didn't keep the light out and the tap to the bath was broken making the bath unusable. We were told to use the shower next door - no good with a baby.

Breakfast was good although it turned out that only the continental was included - we found a bill for the cooked breakfast on our table when we came down. We had use of an excellent visitors lounge which was a saving grace as there is no way dp and I could have sat up in the very cramped room after the children had gone to bed.

All in all a disappointing experience for what was described as a luxury suite. Maybe suitable for adults travelling alone if some of the other issues were resolved.

room tip the family suite is a cramped family room

I would have been complaining very loudly at the time and refusing to pay extra for the breakfast. Definitely leave the review.

Thank you all for your views. We did complain but to be honest it fell on almost deaf ears. She made it clear there wasn't another room and we were unable to negotiate a discount. We felt we were in a very embarrassing situation as we were effectively staying in her home. We were going to stay for 3 nights but we cancelled the last 2 nights and come home instead :(

For clarity it said suite which we expected to be a room with at least another small room off it for the children. For the price we expected that at least and that is what the website implied. We would also have expected a bed each for the children. We deliberately spent a lot of money in the expectation of getting a lot for it. Interestingly the various trip advisor reviews implied we would. We didn't. We were not paying travel lodge prices and did not expect travel lodge service.

We've emailed her to let her know how disappointed we were and once we've got her reply we'll consider how to deal with any public reviews.

Feeling bitter and upset that our holiday was ruined before we even arrived. To be honest DP has been working silly hours since January and its only just calmed down so we were all desperate for this break.

Trying to remain rational and unemotional though and probably failing

I'm very sorry to hear that, lists. "Suite", is one of those words like "boutique", "contemporary", "craft", "hand/home-made" and "locally-sourced" that doesn't actually mean anything have a specified definition. They're often a statement of intent at best. Marketing codswallop at worst.

I personally think that a suite should have a separate adjoining room but it has come to include rooms having a separate sitting area which at a push can include merely having a sofa. Which was used for your child. Which is no good at all.

Sorry.

Johnny I always thought I could judge by seniority of reviewer but people now make a living that way. They get a shed load of reviews done to become top contributors then sell their reviews for £££ s at a time. The venues give enough detail such as names of staff etc to make them appear genuine. Alternatively they use it to attack others.

We are ok at the moment 91% recommendations (genuine) but pulled down to page 2 by poor reviews purchased by a competitor.

That's really bad softly

I suppose if you're a hotelier/B&B it's easier to spot the fakes, but if you're a restaurant with 100+ covers on a Saturday night it must be impossible.

I do read the reviews as well - but as you explain they're not all they seem. And some are just barking: Thickos on Tripadvisor

OP you are being very good in giving them a right to reply. I hope something comes of it.

OP I hope my reply didn't come across as that I thought you were being unreasonable? I think you have every right to leave a review true to your experience.

I just meant that personally, I will scroll past very lengthy reviews which have what I consider irrelevant information. For example "I had driven past x hotel many times on my way to my PILs and thought it would be a lovely place to stop over on the 230 mile journey" - I'm always thinking just get to the point - was it good or bad!

I would feel exactly the same as you though - I'd be gutted both at the waste of money and the disappointment in the experience.

Oh and JohnnyBarthes the best review I saw was for a holiday camp/caravan park where the reviewer said one of the staff had taken her teenage daughter out overnight and she was not happy! Although from memory, she seemed equally peed off that the bin hadn't been emptied before arrival or soemthing equally trivial so I was a bit wtf at her priorities!

Softly I've considered that restaurants on TA are where hotels were 5 years ago. The natural listing is so important whereas hotel customers now seem to be a bit more discerning.

It seems to be accepted that the number one hotel, although a considerable achievement, is not by any means the best for everyone, although it is a good indicator of quality, often appear to be lower cost establishments offering limited service. If a hotel is offering a spa and restaurant/bar there are so many elements that can go wrong that a smaller hotel with just breakfast and a limited check-in just does not risk. The best hotels often seem to be way down the list.

In a similar way there do seem to be a lot of cafes, coffee shops and fish and chip shops towards the top of restaurant listings in TA no matter where you go. I've often wondered if the rise of single speciality diners like burgers, ribs, shellfish, hotdogs, breakfast etc is the direct result of this. Tell people exactly what they're going to get before they arrive and they won't leave disappointed. Maybe its the way forward but there are people serving exceptional food with more of a service aspect, and I can't help feeling TA doesn't serve those businesses or their customers well at the moment.

As far as malicious reviews go, there are some, but they stand out and there are others who lie repeatedly about their own hotels often repeating themselvesand their spelling mistakes. I just can't imagine it's much fun having a troupe of people arrive who are expecting one thing from TA and are offered an inferior product, all the while knowing it's incredibly important that they don't then review on TA. I'll stick to honesty for the moment and then I'll start lying like a bandit.

Sounds a reasonable review to me if that's your experience.

I also agree there are some stupid reviews on trip advisor. I had tears rolling down my cheek the other night because someone complained you could see through the bedroom window when the curtains were open. He was incensed that reception had told him that's why they provided thick curtains.

Review sounds very fair and no way would I stay there after reading it.

No response yet. No rush will give it a couple of days.

In the meantime I complained to my friend who told me it could have been worse and directed me to a particular hotel on Trip Advisor. The reviews were terrible but I think this is my favourite. It certainly puts my experience in prespective

___
Finding our room was like walking through a scene in a post-apocalyptic zombie film- Wall paper hanging off, carpets in tatters, dim lighting and the sound of howling wind. Went the wrong way a few times- bumped in to a terrified worker scuttling around in one of the rooms.. Who knows how long he had been here. Luckily he sent us the right direction. Our room looked like it had been involved in one of the many zombie attacks. The door was covered in big scratches, obviously bared witness to a horrific struggle of some sort. Inside, Some streaky yellow stains on the floor, and a big red stain on a chair next to a telephone. Someone couldn't contact help in time.
The furniture was all falling apart- may have been used as a barricade at some point,
Jokes aside.. this place is bad. I mean seriously terrible. I cried myself to sleep

There is a one-star review for an amazing campsite I've been to. The title is something along the lines of "rude staff and hard ground"

It's a fucking campsite. In a forest. The ground Is made of, well, dirt - it's actually reasonably soft compared to campsites which are ontop of old air strips!

Bwahahaha! Love those reviews, lists and who [win]

Bwahahaha! Love those reviews, lists and who

Ha brilliant.

My favourite response from a restaurant owner was to a review that said the inside of the restaurant was too sparse and cheap. It was a generally unfair review.

The response sent via twitter by the owner was "oy the lamp by table 2 is John fucking Lewis, it wasn't even on sale!"

The trouble is, hotel rooms need constant refurbishing to keep on top of the game, because most guests unfortunately do not take care of furnishings or anything in the bedroom whilst staying. I have known a bedspread torn to shreds by wheels on a suitcase after literally coming out of the packaging brand new, just hours before. So when you see torn items and stains in a hotel bedroom remember it is the previous guest that has done this. It will sometimes be very costly to put right so not remedied at once. We own and live in our hotel and our maintenance department never have to carry out work in our own personal accommodation that we ourselves live in..... funny that.

I once fled a guest house in the night, with my children, in a howling storm, with no place else to go.

Well, it was not quite as dramatic as that. It was half term spent in the New Forest. We had got a fab fate for b&b at the Rhinefield (google it!!) £99 for bed and breakfast for each unit (mum plus two kids), and feasted on egg royale and egg benedict for breakfast, steaming jugs of hot chocolate, coffee, etc. Me and the boys wanted to stay on in the New Forest, and he got us a guest house nearby - no availability in Rhinefield.

DH texted me directions, and I drove on, found my turn, into the forest. The rain was pissing down, and the wind was howling, it was dark. I turned left and up a hill, windy roads, pitch dark. Found a hotel, it was not it, but seemed decent enough. I asked for further directions at the hotel, but they had no idea where the guest house was. They said the road was forking further down but it was impossible to see in the dark.

Eventually I found it. A dark big grey colossus of a building. There were no lights on in any of the windows. I rang the bell, and a man opened. I told him my husband had made a reservation. Ah, ok, he said "come in". He took us down a narrow dimly lit corridor. Up a winding creaking staircase, and down another long corridor. He pointed at the bathroom at the other end - to be shared with him and his wife and his mother in law. We had two rooms, with single beds in each. A bare bulb hanging in the ceiling. Patches of damp on the walls. No lock on the doors. I imagined my husband with one child, and me with the other, and then I thought, "I will be too scared to get any sleep here". My boys had gone unusually quiet.

I said "I am sorry, we cannot stay. My sons asthma is triggered by damp, and these rooms are too damp. I really am sorry."

I shudder to think of it still. Maybe it would have been different in daylight, but I was not going to pay £75 per room including breakfast for that. We were lucky that there was a family room up free at the hotel up the hill!

I did not leave a Trip advisor review though!

Sounds a fair and honest review. Id put that up. What stands out for me is they're not providing the service they claim they are, they're taking money under false pretences. & that's not on, at all.

QuintessentiallyQS bloody hell, poor you!! Reading that gave me the creeps

To be honest, it was nerve-wrecking. I am normally quite spineless in such circumstances. I was very impressed with myself that I managed to take that decision and walk out!!

How they can describe themselves as a "guest house" is beyond me. The pictures they had on the website was nothing like what the place was really like. It must have been from 20 years ago!

Quite apt though, when we walked into the village the next day, it was all about magic and witchcraft!