Serendipity_Norfolk
Couples · December 20254/10
Sadly this hotel has the aspirations to be a lot smarter and more sophisticated than it achieves or is capable of. We booked to stay for our 20th wedding anniversary, as we were taken in by the luxur...Sadly this hotel has the aspirations to be a lot smarter and more sophisticated than it achieves or is capable of. We booked to stay for our 20th wedding anniversary, as we were taken in by the luxury the hotel's website advertises.
Sadly what's on offer isn't what is promoted. The hotel is fraying at the seams, and the service is far from top notch. The lifts are noisy, reverberating through the whole building. We were on the 21st floor and there was a constant drone from the four lifts. By the lifts purple masking tape holds together one of the panels and the carpet is fraying. Our sink was blocked and smelt grim when we arrived, but it took 24 hours for them to sort the problem. Our blind had a string loose, but never noted by the housekeepers or building maintenance.
On arrival the hotel felt like any Novotel or similar we have stayed in, which isn't what we expected, and they certainly charge for a higher offering. We noticed bubbly and cold drinks for new arrivals, but there was no effort to offer to any of the many people that had just arrived.
I'd told them in advance it was our anniversary, and there was an email to say we could choose a free amenity. On check in we were told there was a surprise in our room. We arrived in the room to find the sink blocked, but don't think that was supposed to be the surprise, but there wasn't anything else. Later that night, after we'd been out for a few hours, a bottle of prosecco & cake was waiting, which was a lovely thing, but the sink was still blocked.
When we enquired about the amenity, we were told that was the bubbly, so why not simply say that in their email?
The pool, which is beautifully photographed on the website is very unloved. Although warm, there was litter and lots of detritus in the pool. There is no sense of atmosphere, with no bar, no apparent customer service option, and no sense that it was a place you'd like to relax in. The gym on the same floor is very nice. Like the pool, the hotel bar and lounge downstairs is stark and unwelcoming, just partially screened from the reception desks, with no real atmosphere.
All in all this was not the luxury hotel it advertised or we expected. The location is excellent, easy walk to buses and trains, and the room was large with a high up view. But the hotel simply failed to be the romantic luxury we had hoped for, with a team that just didn't seem to have their finger on the pulse of how to achieve what they advertise or what customers expect. We should have paid a fraction of what we paid and had probably a better customer service experience staying in an Accor hotel, rather than aiming for a luxury that just wasn't on offer.Show More
