Last week, stayed with this hotel chain in Plymouth. The state of the entrance hall throughout our four day stay should have been enough warning of what was to come.
Having booked an “accessible” room six months earlier, the reality was somewhat a surprise. The crotch-level bathroom basin was low enough for anyone using a wheelchair and there were grab rails galore for getting on and off the loo. The problem with that loo was that it didn’t flush properly throughout. The staff tried to get it fixed without success. The sous-chef had to stand-by with the waste bin full of water to do the sluicing! Bet he couldn’t have done that with his eyes shut!
The bath would probably have been beyond anyone with mobility challenges. And quite tricky for a blind person too: Wet and slippery, standing in a very narrow bath, static wrapping the shower curtain around me and, in error, pulling the emergency cord! Thank goodness that sous-chef was on hand to steer and support me through that long drop to the floor (and answered the staff rushing to discover the emergency!) .
Meals were equal “fun”. Imagine a Bank Holiday weekend in the West Country in a hotel alongside numerous fishing boats but you are greeted with the announcement that there’s no fish and various other meals are off! Even at breakfast, there was no butter but just sunflower spread! Even the machine to make hot chocolate wasn’t working. Every surface was sticky (even the mug). And, to the sous-chef’s horror, even those restaurant loos hadn’t been cleaned!
Actually, I was incredibly lucky to even get to the restaurant. It was a long walk from the accommodation across a car park treacherous with steep slopes and holes in the tarmac. I couldn’t have made it without help. And did I mention that they wanted to charge for disabled parking?
In the old days, like many other business people, I used this chain all over the country when I was travelling solo: plain, simple, good value and good service. It’s all changed and there’s no way I could use them alone in the future. There seemed to be little or no understanding of the Equality Act legal duties , accessibility, reasonable adjustments or discrimination despite it being in force for nearly 16 years! The staff were doing their best but where was the management, the adequate design, the maintenance and legal compliance? Perhaps if you are a CEO receiving some £3.1m annual “compensation”, you have other priorities?
We tried to complain under their “good night guarantee” scheme but, of course, no response! The Trust Pilot reviews are awful.
