harbourhotels.co.uk

AN OVERPRICED BUDGET HOTEL

We were disappointed in many things whilst staying with you at Bristol hotel.The dinner was the worst thing. I can truly say that you served us worst meal I had ever had in my life. I am no food snob but I do expect no junk food and fresh ingredients. When I booked our stay a few weeks ago I was told being vegan would be no trouble and I specified no burgers and no fast food and was told it was no problems and we were told there would be suitable options as we booked ahead and we had booked our table already and specified we were vegans.As we arrived at the restaurant we were told there was one vegan Wellington and one burger left - made by soya protein. I said none of us want the burger. When I said to the lovely waitress that we will probably go in to the city and have a meal instead, she then went and spoke to the kitchen and after a while the chef agreed that actually he could rustle up two vegan Wellingtons.What arrived at out table was a joke! It was clearly a defrosted pie - definitely not a Wellington by any stretch of the imagination and definitely not freshly cooked from scratch. The fat in it was congealed with mushrooms and really over cooked slimy spinach. On the side was a few squares of undercooked root vegetables and an almost black, foul tasting gravy. It looked terrible and tasted terrible - I just cannot get my head around why the chef would think that is an acceptable meal to present to anyone. The price of the meal on the menu was £21!!! No self respecting professional should be able to present that meal for that cost!! The waitress was wonderful and did what she could to make our visit better. She gave us a free cocktail each and a free glass of Prosecco each, though nice it doesn’t remove the fact that we were given absolutely the worst meals ever.Then we went to our hotel room… we had paid for a Junior Suite as a treat but the room was very shabby. Stains on the sofa, stains on the floor, a few black hairs in the bath tub. Curtains and bed clothes were wonky and felt like someone left on a hurry.The worst thing was that the room was so so cold. The man on the reception came to have a look and confirmed the heating was broken. He offered us heaters for the room but I asked for another junior suite. He found us one and the quality of that room was remarkable better. It was cleaner, no stains! And nicely put together. He put the heating on for us and it made a bit of a difference. Unfortunately the heating switched off in the night and I woke up in the middle of the night because I was so cold. I was surprised by the thin duvets that you have on the bed. For the the price that you charge I would definitely expect more of a luxury bedding. My daughter slept in her fleece as she was still a bit cold when she went to bed. It was very cold in the room whilst getting ready in the morning. I thought a hot shower would help - but the water didn’t get very hot! It stayed at quite warm, but after being cold for hours I would have liked a really hot shower to help get my body temperature back to normal but that wasn’t possible. Then I thought I would make a nice coffee in your coffee machine. The mugs were upside down on the tray and when I tried to take one it was a bit stuck on the tray with old coffee. There was a black rim of coffee on the rim of the mug! So disgusting and off putting.I know that you will now apologise and say that you have many happy customers, but that means nothing. You advertise yourself as a a bit of a luxury hotel but it is a sham. There are very few luxuries about your hotel. It is very shabby and dirty in places, the details are lacking and your food is horrendous. Your staff are nice but are only able to work with what they have - they cannot make miracles with what you give them to work with. You should tell the truth and advertise this hotel for what it actually is - an above average budget hotel. It is not a luxury hotel by any means!

Date of experience: Feb 18, 2026