Guest User
January 3, 2025
Firstly, I should say that I very rarely give negative reviews. However, in this case, I need to make an exception for the DISGUSTING way that the owner, CRAIG SHELL, spoke to myself and my pregnant girlfriend – in response to us asking a straightforward question about loud music being played. He later threatened to remove us from the hotel for asking him a question. We stayed NYE 2024, when the hotel had a series of events on including a 4-course meal (costing £65), a band, saxophone player and midnight BBQ. This sounds like a sophisticated evening – which should be for the high cost of the meal. Although, what transpired was an extremely loud band playing rock music which could be heard from every corner of the hotel, followed by an unscheduled ‘disco’, catering for drunk (mainly teenage, non-resident) customers. The sax player never turned up. We went to an event off-site from 10pm-00:45am and arrived back to the disco which had become something akin to a nightclub/youth club – fuelled by alcohol. We completely understand that people party on NYE, get drunk, sing, etc. and we gave until 2am before my girlfriend POLITELY asked Craig to turn the music down. He instantly became ANGRY and ABUSIVE preceding to call her “stupid” for booking the hotel on NYE and getting uncomfortably close to her face shouting at her. My Girlfriend started retreating in the direction of the rooms to evade Craig and his angriness, where followed her. My girlfriend asked him to stop following, but he continued, indicating that he “would go anywhere he liked in his hotel!”. This is a CREEPY, arrogant, and inappropriate thing to say to a female guest. Craig is a BULLY, and the other reviews show that he picks on and tries to assert his dominance over female guests. Other guests and I could hear the commotion of Craig shouting and came downstairs. When I reached the corridor, I met a drunk red-faced Craig who became incredibly angry towards me as well – getting in my face, repeatedly saying that it is NYE and reiterated that we are “STUPID” for booking a room in his hotel. At one point, I was worried he was going to get violent. He argued that the loud music was communicated clearly on the hotel’s website and to the guests. If you see the screenshots provided, you can clearly see this is not true. Craig then angrily explained that he has a license until 5am the next day and would keep the pub open until the last guest leaves. I have never known this attitude before in my life – any reasonable/professional establishment would give you an estimate of the time that a ridiculously loud event would end. When I questioned this and asked him why he was so angry, he threatened to EVICT me and my PREGNANT* girlfriend out of the hotel – AT 2AM ON NYD!! What a fantastic start to the New Year by the owner of the hotel I have paid £240 to stay in. We had done absolutely nothing wrong. *Craig knew that my GF was pregnant as he also had a pop at us for not being out for a drink