Uncaring, inflexible and lacking empathy. We will not stay here again. Over the past 24 years, my wife and I have stayed at The Ship Hotel, now Chichester Harbour Hotel, on many, many occasions. It has always been a nostalgic, home-from-home stop-over venue for us whenever visiting family in West Sussex. Sadly we will not be returning. A few weeks ago we booked a one-night stay on a Sunday, including dinner, which was at a special rate and payable in full at the time of booking. The terms and conditions stated that in the event of cancellation, no refunds or transfers would be allowed. A week before we were due to travel, my wife suffered an accident, fracturing her kneecap requiring surgery, and she also broke some ribs. We had no choice but to postpone our trip. We understood the terms and conditions of our booking, but, as we had stayed here so many times previously, we hoped they might show some sympathy and understanding of our circumstances and allow us to re-schedule. I emailed explaining the situation, stressing that we were not looking for a refund and asking for a little flexibility on this occasion to move dates to when my wife was able to travel again. Three days on and there was no reply. I emailed once again asking for a response. Again, no reply, so I turned to Harbour Hotels group customer services complaining that our emails were not being answered. They responded immediately, apologising that we hadn’t had a reply, and said they would forward my original message to the General Manager at Chichester. I then received a phone call from the receptionist at Chichester, who appeared to be understanding, saying that she would see if the General Manager would apply some discretion on this occasion and allow us to re-schedule. I said that we were very happy to pay any difference in price if applicable. The General Manager obviously dismissed our request out of hand as an email the following day reminded us coldly of the terms and conditions of our booking and that it was non-refundable nor transferable to a different date. All they offered was a “competitive” rate (whatever that is) should we wish to re-book again in the future. We were very disappointed and upset by the General Manager’s dismissive attitude and impersonal lack of empathy towards long-standing customers. A little flexibility and goodwill on this occasion would have cost him absolutely nothing and meant so much to us. He had the power of discretion and chose not to use it. I have no doubt whatsoever that if this was a privately owned hotel, the outcome would have been very different. If we had been allowed to reschedule our stay we would have added more value to our visit with drinks and possibly other purchases, and been happy to return again many more times into the future. As it is, we will never stay here again. As with other similar reviews of this hotel, the General Manager will very likely answer my comments here with the usual impersonal response about t