Bad Hotel Experience Made Worse By Poor Manager Response

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“The customer is always right.”

Of course, that isn’t always true. The customer may be mistaken. Or have unreasonable expectations. Or inappropriate behavior. There’s a myriad of situations where the customer is not necessarily right.

But many times they are.

Either way, if someone owns a business, or is the person in charge of a location, one would hope they have the training and/or personality to deal with complaints, whether they’re based in reality or not, appropriately.

But that too doesn’t always happen. They may get defensive too quickly. Or have a hot temper. Maybe they happened to catch the complaint at a bad moment or on a bad day. Or maybe they’ve been at it for so long that they just don’t care anymore and have “no more effs to give.”

Whatever the case, there are some businesses where “reviews count.” Hotels can be one of them. If people are doing their homework before booking a hotel, they’re going to look at reviews from people who have stayed there in the past. And if they’re smart, they may look at management’s response to those complaints. After all, just as you don’t want to stay in a hotel that consistently gets crap reviews, you also don’t want to stay in one where, if you have a problem, management isn’t going to be helpful.

Because of its age, size and the fact that people know the name, TripAdvisor is one of those places people tend to go to for research. True, the site has its pros and its cons and you do have to take each review with a grain of salt (here are some important things to consider when looking at reviews on the site). However, it’s an excellent way to see management’s response to complaints (even the crazy ones LOL).

Here are some examples of complaints on TripAdvisor where the hotel managers’ responses to 1-star reviews were NOT the way to entice more people to come to their establishment.

The Grand Ash, Wales

Review, as written by gillm1969

I ended up here for one with my grand daughter after a mix up with my original booking at another hotel. We got there and the door was locked so had to be let in by a scruffy looking man. Room was small carpet misisng round bedside cabinet. Windows and curtains were filthy. Duvet cover was more like a king size on a small double. The room felt dirty and uncomfortable. We went down for breakfast and the waitresses were the best part of our stay, very friendly and polite. Breakfast was less than substantial. There was a table near ours with 2 untidy looking men sat at ir. After 10 mins another 4 or 5 men joined the table all of which were untidy and unkempt, ine of the men kept staring at myself and my grand daughter which was extremely uncomfortable. The place was more like a hostel for wrongens. Couldnt get out fast enough we almost ran out the door. NEVER AGAIN.

Response from Grandashhotel, General Manager at The Grand Ash (if you look at all of the hotel’s 1-star reviews [and there are several], you’ll see this guy is always on the offensive and very sarcastic)

First of all let me say I find your comments extremely rude and totally unacceptable, you make assumptions that are as inaccurate and inappropriate as your usage of the English language, rancid for example is normally associated with fats & oils, how you can end up somewhere is a bit of a mystery since you had and made a choice, this isn’t Venice we don’t stand at the door and drag you in, well we certainly wouldn’t have done in your case, you didn’t do bad though, £45 for two persons in a double room!

You go on (and on) to make wholly unjustified comments about anyone and anything around you, from the man who(regrettably) let you in, who you instantly describe in a deplorable way, our other guests, most of whom were owners of their own business’s who you accuse of being unkept and untidy, although not wearing dinner jackets or white ties which incidentally is not a breakfast requirement I thought they certainly didn’t match your disparaging description, I don’t think any of them have been treat to the inside of a hostel for “wrongens” and would find your comments vexatious and totally without merit.

I think you rather flatter yourself at being the object of their interest, they for the most part, with the exception of one, whose forthcoming wedding they were celebrating are all spoken for. Which leads me to your inane comments about curtains, which I have inspected and are certainly not filthy, the carpet square missing was because the bedside tables had been replaced in the wrong room, but hardly a capital case, finally the duvet cover, we do not possess any king size bedding so again a mundane comment about nothing, do you enjoy all this, or is it just to pass the time?

Which leads me to the final insult, because I do find most of this diatribe deeply insulting, this relates to your comment about the breakfast which I find particularly irksome, so for the benefit of my many admirers on this organ for the disenchanted let me elaborate on our gastronomical extravaganza of a breakfeast ( I make no excuse for word invention, if you can do it so can I) you are welcomed by a charming waitress, who will brief you on our more than substantial offering, toast (brown or white) apple or orange juice, yoghurts, grapefruit, prunes, croissants, pains au chocolat, Kelloggs cornflakes, muesli ,porridge (oats), cooked ham , cheese slices, tea, coffee or hot chocolate, bacon, egg, sausage, beans & tomato. Pity I didn’t know of your intention to run out of the hotel, I would have gladly opened the door for you! I have had a word with the man who opened the door, he assures me he wont make that mistake again.

The Georgian House, Scotland

Review, as written by Frenk11, from Amsterdam:

As we frequently visit Glasgow, we stayed in various guest houses in the West End. The location of The Georgian House is great. It is just of Byres Road and thus on a great location for a good night out.

Apart from the location, there is absolutely no positive remark we can make about The Georgian House. We booked a room for 2 nights at a rate of 75 GBP a night for two persons. Upon arrival at the hotel we did not get welcomed at all, but were directed straight to the payment terminal by the hotel manager.

After we paid for 2 nights we were directed to the top floor of the hotel (if I recall correctly room 8). What a dirty and grotty this room was; it looked like it has never been cleaned at all: piss stains on the bathroom floor (I kid you not, see the pictures!), holes in the bathroom floor and dirty marks everywhere. Furthermore, although the room was on the main drag (which is Great Western Road; a very busy street) the windows simply did not shut (see pictures). You will therefore be kept awake all night by traffic noises etcetera.

The room did not get cleaned at all during our stay (which is not really a surprise as they do not seem to bother cleaning at all) and we did not get clean towels.

We do not recommend anybody to stay at The Georgian House. There are many other great hotels in the surroundings of The Georgian House that are better (and mostly cheaper as well)!

Response from georgianhouse1000, Owner at The Georgian House:

With only one person to look after the place what do you expect. Think about what you paid.

Note: I discovered that a hotel manager at the Georgian House was fired for posting rude responses to critical reviews on TripAdvisor. I don’t know if it’s the same person who responded to the above complaint.

Deadwood Miners Hotel, Deadwood, SD

Review, as written by Guest55334, from Gaylord, Minnesota

Last room to check into that night, due to Priceline policy we recieved the worst room. Room stunk of smoke, hotel stated they were full and couldn’t do anything about it. Room was immediately off the parking lot, next to the office. There was noise from foot traffic, car traffic/starting and loud conversations outside the room, so that it was impossible to sleep past 6 am. Really annoying after a late night on the town. And the room itself had a air A/C system that sounded like a little kid banging on a steel kettle all night long. I should have saved my money and slept on the sidewalk and paid a bum to bang a steel kettle all night long. At least it would not have that smoke smell.

Staff was generally rude as well and when pressed for answers, claimed it was a long day and gave vague answers. Worst of the worst in Deadwood, beware!

Response from BWHH_Hotel, General Manager at Deadwood Miners Hotel (if you look at the multiple 1-star reviews of this hotel, you’ll see the managers’ responses are all the same passive-aggressive tone):

I’m sorry that you didn’t receive the service that you expected. When I spoke with you the first time, I was under the impression that you were mad at your husband for dead-bolting you out of the room for hours. I did ask you if there was anything that we could do and you yelled, “NO!” as you were walking to your car to leave him. It is possible that you felt we were rude when we asked that you and your husband to leave the women’s restroom in our casino, as we had ladies waiting to use it, I appologize for that. Please feel free to contact me directly at (605) 578-1611. We appreciate all opportunities to better our property!

Broadway Hotel, Blackpool, England

We can’t show or link to the complaint of this last one because no longer available on TripAdvisor. But the one-star review from a couple said the place was a “FILTHY, DIRTY ROTTEN STINKING HOVEL RUN BY MUPPETS!” The guests decided to stay at the hotel in question because it was advertised to have ‘ample parking,’ which then wasn’t available at the time of their arrival. The guests also said nothing in the room worked, including no hot running water. When hotel staff said it would be taken care of in the morning, it wasn’t.

The hotel didn’t respond on TripAdvisor. However, a few weeks later the couple was charged a £100 ($150) fine by the Broadway Hotel, who reportedly told them it was the hotel’s policy to charge guests who left bad reviews.

Not long afterward, the hotel closed and was for sale. Hopefully they’ve gotten new management 😉

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