"We arrived before check-in time and left cases with the concierge. When we returned we were told that the cases would be in our room, but when we got there, they weren’t. It took an hour and four requests before the cases were found - apparently they had been misplaced! One request was to an older, suited, manager who said he would personally find them, but 30 minutes later, he hadn’t . This was the same manager who later said he’d send a server from the bar to take our tea order in the lounge: he didn’t, and I went and placed the order myself.
Once in the room we found missing hand towels, a curtain hanging off a hook, a broken shaver socket and long dark hairs on the bathroom floor. The „complimentary“ mini bar consisted of two cans of water and some sachets of milk: a joke.
The plus side was that the hotel was very responsive in sorting out the room issues and gave us a voucher for two drinks as compensation.
We had booked The Elder Restaurant as a birthday treat but the week before were told that this had closed and our booking had been transferred to the Brasserie Beau, which was equivalent. It wasn’t. The room we were in was gloomy, very cold and service was slow - 30 minutes wait to take an order and then long waits between courses and in getting the bill. The food was at best mediocre with a tough and overdone sirloin steak and a piece of fish that couldn’t have been much smaller and needed additional items to create a meal. This made it expensive for what we got, and compared to the previous evening‘s meal at Walcott House, was poor value. However, breakfasts were good, apart from the dreary back room again, and part of our package, though staff could be more cheerful and smile! Since breakfast was included I could not understand why for several days before our stay I kept getting mails and messages offering me breakfast at £20 a head; this became annoying and implies no liaison between department.
On our last night there was a fire alarm at around midnight and we evacuated to the pavement for an hour. Luckily it was a warm night. However, the fire marshall was inaudible to many of us and there was a lack of organisation. Luckily it was a fault on the system, but if it had been a fire there was no checking who was out of the hotel. I have been involved in similar exercises and always knew where to assemble and who would check. Here the guest just milled around and no one asked what room we were from. Each floor should have a clear assembly point and someone should ask for names and room numbers to check everyone is accounted for. Has this been a real fire this lack of clarity could have had serious repercussions.
I liked the building, the quirky decorations and pictures and for the centre of Bath, this efficiently air conditioned hotel, especially welcome last week, isn’t bad value for money. Reception staff were excellent, and they and the comfortable bed made the stay. We would return, but not leave luggage or have dinner in house."
