Pleasantly surprised
Myself and my wife stayed here on friday just gone to attend an event ran at the hotel. First impressions of the hotel from the outside was disappointment as the building looks a little tired. But whe... more
Myself and my wife stayed here on friday just gone to attend an event ran at the hotel. First impressions of the hotel from the outside was disappointment as the building looks a little tired. But when we went in I have to say I was pleasantly surprised, the reception area and public areas are tastefully decorated and laid out well. We checked in and the staff on the desk were friendly and helpful. We were given a room on the top floor and we had to use the stairs as lift was out of order. And there were quite a few sets of steps to negotiate. Our original room was very nice and tidy except for the overpowering smell of cigarette smoke. This was very off putting as the room was clearly signed with no smoking signs. This questions the smoke detector in the room and the quality control of the cleaning staff why this wasn't picked up. That said when I reported the issue to hotel staff they were very accommodating and switched our room. We originally booked a double and recieved an upgraded room to a suite for no extra cost. This was very good of them to do so. Credit to Lee for his excellent customer service, it is rare to find someone who is enthusiastic about his job and willing to go the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction. I would given the review 5 stars but the breakfast was a bit of a let down to be honest. Firstly they ran out of fresh orange juice, then the cooked food was only warm and went cold before I finished eating. And a full english without black pudding is disappointing.
On the whole I was content with our stay at the hotel. The staff were freindly, courteous and helpful. Thanks goes to Lee and Donna
less
gmroyalclifton, General Manager at Royal Clifton Hotel & Spa, responded to this review
Dear B6311RFdavej,
Thank you for your review.
I am pleased that overall you had a very positive experience.
We are somewhat blessed by an building with beautiful features and very friendly staff.
I was sorry to not the issue with the smokers in the room. The hotel is fully non smoking, and as you allude to there are evident signs in the room. Unfortunately some guest do break the rules on occasions, and where possible we do impose a fine. The smoke detectors are not designed to go off with cigarette smoke, but I can assure you our fire alarm system is fully functional and tested weekly.
Lee is something of a guest service "superstar", and we are lucky to have him. I am pleased, but not surprised, at how well he handled the room move and looked after you.
One of our two lifts is currently out of order and we await parts. I am hoping engineers will be onsite today, having spent some time on it last week establishing the issue. We tried very hard to have it back by the weekend but were unable to as parts needed to be ordered.
I'm a bit disappointed to read about breakfast only being warm and will follow up with Chef.
Thanks again for your comments, for highlighting our friendly team, and I hope to see you back in Southport again soon,
With very best regards,
Alistair