My husband and I decided 5 days prior to the weekend to head to St Ives, my top 5 choices were all closed including most of those on the Mr and Mrs Smith website for the area. One very kind gentleman from 11 SeaView Terrace (closed) suggested I look at Primrose Valley Hotel. It looked overpriced to me for what it was (quite happy to pay much more than this, but not to be ripped off) but I was down to last choices and so booked the best room in the hotel.
Like other reviews on this site, we had to pay the £100 deposit. We set out from central London on Thursday 9th Feb and when we stopped half way for petrol read the headlines in all the papers that the UK was to brace for extreme weather conditions with ice on the road and temperatures where grit would not work. Admitedly, Cornwall was not to suffer these conditions, but of course we had to drive through these conditions to get there, and also wanted to be able to get back into central London on Saturday. We were also driving a car that was not ideal for snow and/or icy conditions. We decided to postpone our weekend and turn around and go back home. I rang the hotel to explain our situation and ask if they could keep our deposit and move it to another date. The receptionist was perfectly lovely but alluded to a "partner" that she would have to ask. A few hours later the hotel rang back and left a message on my VM, when I rang back a rather rude manager explained to me that the 28 day cancellation policy would apply (don't quite see how when you've only booked 5 days prior) and that we would have to pay 75% of the room (trust me to pick the most expensive one in the hotel). I asked to speak to one of the elusive partners and received an email reply, again telling the same thing about the cancellation policy. I understand cancellation policies etc what I am appalled by is the attitude, no lateral thinking, no compromise, just constant repetition of "our cancellation policy" and telling me that Cornwall had no weather warnings (all their guests come from Cornwall?, I think not) and so did not affect them. They also claimed to be fully booked which I doubt in early February. Given I did not want to totally cancel, just postpone, I would have thought a more compromising approach would have been appropriate. They can keep my £262 cancellation fee, I will not be back. will be telling 11 SeaView terrace not to recommend them and all my friends and contacts not to go. Having now read some of the reviews on Trip Advisor, I wish I had prior to booking!! Seems if you're paying a groupon rate it would be an OK deal, but otherwise, forget it! I am sure the hotel is OK, although from reviews appears to be ridiculously small, but with owner / management attitude like this - not a good formula for success and totally unacceptable.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
20 February 2012
It is disappointing that this guest posted a review even before avenues of discussion with our hotel had been completed.
The guest had booked online the week of her stay and the UK had been experiencing snowy conditions for a couple of weeks by this point. The cancellation occurred in the afternoon on the day of arrival, giving us no opportunity to re-sell the room and avoid levying the cancellation charge.
Over the relevant dates, we had 25 arrivals and departures from all over the country, including guests from the same area as this reviewer.
We do feel that to make comments about the size and quality of the hotel without having visited, and to suggest that we were not telling the truth about having full occupancy, crosses the line from passing comment on our cancellation policy to specifically aiming to mislead prospective guests.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
