A bride claimed her £3,000 hen party was ruined after a "nightmare" stay at a Liverpool city centre hotel.
Siobhan Kerr and nine friends booked to stay at the Shankly Hotel for three nights ahead of her wedding in March. The group paid for a party package which included the hotel stay, a cocktail-making class, a three-course dinner and VIP entry to a nightclub. But the group said problems started not long after they arrived at the four-star hotel in Victoria Street.
The Shankly Hotel, however, has disputed Siobhan's claims, made a refund of her accommodation fee, and said they were in "talks to understand her other complaints."
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Aldi worker Siobhan, 37, from Manchester, claimed the party sat down for dinner at around 8pm and were horrified when their food arrived - over an hour late, reports the MEN.
She said: "My main was chicken and as soon as I got it, the smell I got from it was putrid. It was completely inedible, I'm just glad I smelt it before I put it in my mouth. The other girls had a burger and they couldn't even cut into the meat with a knife. We called the servers over and we were all told we couldn't have anything else and there was nothing they could do about it, even when we asked to speak to a manager."
Things only got worse from there, according to Siobhan. She said the girls requested new pillowcases after noticing theirs were stained but they were never changed. The group claim the bedsheets were also badly stained.
The party said they never received the VIP nightclub passes they paid for, and claim they were told by staff it was never booked in the first place. Problems continued into Sunday, Siobhan claimed. The mum-of-two said: "When the girls got up to go to the toilet, they noticed there was no running water at all. We spoke to staff and they said there was nothing they could do.
"The staff said it was an area issue but one of the girls went to use a toilet at a pub around the corner and they had water, there was no issue. When it came on late afternoon, it was lukewarm and brown."
Siobhan said the group were offered a free one-night stay as compensation but they did not wish to return. She claimed the hotel then offered a partial refund – but it was only a "smidgen" of the £3,000 they paid.
The hen party are still fighting for a refund but claim they are now being ignored by the company. Siobhan claimed she left the hotel a bad review but it has since been removed. "They didn't want to speak to us or hear what we had to say," she added.
"What they show on social media compared to what they are actually selling and what people are getting is shocking. Since we came back, we found we're not the only ones sharing their experiences. We've contacted them everywhere – Instagram, Facebook, email and they've not responded whatsoever. When you're paying that amount of money, you don't expect the standard of service we got from them. I've had better service at a Premier Inn."
Siobhan now feels as though the ordeal put a dampener on her weekend – especially as her maid of honour travelled all the way from America. "Because we're all close friends, we made the most of it despite the mishaps we had," she added.
"The biggest thing for us was our last day on Mother's Day. We tried to make the most of it but we couldn't even do that because of the waiting around we had to do to be able to wash and get ready.
"For me, I've had my wedding now and it was a great day. But because of Covid I had to change my hen plans more than once and this was last minute from what we were meant to do.
"You plan it, book it and do everything possible to make sure you have a memorable time for a big event. Then something like that happens and you have to come away from it – instead of reeling from the enjoyment of having your close friends together, I had to deal with that.
"It's been a lot of stress that realistically I shouldn't have had, then I still had my wedding to sort – and I'm still dealing with it four months in. They just don't care. They have no interest and people need to know."
A spokesman for Shankly Hotel the management team have spoken to Siobhan in regards to her complaint and say they were never made aware of any issues with the food or beverage package they received. They claim they were only made aware after Siobhan received "compensation in regards to an accommodation refund."
The hotel say they were never made aware of any issues with Siobhan's meal otherwise they would have taken action at the time. They claim Siobhan and the rest of her party ate their meals at the restaurant. They say they do not believe the bedsheets were stained as they "come straight from a laundrette and are checked after being washed."
The hotel said the group were never offered VIP club access, the package only includes "guaranteed access to a nightclub." The hotel added that Siobhan has had her accommodation fee refunded and "talks to understand her other complaints are ongoing."
Stacey Coleman, who was also on the trip, added: "We had no running hot water for over 24 hours, dirty sheets and stale food. While we were there, we were told we would be getting a refund, but since we've been home the company has done nothing but ignore us. All we want is our refund, instead we are left with no communication."
Lauren Rios, who also attended the party, said: "When we arrived for dinner our table was ready and we were seated quickly. Once they took our order it took an hour until our food arrived. The food arrived and it was absolutely terrible! Most of the food was inedible, the burger was so hard you could not cut it with a knife and the chicken smelled rotten. When we asked the waiter for the inedible food to be replaced he flatly said no.
"The following morning while getting out of bed, we noticed our sheets were dirty with what looked like a shoe print. The following day, we woke up and started to get ready when we noticed the water was not on. We went down to the front desk and they told us the water line in the street burst and was being repaired.
Rachael, Siobhan's friend who also attended the hen party, said: "We had looked forward to the hen party for a long time. When arriving, we were greeted by staff and they seemed lovely. Evening time came and we hadn't eaten all day so we were looking forward to the meal. Sadly, this came out later than we were told and the smell from the chicken was not the nicest.
"When we spoke to the staff, no alternative meals were offered. The bride-to-be had stains all over her bed sheets.
"When we woke on Mother's Day, we realised we had no running water or a working toilet. We went back and forth for what seemed like hours with them telling us it was an issue in the area. I decided to go round to the local pub to use the toilet to be told that they had no issues.
"Sadly the bride-to-be spent most of her weekend upset and angry and we were very disappointed."
Another party member, Natalie Sutton, added: "The hotel has really been poor at responding - the trip was bittersweet; from arrival it went downhill.
"We tried to keep her spirits up. On our first night, dinner was over an hour late. Due to a problem with the water on Mother's Day, our plans were ruined. We had to do a walk of shame to another hotel just to use the showers and toilets.
"The way the hotel has handled this is disgraceful. We spent a lot of money and time on this trip and to see the bride so unhappy was awful. We did our best to lift her spirits but once home the realisation hit and the trip did not live up to expectations. Shankly have given a partial refund but it's not sufficed. They ruined Siobhan's hen do without even apologising."
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