"Best" should not be in the title......
Where to start.....
Customer service training is definitely required at this place. Check in was simple enough, though we were stood in front of the desk for a few minutes whilst the lady was doing something in the back. A "I won't be a moment" wouldn't have gone a miss, just to be acknowledged.
We went out after check in, but decided to give the hotel our custom for the evening meal - big mistake. We went down to the empty restaurant at around 7.20pm, went to the bar to ask for a table, to be met with "erm, yes. I can put you in the window, though we are setting up for breakfast" (food was served until 8.30pm). This attitude was delivered to 2 more sets of guests who later arrived after us. Definitely a lot of emphasis of us being an inconvenience.
We ordered drinks and a meal, which arrived fairly promptly, but the food is nothing to write about. My partner ordered 2 extras for his meal that were 1: not there and the second, 4 tiny little slices of mushroom. Absolutely not worth the 75p. The waitress did not charge us for these, but the way she dealt with it could have been met another way. No, "I'm really sorry about that, would you like me to go get them for you", just "i can see he hasn't put them on there so i won't charge you" after been called over - almost like she was aware of the matter beforehand?
One table next to us had been left waiting around 20-25mins to have their order taken, and when it was the waitress left for the evening after stating to the couple that she was leaving at 7.45 that day because it was quiet. So, another waiter was now dealing with tables. Equally as shocking service. He had started taking the third tables order when the chef rang the bell to alert him that meals were ready. He was in the middle of serving the ladies and went "that's the bell for food, I need to stop taking your order and go get it" - at this point, we were just puzzled as to what we were witnessing. So he went to get the food and then went back to take the order.
The table who had been waiting for 25mins for their order to be taken now had their food ready but when it arrived, the woman had no chips on her plate. She asked where they were and the waiter claimed it didn't come with any. At this point i butted in as she had ordered the same as me and the meal absolutely did come with them. He then turned around and said I'd had the last ones (this woman's husband was sat opposite her with fish and chips) - even if they had run out, you explain this to the customer. Basically, the waiter had no idea what he was serving or what should be plated up. Nor did it seem that the chef had a clue. The problem got sorted though, but the level of service was appalling.
Our plates were cleared and we were asked whether we wanted dessert menus. We were so disgusted with the service we declined and sat with our drinks. Once drinks were done, we were trying to get the waiters attention. Back turned to our tables, texting on his phone in the middle of the room, leaning on the side table. Another guest walked in through the front door, he put his phone in his pocket and pulled it straight out again when this guest walked up to his room. Now the waiter was stood (still with his back to us) in the middle of the floor checking his phone, before walking into the kitchen. We finally got to pay the bill and went up.
The next morning, we went down for breakfast. Tables were dirty so we had to wait for one to be cleaned by a disgruntled waitress, who shoved a menu in our face when we sat down. She gave us 5mins before coming over. Full english or continental (ham, cheese and tomato?) There was a cereal bar set up and a bowl with 2 oranges in it. A sign that said Danish pastries and mini muffins that were clearly invisible as they were not there. I asked if i could have the full English, no toms or mushrooms, to be told yes in a typical teen "i can't be bothered with this job" tone. She did not ask us if we wanted tea or coffee, she did not ask if we wanted toast with the breakfast and she did not ask us what option of eggs we wanted with it, as specified on the menu. Again, absolutely appalling service. So much so, that we did not go down for it the second day.
Now for the room. Standard room that was fairly comfy. It did its job but it is a little outdated in places. The main issue we had was the water pressure. The cold water was a trickle which meant having a shower was a nightmare as the minute you turned the hot tap, it completely overpowered the cold and scolded you - an absolute safety hazard as this will cause serious burns. So it was either no shower or a cold shower (cold shower it was). The lack of pressure also meant that flushing the toilet was a pain as you had to wait 5-10mins before the other could then use the toilet and be able to flush it. When we left, we made reception aware of the matter who, again didn't really seem bothered, no apology. Or maybe it was that they've had this complaint more than once, are already aware and are still doing nothing about it?
All in all, we will never be able to recommend this place, nor would it ever be somewhere to return to.
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