Jurys Inn, Glasgow

...communication I have had from Jurys today...

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me yesterday. Your article is detailed and will be used as a training tool for the staff and management team.

As discussed yesterday I would like to make a gesture of goodwill in a hope to regain your confidence in the Jurys Doyle Group. I would like to offer you a complimentary weekend, B&B in a Jurys of your choice. To make a ...
...necessary arrangements.

Should you decide to return to Glasgow again please contact me directly and I will make the necessary arrangements here to ensure you have a comfortable stay.

Once again thank you for taking the time to contact me.

Sincerely
General Manager
  ... more

I had the great honour of attending the Scottish meet (review to follow) and, because Scotland is not on my doorstep, I decided it would be better if I stayed over. As I had to work on the Saturday night I stayed the Friday. I wanted a central hotel and, after much deliberation and talks with my lovely friend and fellow Ciao mate Pauline99 aka Pauline, we jointly decided on The Jury's Inn.

Booking.
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This could not be simpler. The website is easy to follow and your room reservation can be made in about one minute.

First Impressions.
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The hotel is situated on a main road and is very close to the River Clyde. The view over the bridge is wonderful. The front of the hotel is well appointed and gives the impression of a large modern building. There is a ramp up to the large double glass front doors, which is excellent for disabled travellers. Reception is directly in front of the main doors and has a lower section of desk to the right, which is ideal if you are in a wheelchair. The reception staff were polite. (I am going to touch on the subject of booking in later in this piece.) I explained I had made an online reservation and gave my name. After tapping on the computer he gave me my room card key and wrote the number of my room on it. I asked what room Pauline was in and was told that they could not divulge that information, so full marks on security. The young man offered to ring the room for me, which he did, and passed me the phone. After a short conversation I proceeded to my room.

The Room.
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In my job I travel quite a lot and stay in all kinds of accommodation, most of which I don't have to pay for, as it is all part of the fee I get for the work I do.
The room (see the photos at the end) was quite sparse. It was clean and the décor was a pleasant colour but it was not what I was expecting for my £70.00 per night! All the amenities were there: en-suite, television, double bed and two chairs. The wardrobe was an open plan affair with an added bonus of a lower rail excellent if you are a disabled traveller. The view was not impressive to say the least (see photos). I had at least expected to see the river but what I actually got was the Hostel opposite. (More about that later.)
The room has coffee and tea making facilities, which were well stocked, and mugs. Not those tiny fiddly teacups.
The room has an easy to understand air condition unit and a modem point. I could not find out if this point was free or if there was a charge for using it.
The bathroom was excellent (see photos). If you are a disabled traveller then this bathroom was designed with you in mind. The toilet had handles on all sides for help getting up and down. The wheelchair access was brilliant and the bath was low enough for anyone to step over. However, if you do want to take a nice long relaxing bath then this is not the bath to do it in, as it is very shallow.
Both the bath and hand basin had Dove liquid soap in containers which I thought was very handy.
The shower was very good but not a massaging shower and, once I had got the hang of which way the temperature handle went, it was great.
The room was supposed to have a hairdryer. Mine was missing but that was not a problem to me, as I had no intention of washing my hair.
The television boasts all the usual TV channels and also Sky One. There are the usual CNN and other news channels but I would not class this to rate as 'Satellite TV.' I really wish hotel chains would stop trying to con people into thinking that having a few extra channels, three of which are news channels, constitutes having Satellite TV'.
Everything in the room was clean. The pillows, the mattress and I did not find any dirt or dust under the bed.
The room card key has to be placed in a slot just inside the door to operate the electricity, a fact the young man on reception omitted to tell me, but a call to reception put me right. Good job I don't get easily embarrassed.

Amenities.
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The hotel has two places to eat. One is an 'a la carte' restaurant serving international cuisine, modern English and traditional Scottish meals and the other is a licensed bar where you can get snacks or bar meals. The hotel also caters for vegetarians.
I cannot comment on the service in any of these places as I did not use them but I will cover breakfast later on.
The hotel does not accept pets but welcomes children.
It has outstanding disabled amenities.
It is open all year round but not at Christmas (their words, not mine) and is available for private functions.
There is no parking at the hotel but there is an NCP car park just to the left and across the road from the hotel where you can park for £5.00 for 24 hours. However, do remember to get your parking ticket stamped before you put it in the machine to pay or you will get charged full price. If the attendant had not been there when I was at the machine and retrieved my ticket for me I would have ended up paying £17.80. Yet another thing the chap on reception failed to mention.

Food.
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The only food I had was breakfast. I was not informed where breakfast was to be served nor what time it was served (again, something I would have liked to have been told upon checking in.)
The breakfast was self-service 'buffet style' and, after showing a young lady our room card, we were smiled at and pointed towards the restaurant. I realise that a self-service buffet speaks for itself but it would have been nice if someone had said, "If you would like to find a seat and then please help yourself. Tea and coffee are at the end, knives and forks are over there, or just something, rather than a hand gesture".
The fayre was typically English, with a selection of bacon, sausage, beans, tomatoes, and a choice of scrambled or fried egg, There was what appeared to be toast but it turned out to be slightly grilled warmed bread.
There were croissants and bread rolls, which I spotted as I was leaving.
The coffee-making machine was at the far end and it was one of those that do every kind of coffee so, although I wanted tea, I had coffee because I could not find the tea.
I am rather particular when it comes to breakfast and I have to say this breakfast would probably meet most peoples' expectations. It did not reach mine. The bacon was undercooked and lukewarm, as was the sausage. The only thing that was remotely warm was the fried egg and I think I was just lucky with that, as some new ones had just arrived.

Conclusion.
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I have said that I will cover a few points that I omitted earlier in this piece.
When I booked online I specifically asked for a quiet room, which is a choice you can have when booking. I was given a room overlooking a main road and opposite what turned out to be 'The Hostel From Hell.' I went to bed at around midnight, after a fantastic night out, and was woken at around 3.00am by people opposite throwing cans and bottles at passing cars, making them rev their engines to get away. The language from the people opposite made me blush and trust me I am not easily offended.
This continued for most of the night. Even with earplugs it was still audible.
I did ask the management for a quote on this because I felt it was only fair. The manager I spoke to was charming and apologised but he stated that 'they have no control over the public,' a fact of which I am aware, but I specifically asked for a 'Quiet Room' and if they are going to offer this service they had better be sure that they can provide it. Which in my case they did not.
My booking-in process was, as I have already stated, not good. Although the staff were polite… that was all. And, I am convinced it was because of the way I looked, as
I had travelled to Glasgow from Manchester for some four hours through monsoon type weather and had decided to travel in cut off pants, a sleeveless T- shirt and a hooded top.
I have to admit to not looking like a business traveller. I was decked out for comfort rather than smartness. I did feel that the young man wanted to get me booked in as quickly as possible and that is why he omitted vital information from my booking in process.
Pauline, who travelled up by train, looked every inch the smartly turned out traveller and was rewarded with an excellent room. I was told that the hotel works on a first come first served basis. If that is the case I suggest you get there and queue up so as to be first in line when they start allocating rooms and do dress nicely.

My Opinion.
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Had this been the first hotel I had ever stayed in I would have thought nothing of it but I spend a lot of time in hotels and have compared this to a number of places I stay. This hotel looks like a three star, in fact, for looks and especially for their disabled amenities I would rate it four stars. I have absolutely no doubt that they lose stars on the fact that they make promises they cannot possibly keep (The Quiet Room!!) and their staff are either 'snobs' or not very well trained. This is the only Jury's/Doyle hotel I have ever stayed in and, whilst I do not want to put anyone off staying there, please take into consideration what I have written. I am reccomending this hotel with the hopes that it improves but I can only offer 3 stars.

Message from the management
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Because of the excellent disabled features of this hotel I did not want to put anyone off staying so I asked the Hotel for a quote. They read the review and were kind enough to get back to me.
Re the noise...Everything possible is done to provide rooms that are noise free and these are secondary double gazed, they are checked at all times of the day and night and if found to be noisy are fitted with said double glazing.
Re the staff...The staff are well trained but obviously on this occasion I did not recieve the kind of attention that Jurys/doyle would have liked and therefore the staff will be asked about it and where needed re-trained.
The manager I spoke to was very charming and offered a free stay at any of the jurys/doyle Hotels. He did not need to do this and I was delighted. As to whether I take up his offer remains to be seen. If I do I will definately be doing another review.
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Below please find communication I have had from Jurys today...

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me yesterday. Your article is detailed and will be used as a training tool for the staff and management team.

As discussed yesterday I would like to make a gesture of goodwill in a hope to regain your confidence in the Jurys Doyle Group. I would like to offer you a complimentary weekend, B&B in a Jurys of your choice. To make a reservation please contact me directly and I will make the necessary arrangements.

Should you decide to return to Glasgow again please contact me directly and I will make the necessary arrangements here to ensure you have a comfortable stay.

Once again thank you for taking the time to contact me.

Sincerely
General Manager
 

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