To think the hotel were out of order with valentines stay/room?

[Hotelhorror]

I had a night away booked with my boyfriend on Saturday (the first time we had stayed overnight with each other).

It was a modern hotel with a glass window to the bathroom which was supposed to turn opaque when a button was selected. It was apparent this wasn’t working.

We went downstairs to reception to ask for it to be fixed, receptionist said they’d send someone to take a look. Maintenance man came up and said it was a common issue but he didn’t have the part needed (and wouldn’t have it until midweek) so he accompanied us back to reception again saying they’d give us another room.

The receptionist said there was no alternative rooms available as the hotel was full due to valentines and when this happens, couples have ‘seen it all before so just laugh about it’ and enjoy their stay.

I said this wasn’t acceptable and asked for the manager - who did appear from the back office but basically doubled down and said there was nothing they could do. She did offer us a voucher for a drink each in the bar (really!!) as a ‘goodwill gesture’.

As we had traveled some distance we decided to stay, and used the communal loos in the reception area whenever there was a need (luckily there was no need to in the night).

I found them thoroughly dismissive and am awaiting a response to my formal complaint to head office.

AIBU to find these customer service standards appalling?

Image attached of what I mean (this isn’t mine but from another review of same hotel of people unhappy with the set up)

Just leave a review with this link explaining why

https://www.amazon.co.uk/blackout-sheet/s?k=blackout+sheet

Did you know before you arrived about the glass 'feature' to the bathroom? Just hoping an upcoming booking isn't the same hotel!!

When I saw the first reply I thought ‘oh shit, is that how this thread is going to go?’ Thank goodness there are plenty of other people who, like me, do not want their husband/partner to see them on the bog. And vice versa🤣

If the hotel was full, then that was unfortunate. But they should have been more understanding, rather than making glib remarks. Aside from the fact that it’s perfectly reasonable to want privacy, what if one of you had IBD? Or some other chronic bowel/bladder illness? Or any number of other conditions where privacy is preferred? I would expect much better compensation than a bloody drink. They should give you a partial refund. And they should have some sort of emergency fix they can use if this is a regular occurrence. Like a screen of some description. Terrible customer service.

Whilst their response was crap.

Surely you could have looked the other way when it came to the other person toileting?

I am always totally bamboozled by these types of bathrooms! They could at least put privacy film on so you can’t see in to the bathroom!

How long has this been a thing? and Why???
I'd be expecting a full refund as well as the drinks.
Horrible.

Very romantic🤣

no i wouldnt like it and i go away alot with my dsis what would they say then

My very first thought

I wouldn’t care about wees, those are free game in our house, but I don’t want to make eye contact with someone having a shit, even (especially) when I’m married to them.

I go through hotel reviews and photos with forensic attention to detail in an attempt to avoid these types of rooms. I can tolerate those with a roller blind or shutters that provide privacy but glass toilet doors/cubicles are an abomination no one needs. My favourite type of bathroom has a separate enclosed loo with solid walls and a wooden door, but they are rare. We are sometimes fortunate to book a suite that has a separate 'guest' loo as well as the bathroom (due to DH spending more time in hotels on business trips than he spends at home - loyalty is rewarded)

While it wouldn't bother me personally, I realise that I am unusually comfortable about things like this, and that the vast majority of people would NOT be ok going to the loo in front of their partner.

And regardless of whether you are or not, you paid for something they didn't deliver. And a couple of drinks in the bar really isn't decent compensation.

I'd expect another free night's stay for this. Good luck.

ah Village hotels! First time I've seen a bathroom like that in one but don't expect a response if you raise a complaint.

Wouldn't be happy with this. Been with my OH for coming up 30 years. Fine with seeing each other having a shower and a slash. I certainly don’t want to be in view when taking a shit.

Can't believe there are so many people comfortable with using the toilet in front of their partner! Or even asking him to 'look the other way'. I'd be mortified.

On a weekend break, lots of sex, but 'first, darling, can you look away while I poo?' Oh my god.

Tbf to the hotel, if they were full they couldn't give you a new room, but a free drink and 'nothing they haven't seen before' isn't enough.

I've been married for over a decade, he's seen me give birth three times, seen me covered in vomit/ baby poo/ blood, seen me showering, and seen me after 4 days without showering. But he has never seen me use the toilet. That day might come, but we'll be very far from sexy weekend breaks if/ when it does.

I feel like the username of the poster at the top of the thread who thinks it ridiculous to be bothered by this is somehow pertinent.

More than one hotel has lost my custom because they have a bath in the room but having a loo that is not completely private is more than minorly off-putting.

She could .... But a first trip away with a new partner, a special Valentine's treat - having to announce you are going for a piss/shit, so your partner can look away while you do so - not really going to get you in the mood, is it?

Yeah, shitting as a spectator sport, how relaxing and romantic.

Eeek - just noticed this is your first weekend away together. The thought of this set up, in that situation, is giving me bodily pain from embarrassment.

Agreed OP, I wouldn't find that acceptable either.

YANBU.

The hotel should have offered a big discount on the current stay (not a future one) and some form of makeshift cover to make a privacy screen for the bathroom. A solid duvet cover or the like, and they should have come in and secured that for you.

And a free meal or similar for the embarrassment. For a receptionist to say "Oh well, couples don't mind" is way out of line and turns YOU into the problem, not their inadequate maintenance. Puts you in the position of sounding like a prude, rather than just wanting absolutely normal privacy.

Drives me crazy - TV remotes that need new batteries is another one. It's just cheapskate maintenance that doesn't check all room amenities at each change over.

Yeah but it needed a new part which they didn't have 🤷‍♂️

You're right to chase it up as they were a bit dismissive.

But it's also quite weird that you both used reception toilets instead of the other one just turning their back to the glass.

Fair enough if you're taking a shit but did you shit every time you went to reception?

I would have got them to tape bin liners to cover the glass (and asked for a bit of a refund).

This was going to be my point. More people than you might guess have bowel issues because, let's face it, who would talk about this to anyone other than their partner?

I was looking for a room to share with my teenage daughter last week and made sure I scoured the reviews for any sign of this because neither of us would want anything other than solid walls and door on the bathroom.

It's a dreadful arrangement and the only time I've stayed somewhere like this was for a solo stay. That's the only time it's acceptable imo.

I’d send another review or email the manager, including some suggestions here like a sheet over it and suggest that since maintenance says it was a common issue, they should have solutions available (shower curtain on suction cups would work well too) and it should not have been dismissed/you are shocked that you had to go downstairs as your only solution.

And I’m saying it as someone who would have been annoyed but not mortified.