This was the only bad place I stayed in 3 weeks of UK travel.
- Unpleasant dark cramped room with uncomfortable bed, owners reluctant to offer same-day move and wanted unreasonable sum for room change when discussed next day. -Owners know or care little about the island, very unhelpful, inaccurate, indifferently provided verbal information in a city with many unmarked streets and dark rainy nights. List of restaurants are not on a map, impossible to find if you are new to the city. Very uncaring to a solo traveler, not just to myself (female) but observed this also to a newly arrived (male) guest. Pip's brusque manner and introductory speech (delivered faster than a machine gun) shows she wants to get interactions over as quickly as possible and immediately retreats downstairs to private quarters.
-Every outlet in my room had been turned off, none of my camera or other equipment charged up, lost precious photo opportunities during this once in a lifetime visit to ancestral sites. Not even a gracious apology from owners, just a lecture on how they have to save money (that should not be the guest's concern), and don't I know that all outlets are the same in UK-- good grief, why are these people in the hospitality business, what a thing to say to someone who is from another country besides the UK?
-Their ad is misleading re: Wifi, a major reason why I chose this hotel-- in fact NONE in any of the bedrooms. Must use public front room, the coldest room in the building especially if work is needed to be done late. Two nights in a row the internet was down, had not been given prior instructions, Andy's casual explanation would have been helpful ahead of time.
-Owners live downstairs, but there is no phone from hotel area to reach them, you must ring a bell for them to come up for any and every question.
- Drain in shower clogged first and second nights, despite telling Andy early on Day 2. Did they expect me to go down 2 flights in my towel to ring the bell??
- My stay here put a damper on entire IOM experience, really regret I didn't move immediately. Would not recommend this place to anyone.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
30 October 2011
When we first read this review we thought it had been incorrectly posted against our guest house. Our customer service has never been questioned before in fact is probably the most praised area of our business so clearly we are very disappointed with the tone and style of this review.
Our main concern is why a guest who we worked very hard to help and support throughout her stay would post comments and issues that are simply inaccurate in what clearly looks like an attempt to damage our business and reputation. We attended to every question and enquiry she had as soon as we were asked.
Throughout this lady’s stay we worked tirelessly to help and give very clear directions and instructions in a very courteous and pleasant manner we will not comment on her manner and approach to us and fellow travelers as this would be unprofessional.
We feel the issues raised need to be addressed as we are 100% committed to our clients’ experience, however we cannot be held responsible for how that client interprets or uses our help, directions and advice. For example, we suggest the best route or way to get somewhere, draw the route on a map and the guest goes in the opposite direction then I don’t think we should shoulder the blame for a poor experience.
The client in question booked a single room and this was all confirmed before the client arrived. When asked if she could move to a larger room with a sea view we were prepared to do this at the standard charge for the alternative room. We provided what was booked and more, she declined to move when the additional cost was mentioned.
The plugs in the room like all UK/IOM plugs have an on/off switch if a guest plugs something in to charge and the charging light does not come on we would either expect the guest to press the switch or ask how to use the plug. There was no request for help on this matter just a rude and disgruntled verbal comment by a guest clearly frustrated that she didn’t switch the plug on. There was no lecture I simply explained that the plugs are standard UK fitments which have an on/off switch for safety reasons. She had successfully used the plug in the lounge on the first night of her stay so one would assume that she would be ok using the same fitment in the room. I would have clearly offered an apology if we had done anything wrong.
The room this lady was in is actually the room the hotel inspector stayed in earlier this year she rated it as very comfortable especially the bed and excellent shower. The shower was not blocked because I checked it as requested when I cleaned the rooms that day, it does not drain quickly but it certainly was not blocked.
Our website is not misleading it clearly states that wifi is available in the lounge and bar areas. The internet can be unavailable at times but this is often outside of our control e.g. the network not being available.
We don’t have phones in the rooms we don’t advertise that we do, most clients have mobile phones. Also we like to attend to guests requests face to face at reception as in most cases it’s often easier to help with enquiries using a map of the island, a restaurants sample menu or one of the many attractions leaflets etc.
Our guest house is 4 Star Silver Award winning and we take great pride in what we do, we appreciate you will never satisfy every client but it won’t stop us trying.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
