The Scottish hotel where three people lost their lives yesterday was branded the "worst hotel ever" and compared to a horror film and Fawlty Towers just days before the tragedy.
Perth's New County Hotel was blasted by a number of guests in scathing reviews left on Tripadvisor. Eight guests gave the establishment one out of five on the site - known as a "Terrible" review - between November and December.
Two claimed it was the "worst hotel ever" and two compared it to the cursed guest house in John Cleese's hit 1970s comedy Fawlty Towers. One, titled 'Nope! Stay away! Turn back and don't even bother!', read: "Myself and my partner had booked a room for 1 night at the start of December.
"We were fully aware that is was a budget hotel, but going on the so called recent pics it would do us for a night. Later discovered some of the pictures were from 2016. there was a lovely aroma, cabbage is what it smelt like.
"The stair carpet is thread bear, not sure when that poor excuse of a carpet took it last breath, but I'm more than sure it was circa 1970s if not earlier. On the way to our room we passed some sort of office, cupboard which had an open bag of rubbish just sitting at the entrance.
"Continued to our room along the dark corridor, swear we were in some type of Hammer Horror film, we have made it to our bedroom, safely thankfully. On crossing the threshold of our room we both just stood there, taking in sight before us.
"I honestly have never walked into a room in such a dire state than this one, it was freezing cold. The shower was moulding, the flooring was mouldy, sinking from the years and years of neglect, the thought of showering in that sent a shudder down my spine, the overall smell was damp and despair.
"I knew we were not going to be sleeping here but we had to leave as we had an event to attend, I had to stand on a towel to change as the flooring was just awful.
"We checked in around 6ish and we were in another hotel by half 9! Fawlty Towers just without John Cleese and the Major! Please don't book here, I'm not being mean I'm just being honest, clearly the owner or whoever is in charge doesn't care, which is a shame as it's in a prime location."
Another, titled 'Igloo central', said: "Stayed at this hotel with my 10 year old granddaughter on 10th December. We had a horrendous stay the hotel was dark and dingy and unwelcoming. The staff were unconcerned there was no heating in the hotel despite being advertised. We had to sleep in our outdoor clothes.
"The wee one was frozen and her teeth were chattering. I asked for the heating to be put on and was assured that it would be but wasn't. The best part of our stay was leaving." A third review is titled 'DISGUSTING! WORST "hotel" EVER!! Shouldn't be closed down...should be knocked down!!' and claims the guest only stayed for 15 minutes.
The post added: "The corridors were dusty and stairwells full of cobwebs. Carpets only stayed on the stairs thanks to the poorly applied duct tape! Horrible damp, musky smell all the way to the 'room'. Curtains blew in the 'wind' even though the filthy window was closed. I wish I had looked at the reviews on here first."
One guest titled their review 'Needs shut down- avoid at ALL costs!'. They wrote: "Anyone a fan of BBC comedy “Fawlty Towers”? Want a faulty hotel experience? Then visit New County Hotel! The hotel was what one could only describe as worn, tattered and in need of a thorough revamp. Will certainly not be back to the hotel!"
And another was titled 'Worst hotel ever stay away'. It said: "I spoke to a foreign male who said he had stayed at hotel for 4 years. What type of hotel is this place." Fawlty Towers aired on the BBC in 1975 and 1979 and was centred on the escapades and farcical situations which arose at the fictional Torquay hotel of the same name.
Perth's New County Hotel has received 346 Excellent, 306 Very Good, 183 Average, 90 Poor and 158 Terrible reviews on Tripadvisor. The last Excellent review was left in June, and the last Very Good was posted in October. All the reviews left in November and December were negative.
We told earlier today that a traumatised dad revealed how he rushed his young family to safety after the room above theirs caught fire in the horror blaze. Manju Prasanna, 38, and his wife and daughter, four, were awoken by fire alarms at at 5am yesterday morning.
Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are conducting a joint investigation into the cause of the fire. Over 60 firefighters and 21 ambulance units were involved in the rescue, which saw eleven people treated at the scene, before staff and guests were moved to the Salutation Hotel.
Chief Superintendent Phil Davison said: "Enquiries are now ongoing to establish the full set of circumstances of what has happened. Our officers are working closely in joint investigation with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. As I am sure you will appreciate enquiries are at an early stage and therefore no further details of those involved will be released at this time.
"We will provide more information as it becomes appropriate and right to do so.”
Jason Sharp, SFRS area commander, added: “This was a very complex incident where tragically three people were pronounced dead at the scene. Our thoughts are very much with immediate family and friends at this difficult time. Our firefighters and community action teams have and will continue to engage to ensure safety in this area and we will continue to work closely with stakeholders and Police Scotland in any subsequent investigation.”
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