Crowne Plaza Aberdeen Airport

"This stay has brought an end to our pre holiday habit of having a night here before the departing flight. The massive peculiarity with this hotel now is the bizzare decison to refuse CASH PAYMENTS! Apparently something off the back of Covid but still being embraced to this day. I had budgeted my trip in advance with CASH allocated for every event. Right away this was all thrown off when I was advised they don't take cash!!! I had booked through Booking.com which at the time did display cash as an accepted payment method on their site. My credit cards were in a 0% cycle and all my balance lifted from my accounts to cover the cash taken on my trip. This is an international airport hotel with many guests likely taking local and foreign currency with them for ease of budget, convenience and practicality. The physical burden in having to use a card was a pain, but the principle of not accepting cash is beyond insane. I had several hundered pounds of local currency as well as several thousands in two international currencies too. I instead had to make phone calls to have money moved so that I could give the hotel a card payment and then spent all my cash on meals at neighbouring properties instead. This defeated the entire purpose of what had become a new norm for us in spending all our time at Crowne Plaza for comfort and convenience before our flight. Whislt here we heard 3 seperate sets of guests also comment negatively on the no cash policy and another party was found in a nearby restaurant as they too had a cash budget for their trip. The potentially minor affects of such a decision really have a far larger knock on effect as there is no guest specific advantage to refusing to take cash. Either you aren't fussed and would consider anywhere, you need card payments and will consider anywhere, or you need cash payments and will consider anywhere but here!! A Covid related decision to stop cash can really be defending during Covid, but years later a decision just to crack on with something that is no longer a requirmement but simply a preference really highlights how the hotel are being put before the guests, (or potential guests). With HM treasury likely to mandate cash acceptance in the future, businesses like this will end up deskilled and ill equipped to adapt. For a shop or cafe in a city centre the cashless idea is strange, but for a hotel situated in a hub for international transport it seems beyond comprehension. The stay was somewhat tainted by this odd policy but the time we did spend in the hotel we still enjoyed. We did however spend £247.85 on food and drink at competitors instead.... Potential changes in policy will dicate whether we will be returning again or not."

"We’ve just returned from a wonderful stay at this lovely hotel in Aberdeen, and I can honestly say it was one of the warmest, most enjoyable hotel experiences we’ve had. What really stood out was the outstanding customer service from the incredible team. One of our party was celebrating a birthday during our stay, and the staff went above and beyond to make it special. They surprised him at dinner with a beautifully handwritten card, a mini bottle of wine, and a chocolate bar – such a thoughtful touch! They even sang Happy Birthday, which was so sweet and genuinely touching. It was a moment we’ll never forget. We’d especially like to recognise Yewande, who was absolutely brilliant – friendly, professional, and so attentive both at breakfast and dinner. Also a huge thank you to Emily and Teigan, who were equally fantastic at dinner. Their warmth and attention to detail truly elevated our experience. It’s so true that the people make the place – and in this case, the staff turned a lovely hotel stay into something truly special. Thank you again – we can’t wait to return!"

"I travel a lot and always try to stay at an IHG branded hotel - this hotel got 5 stars because I can’t give a 6 star review ! It’s the best I have stayed in across the UK in the brand - service, attitude, appearance was all excellent from check in on Monday night at 9:30pm to my check out - as I say 6 stars and I would love to pick one person out to praise but I can’t so if the manager reads this well done you have an excellent team a credit to IHG"