The Palace Hotel

Not being told the day before we were leaving that there was a half marathon the next day, as we were unable to leave in the morning, due to a half
Marathon race starting at 10.00. Had to wait 5 hours before we could leave.

The reason for my low overall score is that, despite specifically asking, with good notice, for a room on the first floor (because I do not take lifts, and cannot easily climb 40+ stairs), I was given a small room on the SECOND FLOOR (Rm 52), with no sea-view (which I had also requested). I have visited every year for the past six years or so, and this has never happened before. I was told there were only FOUR individual visitors, as against three huge coachloads. It seems to me that you are now prioritising the wishes of coach trippers as against loyal individual visitors. I shall not return.

It’s an old hotel and the room showed that. The window wouldn’t stay open so I had to prop it open. The shower (over the bath) was very poor with very little flow. The breakfast was good and 2 out of 3 of our evening meals were good, the other was mediocre.

Nothing

No hot water on Sunday morning and couldn’t shower. They said we could have early breakfast but could only do bacon sandwiches. One of the party was veggie so we paid £12.99 for just toast and cereal.

Bathroom and the fact we had no air con in the room only a fan

I would like to clarify exactly what we found when we arrived at the room. The condition was unacceptable and genuinely disgusting, especially considering that we had paid for a room expecting it to be clean, hygienic and ready for our arrival.

When we entered the room:

Towels were left on the floor.
The duvet was dirty and clearly had not been changed.
There were dirty coffee cups left on the table.
There was hair around/in the washbasin area.
The room was generally in a gross and unhygienic condition.
After a long journey, arriving to a room in this state was extremely upsetting and distressing. This was not a minor issue or something that could reasonably be overlooked.

I would also like to address the issue of the booking being described as a “late booking.” We made the reservation at approximately 9:00pm, not at the last minute or after midnight. The room was available for booking on Booking.com, and the booking was accepted and paid for.

Furthermore, I tried to contact the hotel several times because I knew my family would be arriving late, but nobody answered the phone. Had somebody answered, we could have explained our circumstances and the situation could potentially have been dealt with before we arrived.

If the hotel was unable to accommodate a late arrival, or if there was an issue with the Booking.com system, the reception should have contacted Booking.com to resolve the matter. It is not reasonable to accept a reservation and payment through Booking.com and then place the consequences of an alleged system error on the customer.

This is an issue between the hotel and Booking.com, not between the hotel and us. We did exactly what we were supposed to do: we made a reservation through the available booking system and paid for the room.

We paid for a clean and suitable room, and that is what we were entitled to expect. Instead, we were provided with a room that was visibly dirty and unhygienic.

Creaky floorboards in room

Breakfast not very good cold tomatoes burnt sausages and crispy bacon its a Shane because the evening meal was vwey well cooked .

The only problem was the access to the entrance , there were steps but there was a walkway also where we could use the rollator.
Also there were three steps up to the dining room but it seemed that you could have your meal in the annexe as an alternative.

The room and bathroom could do with an update and the window needed cleaning, it was hard to see out . The reception staff was not very friendly