Hotel Hell on Birthday Weekend

By Ben Aulakh

A woman from the Midlands who spent two nights at a hotel in Bournemouth has labelled it a “hovel” and a “waste of money.”

The guest, who was visiting the south coast town for a friends birthday had to contend with stained, peeling walls, filthy, plaster soaked curtains and a front door left open all night.

The Fairmount Hotel, Westcliff, promises guests visiting its website “quality accommodation,” “a warm and friendly atmosphere;” the hotel also prides itself as catering for stag and hen parties.

The disgruntled guest found lime-scale leaking from bathroom taps, a cracked sink and shower cubicle, marked carpets and skirting boards and a filthy, stained bed-frame; all this despite paying £40 per night.

She said, “What worried me the most was that the same key that opened the front door opened my bedroom door, so it was one size fits all; and every time we came to the front door it was open.

“I feel I have wasted £80 of my hard earned money on that hovel of a hotel.”

Previous visitors to the hotel have complained of terrible customer service, thin, stained and hole-strewn walls and broken furniture in some of the rooms.

The guest added, “I feel that I had been shoved in a rubbish room, and I couldn’t complain as we only saw one member of staff when we checked in, then no-one else all weekend.”

The hotel is not recommended by English Tourism or by Bournemouth Council.

Jo O’Connell, Resort Development manager for Bournemouth Council said, “If we received a complaint directly from a guest, we would see if the accommodation provider was registered with us.

“If the hotel is with us, we can act via the Bournemouth Quality Standards procedure to help remedy the situation, in this case, the hotel is not registered with us, so we have no statutory powers to act.”