AGH horrific hotel - like a train station!!

[pandarific]

Taking the kids to Legoland and combining it with meeting PIL, BIL and SIL and partners for my husband’s birthday and holy god have we booked the worst hotel ever. We thought we’d booked a lovely country estate relaxing type hotel! NOPE

We walked in to reception and it was full of, no kidding, about 50 people, five on the front desks talking at the tops of their voices to queues of people, scores of staff marching around again talking at the tops of their voices and then - I am not exaggerating, hundreds and hundreds of conference going estate agents, because apparently this is a conference centre too but instead of being in a separate area it’s right in the very centre of the hotel. At check in I overhear “no, we don’t do room service”. The volume and busyness of the place is UNREAL - we’d just come from
the airport and that was less manic.

The bedrooms are, no exaggeration, a ten minute walk from reception through VERY BRIGHT NOISY CRAMMED WITH PEOPLE corridors. Why, like?! Why is it like an indoor taxi rank?!? wtfff

Good point 1: Room basic but clean.

We then tried to get food. Reception tell us the restaurant opens at 5 and there is a kids menu. Seven minute walk down horrible corridors awash with now tipsy estate agents is restaurant. Oh no, they say, it opens at 5:30, not 5:00. We wait.

When we get in, it is a buffet, and the many many waiters and waitresses are not allowed to take a drinks order and we must go ourselves to the “bar,” which is not a full bar but has a limited selection of supermarket brands. I offer to trek back through the corridors to the actual bar, FIL says maybe avoid as it’s carnage with pissed event goers. There is no children’s menu available. There is no little kid friendly food in the buffet bar bread rolls and plain broccoli - we argue the staff into providing some chips. The actual food at least is decent - thank god.

Though we’ve been laughing at how crap it is I know my husband and the PIL are gutted, it was intended as a treat for his 40th. Looking at the website I think we all thought oh this looks lovely - we’ll have a nice cosy, quiet, relaxing time, big squashy sofas and roaring fires and maybe a hot whisky… nope 😬

The first line of the website says 45 event spaces and the birds eye view of the place shows it's huge. Definitely not cosy fireside style.

Hopefully theyll all leave early and you can enjoy the rest of the weekend. Massive hotels we're everything is a 10minute walk away are the worst!

Been there once, never returned. Chipped broken tiles in the pool area, kids running riot and drunk parents was my experience (no estate agents or other conference issues) on the up side it was very cheap, comp parking and comp breakfast if you joined their loyalty scheme though this was 7 years ago

In my defence I didn’t have anything to do with the booking!

Ha I’ve been here for a work conference. Definitely not luxury or cosy or relaxing. The whole de vere chain is very corporate focussed. Hopefully you’re not there too long

Oh, I went to look around here with a view to booking it for a conference once. As soon as you mentioned it was near Legoland and your perception of it, I thought it would be this one! I agree with you that it is very, very different from the way it presents itself online, and I was rather surprised when I arrived.

I'm sorry you're not having a good stay, stuff like that is always disappointing. It sounds like you have a nice weekend planned anyway, though, so I hope you manage to salvage it and still have a good time.

Oh yeah de vere look like country hotels but are actually conference venues….. have been to a few courses at these types of places myself. I don’t think it occurred to me the general public could book them tbh!

Yeah De Vere hotels are marketed in a very different way to how they appear… tired and naff

I stayed there in a garden room after going to Ascot it was really nice! Also been there for a work conference but didn’t stay there. It seemed ok to me!

Oh god, no wonder! Shit shit shit shit

It’s also forecast to rain heavily from 9am to 3pm tomorrow, while we’re at bloody Legoland 😬

We booked there years ago for Legoland and I always tell the story of the swimming pool being like a scene from Where’s Wally. Was awful!

Ah, yes. De Vere. I've had the joy of staying at many of them for work. They're always entirely underwhelming and the food never impresses. They are very corporate venues and at the middle to lower end of the scale of those, as well.

Weve stayed here for a.legokand trip last tear and despite the conferences we did have a good time.

there's an M&S food 5 minutes walk from the hotel and a harvester 5 mins away too but you do have to book.

The fix and Castle is a great wee pub with good food and a kids menu.

The breakfast choice at the hotel was pretty decent when we stayed despite being really busy

As I was reading this I knew the hotel you were talking about before I got to the name. Have heard about this place and think I stayed there once. Condolences.

Like other posters I also knew this hotels name before you mentioned it.

Beds are awful there too. Would not return.

I went there years ago on a week’s course and it was lovely, it’s a shame it’s gone downhill. I didn’t stay over so I don’t know what the bedrooms were like.

I also knew which hotel before scrolling down! We stayed there during a weekend when 3 very large weddings were taking place. There were people everywhere. We had EXACTLY the same experience with the buffet restaurant where we were told it opened at 5 only to traipse down there with hungry, tired kids and have to wait for 30 minutes for it to open. Reception staff were the most rude I have ever experienced. They tried to charge us for three rooms when we only booked two and wouldn’t believe me, even when I showed the booking email. When I asked if I could speak to the manager, they refused to come out of their office. Never again!

Yeah, in laws have been talking hopefully about the event being over now… I’ve not mentioned the weddings which I expect will come in to replace them.

i have got to wonder who looks at this place though and goes “perfect it’s got that terminal 5 feel let’s get married here”

Oh mate, you booked a De Vere hotel and expected a nice cosy break? They are fairly low grade conference venues despite outward appearances. My sympathies.

Have strong words with whoever was responsible for booking.

We stayed there when we went to Legoland, and really liked it, but it was the end of August, so no conferences, mid week so no weddings, just lots of families en route to Heathrow or Legoland.

Sounds like you would have had a more relaxing time at the Legoland hotel!

Stayed in a De Vere in Southampton many years ago prior to boarding a.cruise. Wasn’t that impressed especially as I threw up after dinner.

I hate this place. Insult to injury, I can’t even have a nice bath because the water is slightly too cold to actually fill it up and be hot.

And I want a Bloody Mary but they don’t do room service and I don’t know if I have it in me to go all the way to the bar and find out they don’t have tomato juice.

I didn’t know this about De Vere Hotels. They look beautiful, including this one.

I get emails from them all the time but wasn’t sure why. Prompted by this thread I had a look and I think it’s because I stayed in one in Scotland a few times.

Cameron House in Loch Lomond. This seems to be De Vere, but it really is lovely.

I stayed for a wedding last year and for a spa weekend the year before that.