'Bomb site' hotel taken off Booking.com as family flee minutes after checking in
A hotel in Blackpool found itself suspended from Booking.com after leaving a family completely horrified at its condition.
You can take a look at the state of the place in the video below:
Like most tourists in Blackpool, Pamela McInally and Mark Fletcher were probably looking forward to scoffing some fish and chips, enjoying the arcades and walking along the beach when they visited the seaside town earlier this month.
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While their choice of accommodation wouldn't have stopped them from doing those things, the couple couldn't bear the thought of spending even one night in the Blackpool Promenade Hotel.
They've claimed the hotel was such a mess that it literally caused their daughter to cry, with Mark describing the scene as 'horrific'.
"As soon as we walked into reception there were alarm bells," he said.
"The room directly opposite had the door wide open, it was full of rubbish. There were holes in the wall, the urinals were covered in pee, s**t and toilet roll.
"We thought 'oh my god'. We just wanted to see the room and see if it was doable, we weren't expecting The Ritz. It looked like a bomb site, it was bad."
Pamela added to the already-negative picture, saying: "The hotel was disgusting. I was never expecting to see what I did. It was dirty, the floors were disgusting, the reception was non-existent.
"There was a mattress in the hallway. I wouldn't let a homeless person stay there. I was in shock, it wasn't right."
Mark said he and Pamela, from Scotland, went back to reception and told them there was 'not a chance' they'd be taking the kids into the bedroom, which had cost them £68.
"My seven-year-old was crying and said she couldn't stay there and kids shouldn't be on holiday crying that they can't stay somewhere," he said.
The couple handed their keys back to reception and quickly made a booking at an alternative hotel, allegedly having to fork out a £200 deposit and £100 for new accommodation for the night.
Not wanting anyone else to go through what they went through, the couple complained to Booking.com.
The website consequently suspended the property from the site while it reviews the issues, stating: "While we are proud to offer a huge range of accommodation for all budgets, with a reviews system helping to guide customers on choosing their next stay, this is not the experience we would want for any of our customers.
"As such, we have suspended this property while we review the issues raised to ensure these are addressed for future guests."
Blackpool Promenade Hotel alleged the family never made a complaint, though Mark and Pamela were able to provide a recording of themselves on the phone to reception saying they couldn't stay there and complaining about the state of the hotel.
Mark said: "I'm glad the hotel been suspended as they shouldn't be operating in those conditions and I'm shocked they're happy to take a family's money and put them up in those conditions.
"I think Booking.com should be giving us our money back for needing to find other accommodation for the night as it ruined our first night of our holiday and cost us that just to go to sleep."
Booking.com did refund the couple for their booking at the Promenade Hotel, which was rated 'poor' and scored just 3.4 out of 10 on Booking.com's website before it was removed.
In response to Mark and Pamela's comments, a spokesperson for the hotel commented: "We must start by saying we operate a budget hotel and our hotels facilities do reflect its prices.
"However the pictures shared online are not a true representation of our hotel. The pictures shared are from rooms which are out of order and they were only left open as the builders were in and out working between the rooms.
"These rooms we do not let out as they are under renovation due to a major leak which happened recently - this has been repaired and doesn’t affect any other rooms than the one pictured, which is not open to anyone except builders."
The spokesperson went on to claim the business has 'only just started' and that a 'lot of work' is still needed, adding: "However, at the moment the rooms are done to a budget standard, this doesn’t mean we let rooms out like the images shown.
"Even though we are a budget hotel, we still keep all our rooms to a high standard of cleanliness and still provide a good quality service for our guest which provides good value for money.
"The images aren’t a true representation of our hotel and we would not allow the rooms in the pictures to be let out to any guest.
"If we receive complaints, we follow them up appropriately and always aim to promote a good standard throughout the hotel.
"We are sorry in this circumstance that this had to escalate to such an extent however we completely disagree that these images and the review are a true reflection of our hotel."
LADbible has contacted the Blackpool Promenade Hotel for further comment.
Emily Brown