Reasonable Room - commercial guests unwelcome...
21/06/2018 Malcolm W, London, United Kingdom
No frills hotel, generally clean with good facilities. The room was in need of a little detailing to keep up the appearance - rusty shower curtain and radiator in the room letting an overall good room... more
No frills hotel, generally clean with good facilities. The room was in need of a little detailing to keep up the appearance - rusty shower curtain and radiator in the room letting an overall good room down.
What let this visit down the most was managements attitude to guests with commercial vehicles. Plenty of notices make it clear that commercial vehicles should be parked in the “far” car park. I found these notices particularly offensive as the hotel does not offer a discount for these guests or any reason why parking should not be on a first come first choice basis. So why would they ask equal guests to suffer the inconvenience of a considerable walk at the end of a busy days work when there are spaces available closer to the entrance? Clearly those “commercial driving” guests are not as welcome as guests in private vehicles who are therefore given priority!
I would suggest that if that is not the type of customer you want to attract, either stop taking their money or make everyone equally welcome.
Apart from the distance away from the building, the area designated for paying guests with commercial vehicles seemed frankly reflective of what the managers think of their “working guests” - somewhere to put the rubbish out of sight.
See pic below with soiled mattresses and other general rubbish dumped in the same area guests are expected to park it showed poor concern for these guests comfort and welfare and creates a terrible 1st impression. The notices are visible on driving in, at reception and also in several areas in the corridors. less
Julian P, Manager at Best Western Andover Hotel, responded to this review
Dear Guest,
Thank you for your most interesting comments and assessment of our hotel.
I am sorry that you felt our notices politely requesting that our contract guests use the lower car park for their Vans and lorry’s safety with the advantage of our full cctv system to watch over the van’s that we know hold expensive equipment and tools in, a practice we have observed for many years with many of our regular contracts that use the hotel some 52 weeks of the year and have done so for many years without issue or worry.
The fact that the hotel deals with a great many commercial guests throughout the year and have many repeat bookings every week I feel is indicative of our commitment to our guests commercial or private and the fact that we offer additional extras to them such as late check outs early afternoon check ins and room arrangements whereby if they are working late and nights that we accommodate them in a quieter part of the hotel so as they get maximum rest and are able to relax while staying with us safe in the knowledge that we have made their stay enjoyable, pleasant, safe and that they return week after week.
The short walk from the carpark to the main building is on check in slightly longer but all our regular repeat bookers know that upon check in they get their key card that indeed opens the door to the hotel building nearest the car park so reducing the short walk to an even shorter walk to their room direct.
The small errors in the room have been rectified and with your observations we would not have been able to move forward with this and we continue to monitor and get better with every passing week that we continually learn from and for that I thank you.
Clearly you can’t satisfy everybody all of the time every time but I do feel that the continuous re-booking from our clients is testimony to how we are viewed and perceived by a great deal of our guest who are booked in up to 6 months rolling with us they are that satisfied with our offering.