Complaints

Treating guests as thieves

The Guide omits roughly 10% of its selected hotels and B&Bs from each new edition because of a lack of positive feedback, adverse reports or a change of ownership or management. Our policy is not to go into detail why an individual place has been dropped. But the things our readers dislike include an unfriendly welcome, dim lighting, wi-fi charges, repetitive menus, poor breakfasts, muzak, and noisy wedding parties.

Cancellation charges are a bone of contention. Many guests do not realise that when they make a reservation that they are entering into a legal contract. Most hotels confirm such bookings in writing with the terms spelt out. For a late cancellation, guests will often be asked to pay the full cost of the room. Hotels should, in my opinion, offer to credit this cost against a future booking. That would ease the pain and maintain good relations.

Another thing that our readers complain about is places that debit credit cards in advance. The Compleat Angler in Marlow (not a Guide hotel) took £100 from a GHG reader on arrival against possible use of the mini-bar. It is unwise to treat arriving guests as though they are potential thieves. The same applies to captive coat hangers. They irritate guests and achieve little. How many free-range hangers are pinched each year? And if they do go missing, replacing them is not a big deal.

All the above may seem rather negative. But it is prompted by a study released this week by J.D. Power, a respected research company, which shows that overall satisfaction rates among European hotel guests has declined significantly in the past year. The biggest drop is caused by high prices not matched by improved level of service as hotels cut back on staffing levels.

We will shortly launch a page on the Guide's WEBSITE devoted to hotels and B&Bs which we believe offer outstanding value for what they charge. Nearly a quarter of the hotels in the Guide offer B&B rates per person of between £50 to £75, nearly 60 offer rates below £50. The idea that the GHG caters only for oligarchs is, I am glad to say, far from the truth.

Adam Raphael

Special offers

Old favourites

As the clocks go back, now is the time to cosset yourself before a roaring log fire. Many Guide hotels are offering great winter deals to GHG readers.

PEN-Y-DYFFRYN, a César-winning country hotel in Shropshire, on the border with Wales, is offering a 20% discount from its normal rates and a £20 voucher to spend on wine for two or more mid-week night's dinner bed and breakfast. The price includes complimentary tea and cake on arrival and a four-course dinner each night. Prices start from £79.00 per person per night. Weekend breaks also available.

HAMBLETON HALL, another César winner, a beautiful country house hotel overlooking Rutland Water, is offering a mid-week break Sunday to Thursday for £162.50 per person based on two people sharing. The price includes: one night's accommodation in a standard double bedroom, a three-course set dinner and full Hambleton breakfast. Add a second night at the same rate to your stay and you can sample its Gourmet Tasting Menu on one evening.

OAK BANK HOTEL, in Grasmere, Cumbria, has a 20% discount offer for GHG readers. The discount applies for online reservations through the hotel's website in November for stays of two to four nights in 2012. The offer includes a free bottle of wine and a complimentary fruit bowl for longer stays.

THE OLD VICARAGE, Dolfor, a Victorian red brick vicarage in the hills of the Welsh Marches, could not be greener. Guests who arrive by rail, bus, bicycle or on foot qualify for a 30% reduction on the standard room rate. If you decide to come by electric car, there is a free charging point. The Old Vicarage is also offering a two-night break at £270 per couple for those who wish to walk or cycle the Kerry Ridgeway.

More special offers are below, and there are many more are on our Special Offers page.

Hotels, inns and B&Bs with a special offer (click and see)

Send in a Review

Win a free night!

This month's prize is a free night's bed and breakfast for two at PENBONTBREN which won a César award this year as 'Newcomer of the Year'. A converted old farmhouse, it has been turned into a luxury B&B by Richard Morgan-Price and Huw Thomas. It stands in extensive grounds near National Trust beaches.

All you have to do to win this fine prize is submit a review which catches the eye of our editorial team for its wit and insight. We welcome reports on hotels that have never been in the Guide or have been dropped as well as those that have a current entry. The winners of last month's prize: dinner, a free night and breakfast for two at SWINTON PARK are Ken and Mildred Edwards from Glyn Ceiriog, who have been writing to the Guide for more than 25 years. Swinton Park features on this year’s cover of the Guide. A 19th-century Gothic castle near Ripon, it has fine landscaped grounds, elegant rooms, and it welcomes children.

GHG's post bag

No wit, no insight

From Jo-Ann Mason
To GHG

'I doubt this review will stand out for its "wit and insight", however, we stayed here a year ago and were less than impressed.  The thing that struck us the most was the bossy, autocratic manner of the owner and staff members.  At breakfast we asked to sit at a nice table for two by a window but were told, sorry, that section is closed.  What section??  The whole room is fairly small and there were people eating at tables in all parts of the room.  After dinner we asked for coffee and dessert and were told we had to have our coffee in the lounge. In other words, we could not have them together.  Say what?!  Excuse me, but whatever happened to giving your paying guests what they want.  We much prefer to eat our dessert and have our coffee at the table. At the same time.   Not too big a thing to accommodate, I shouldn't think. So, that is my review, very similar to a review I would have sent in to TripAdvisor.  And now, I would like you to explain to me how you are any different from TripAdvisor since you seem to be soliciting reviews from guests outlining their experiences in hotels.  Admit it, you are utter hypocrites. You are no more able to detect false reviews than they.  The only difference between you and TA is that you are trying to sell us something.  And it doesn't smell pretty.'

From GHG
To Jo-Ann Mason

'You are right; your review doesn't stand out for its wit and insight. Apart from its rudeness, what does make it interesting, however, is that you appear to have no idea how the Guide works. Unlike TripAdvisor, we check on who is sending us reviews, whether the review is genuine and what their tastes and judgements are like. For example, our database shows that you wrote to us on June 17th, 2010 about XXX hotel which you also disliked saying amongst other things that you had an "uncomfortable mattress; coarse sheets; bad towels; fixtures needed dusting; no full length mirror; inadequate lighting." 

'Why the Guide works and is trusted is that we check your comments against the experiences of many other readers. That helps us gauge how reliable and sound your views are. When there is a disagreement, we send out an inspector to stay a night at the hotel at our expense. You are clearly a feisty character. No harm in that, but it would be nice if you got your facts right before slagging off the Guide. We don't always get it right---no guide does--but we are honest and make every attempt to do so.

I doubt whether we will be using either of your reviews, but that is a matter for my colleagues. But if you would like to see your name in lights, just write to TripAdvisor. They will put up whatever you send them without any checks, however unfair, biased or malicious it may be. They won't even check whether it comes from a genuine email address. That is the difference which I hope you will now acknowledge.'

BUY tHE gUIDE

The 2012 Guide

The 2012 print edition of the Good Hotel Guide to Great Britain and Ireland is now available. It makes a great Christmas present. Discount vouchers worth a total of £150 are included in each copy. They enable a 25% saving off the normal B&B price at participating hotels. A copy of the Guide costs £18 (including £3 p&p), compared to a retail price of £20. If you wish to buy it, CLICK HERE, or write to: The Good Hotel Guide, 50 Addison Avenue, London W11 4QP.

A Good Hotel Guide's gift voucher makes an ideal birthday or wedding present. You can give a gift certificate of any monetary value from £50-£500. For more details, email: editor@goodhotelguide.com.

The GHG iPhone app is available from Apple's iTune store. It costs £2.99 ($4.99). An E-book version of the Guide is available on Kindle priced at £8 ($13).

The Good Hotel Guide, founded 34 years ago, is totally independent. It receives no payments, no hospitality and no advertising from hotels selected for an entry in the printed edition. Hotels pay to be on the GHG website, but only those hotels which have an entry in the printed Guide are eligible. Selected hotels are recommended by readers, backed where necessary by an anonymous inspection. The British edition of the Guide is published each autumn. Adam and Caroline Raphael, who edit the Guide, are award-winning journalists. Caroline, a former BBC researcher and a travel writer, is editor-in-chief. She has worked on the Guide for more than 33 years. Adam, who previously worked for the Guardian, the Observer, the BBC and the Economist, is the Guide's marketing director. Desmond Balmer, formerly travel editor of the Observer, is editor of the British/Irish guide. The Guide specialises in small owner-managed hotels, inns and B&Bs in England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and Ireland. It includes budget B&Bs, good-value hotels as well as grand country houses and chic city hotels, all offering value for money in their price range.