Arlington Hotel, IlfracombeDevon. I am afraid I have had quite a poor experience dealing with this hotel. Booked a room with a sea view months in advance with an online booking agent.
Received confirmation and map through the post pretty quickly from the hotel.
On day of arrival found that hotel car park was full and could only see double yellow lines on narrow adjacent roads, there was no sign on the first car park to indicate that the hotel had an overflow car park which was also almost full except for two spaces with tight access (had to go into hotel reception to be told about the second car park). Parked the car and went to book in, only to find out that they had made an error, had been put in a room with no sea view.
The receptionist was polite and said the hotel would allow our dog to stay for free, but obviously that was poor compensation for the desired sea view booked months in advance.
Can't say that a view of the sea would have been that brilliant, the hotel was set some distance back from the sea, and the beach is behind a drop on the sea front, and the day was a bit grey and overcast. To worsen first impressions the nearby buildings were a bit dilapidated with building works going on, and the hotel reception seemed musty.
My wife and I who had travelled some distance and were not sure if we could book last minute accomodation anywhere else during a busy holiday season, decided to have a look at the room we had been booked in error. We were definitely not impressed, it had a view onto a side street, it was small, dingy, smelt of an ex smoking room (I would have indicated non smoking), there was a tiny television set up high on the wall around the corner from the bed, so any plan of watching tv / dvds in bed together were not possible. My wife later told me that the toilet and bath were probably less than a couple of inches away from each other in the ensuite bathroom. It was not even the standard of a standard travel lodge that I could have booked at a fraction of the price. So we declined the offer and are now waiting for our money back.
I cannot say that my experience is typical but I am writing as I find. I think they should certainly review their price for this sort of room (as there may well be some decent rooms which do warrant the price), and my advice to anyone considering booking here is ring up and confirm exactly what you are getting and don't leave it all to the online booking going ok, like I did. ___________________________________________________ 29/08/2008 S till waiting for the cheque which I was promised by the hotel recpetionst.
Found the email address of the company who sold me this deal (eviivo.com) and emailed them yesterday and have heard nothing.
The original email from eviivo.com shows that I had paid £176 for
Double Ensuite - Bed & Breakfast Sea View
All rooms feature stunning sea views, ensuite facilities and TV, radio, telephone, tea & coffee making facilities and hair dryer. Price is for Bed & Breakfast. Twin rooms & Family rooms may be available on request.
There is a load of spiel in the eviivo.com email showing their terms and conditions to protect themselves from late cancellations, etc, etc, but I don't think any of this can really apply. Holiday bookers beware. I will keep you posted on news when I get the refund.
01/09/2008 Still no cheque in the post yet. After still no reply from Eviivo.com, I phoned them to find out that Eviivo.com don't accept any responsibility for refunds of holidays, they just provide the software online cash payment system. So have found an email address for the Arlington Hotel, and emailed them.
02/09/2008 Received polite short email apologising for error and advising cheque would be in the post today
03/09/2008 Received the full refund, so have rerated satisfactory. Can't fault the hotels politeness and integrity.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
very helpful by (31%):
helpful by (69%):
