am a professor in the hospitality industry and frequent traveler. Although I love to stay at a…read morevariety of types of properties and have no particular allegiance to a hotel group or chain, when I look for consistent, reliable, and top-tier accommodations and service, I often look to Marriott. However, on my most recent trip to the Bournemouth High-cliff Marriott Hotel, I will revisit my perception of the chain. Let me describe some of the things I encountered during my stay from July 11-15, 2023 for your consideration before booking:
1. I arrived at 10:30 pm after a full 21 hours of travel to find no food. No room service, no open restaurant (the website said the it was open until 1am), no convenience store of food. Nothing, Nada, Nope. There were no options close by either. The desk staff suggested a Dominoes Pizza by using the "food apps." Eventually, I did have to CALL the pizza chain for dinner and had it delivered to my room. Top drawer.
2. I also arrived to find the "please excuse our mess" for renovations occurring at the hotel which was not advertised on the web, nor was I alerted to this prior to arrival as I might otherwise expect. Bad form.
3. The website also lists a business center. It is a computer in a closet. Nobody seems to know how to turn it on or work it either. No printer. They offer to print at the front desk in limited quantities, but an hour after my request, they were "still working at it...." I know most people travel with their laptops now and I would have brought mine too, but I had hoped to only be on the computer an hour to polish a business presentation, so it seems like a good idea to forgo my 16l laptop for the trip. I wish I had made different decisions.
4. Speaking of technology, the room's internet required that I sign into my device anytime it had not been used for more than 15 min or so. It would also charge me 1.5 gbp for a speed that would do more than email and charge me each time I resigned in. Although these charges were later removed, it was a major inconvenience and hassle. The faster internet is also not stream-worthy, so don't even try.
5. The front desk staff doesn't seem to know the hotel, the amenities, the surrounding area, nor do they seem empowered or interested in learning. People could not direct me to tourism, restaurants, business services (given the limitations of the hotel) or even the nearest cup of coffee. I think management needs some training too (see #7)
6. My room had its own issues too.
A) The noise levels starting at 10pm far exceed what anyone might expect. The club underneath the hotel gets going with bass booms about 10 and just grows in popularity through about 2am. The party really gets going around 11:30 with festive frat boys drunk cursing, sexist catcalls, and despite the slurring, can easily be discerned by sheer volume and proximity. If the site allows, I have posted recordings from my bed and the window. When I reported it at midnight, they said they would "shut it down", which was not my goal, but it was still going two hours later and I borrowed some noise cancelling headphones from a friend on the 4th floor to get some sleep. They never once offered to move my room (which was my goal).
B)The "internet" tv basically means YouTube and Bluetooth, so you are stuck with mostly BBC channels in the room and the ability to connect your device for MUSIC only...you cannot broadcast or screen share. No apps, no movie channels or what you might hope for in a hotel at this price point. Again, not a big deal if they did not characterize it otherwise.
C) Drafty, which is too be expected, but not in JULY and with just a 2 degree variability for guests to control themselves in room. Bring pants and a sweater AND shorts and a tank top no matter what season.
7. At this juncture you might be asking why I had not contacted a manager. However, on the second night and after the continued noise issues, I did speak with manager Theresa who was a lovely woman who said she was grateful for me bring these to her attention and that she would look at the bill. Later I found out she took off a whopping 46 gpa on over a 1200 stay. Really? That is your effort to compensate me for this 2 star hotel stay? I promised her I would write this review. I am also sure she told the whole staff, based on the "attitude" I perceived from everyone on my last day.
So, that is the review I promised her and my husband who had to put up with my venting. My mom always said that I should say something positive, so the housekeeping staff were amazing, the views of the beach and ocean impeccable and the carpet was well designed and matched the drapes.
So disappointed.
Corey
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Corey W. Johnson, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
