Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to raise a formal complaint regarding my extremely disappointing experience with my recent booking at the Britannia Hotel Ilford on 29 August.
I had made a booking at the Britannia Hotel Ilford for three adults and one child aged seven. We arrived at the hotel at approximately 9:00 pm on 29 August, after travelling and arriving late.
When we arrived, a female member of the reception staff informed us that the hotel did not have a room available for our booking. Instead of providing the accommodation that I had specifically booked and paid for, we were given a small slip of paper and instructed to go to another nearby property called the Park Hotel, which was approximately a 10-minute walk away.
I found the manner in which this situation was handled extremely unacceptable. The reception staff member was not polite or helpful when I asked why we had been moved to another property. I was simply told that if I wanted to make a complaint, I could do so myself. Given that we had arrived late in the evening with a seven-year-old child, this was particularly distressing and inconvenient.
Poor and Unsuitable Accommodation
Upon reaching the Park Hotel, we were allocated a room that was in an extremely poor condition. The room had:
A strong and unpleasant foul smell.
Dirty bath towels.
Very poor ventilation and no proper airflow.
An uncomfortable and unsuitable environment for a family.
No drinking water provided for the guests.
The condition of the room was so unacceptable that I contacted the Britannia Hotel reception again and raised a complaint regarding the accommodation we had been given.
We were subsequently shown another room/property, which I understand was also associated with the Park Hotel. Although this room was slightly better than the first one, it was still far below an acceptable standard. We were extremely uncomfortable and had no reasonable alternative at that late hour, so we had no choice but to stay there overnight.
We eventually left the property at approximately 8:30 am the following morning.
My Main Concerns
I would like the following questions to be formally addressed:
I specifically booked accommodation at the Britannia Hotel Ilford. Why was I diverted to a completely different hotel/property without my prior knowledge or consent?
Why was I not informed in advance that the room I had booked at Britannia Hotel Ilford would not be available and that we would instead be accommodated at another property?
Why was a family consisting of three adults and a seven-year-old child required to walk to another property late at night after arriving at approximately 9:00 pm?
Why was the initial room provided to us in such an unacceptable condition, including foul smells, dirty towels and inadequate ventilation?
Why was no drinking water provided to us as guests?
Why was there no appropriate assistance or reasonable customer service from the reception staff when we raised our concerns?
This experience caused considerable physical inconvenience, stress, disappointment and mental distress, particularly because we had travelled expecting to stay at the hotel we had booked and instead found ourselves being redirected to another property late at night with a young child.
I have photographs and videos documenting the condition of the accommodation and the issues we experienced. I can provide these as supporting evidence if required.
I therefore request that this matter is investigated formally and that you provide me with a written explanation as to why my booking was not honoured as made. I also expect appropriate compensation/refund for the significant inconvenience, distress and unacceptable standard of accommodation that we experienced.
I look forward to receiving your response and a satisfactory resolution to this complaint.
Yours faithfully,