greenbarncottages
09-08-2011, 10:49 AM
A couple of my contacts have related worrying experiences of recent stays in self catering accommodation. One stayed in a place in the West Country, and to quote "When we arrived the place was a complete disaster, beds not made up, badly stained mattress, bathroom dirty, the accommodation was really damp with damp patches on the walls, carpets held down with gaffer tape, mismatching furniture (nothing like the pictures)." The list of horrors went on. The guests cut their holiday short because "they could not stand the place" and described it as "a hovel".
The second experience was a place in Wales where the guests arrived to find "Cobwebs everywhere, hair blocking the plughole, no hot water, no lightbulb on the spiral staircase (a torch had been left), and constant reminders to clean up before they left." They left after one night.
The really worrying aspect is that both these properties have a current VB 4 Star rating.
These experiences aren't in the category of a slight drop in standards, which could be due to a temporary cleaner and could/should be put right immediately. These are cases where the guests' experiences falls well short of realistic expectations for a property with any sort of Quality rating, let alone VB 4 Star.
It's very important that guests know how to flag such issues to VB, as without the feedback how can VB hope to maintain the credibility of the rating system? What is the procedure for guests to complain to VB about such serious shortcomings, and what does VB then do? I very much hope that the owners are immediately stripped of their rating, for the benefit of future guests and of course for the benefit of VB members who strive to meet the expectations of their ratings, and for whom it's unthinkable to be sharing the same rating system as the worst advertisements possible for the UK holiday rental industry.
The second experience was a place in Wales where the guests arrived to find "Cobwebs everywhere, hair blocking the plughole, no hot water, no lightbulb on the spiral staircase (a torch had been left), and constant reminders to clean up before they left." They left after one night.
The really worrying aspect is that both these properties have a current VB 4 Star rating.
These experiences aren't in the category of a slight drop in standards, which could be due to a temporary cleaner and could/should be put right immediately. These are cases where the guests' experiences falls well short of realistic expectations for a property with any sort of Quality rating, let alone VB 4 Star.
It's very important that guests know how to flag such issues to VB, as without the feedback how can VB hope to maintain the credibility of the rating system? What is the procedure for guests to complain to VB about such serious shortcomings, and what does VB then do? I very much hope that the owners are immediately stripped of their rating, for the benefit of future guests and of course for the benefit of VB members who strive to meet the expectations of their ratings, and for whom it's unthinkable to be sharing the same rating system as the worst advertisements possible for the UK holiday rental industry.