Don't go if it's busy! (Mollington Banastre)

Member Name: Cuchulain

Product:	Mollington Banastre
Date:	03/12/07 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I'm struggling to find one...

Disadvantages: Staff appeared to be very new and not fully trained

Missbrowneyedgirl wrote the other review on this hotel, and from way-back when I was writing reviews all of the time I have her listed as a friend whose new reviews get notified to my inbox. She's written an in-depth review of this place which goes against what I will be saying, and so following me reading hers the tone of my review has been softened. All swearing has been removed and I will try to keep it as neutral as I can. But that's difficult following my adventure, and if anything the experience I had has driven me back here to DooYoo.

I booked a hotel room at the beginning of October to stay at the Mollington Banastre on 1st December to tie in with a large function I was attending. This Christmas fuction is a huge annual event and is worth about £7k for the function itself, and with a further £5k on raffle prizes it isn't you normal low-key Xmas-do. I booked the room over the phone, choosing a double room and then also decided to upgrade to a Double Deluxe when informed of the very reasonable price difference. In anticipation, I arranged to finish work early on the Saturday and myself and my partner arrived at the hotel at 2pm to book in, and to take advantage of the wide range of spa facilities on offer.

When I got to the room I discovered I had been given a standard twin and returned to reception to have the room changed to what I had ordered. Perhaps they did not like the idea of me and my girlfriend living in sin while under their roof a la Fawlty Towers. I was then left in reception for two hours.

The upgraded room I had ordered almost two months previously had been given to someone else, who had not ordered it, and they needed to move him out before I could move in. This never happened. Instead I was put into a standard double room, as someone had luckily cancelled. The original twin room I had been given was very quickly taken up by someone else and due to this period of time sitting waiting in reception, it also meant that we could not use the spa and leisure club, which was why we had travelled to Chester so early. Not a good start to the weekend.

I realise that the hotel was very busy on Saturday night, due to the function we were holding there. However, having booked a Double Deluxe room almost two months in advance I would have thought that this would be enough time and advance notice to ensure that it can go ahead. Although room bookings were the responsibility of the individuals attending the function, the organiser of the whole event had been contacting the hotel at least weekly and getting confirmation from them that the correct rooms had been ordered. On the paperwork the Mollington Banastre returned to him I was indeed listed as having booked a Double Deluxe allocated to myself.

The bar staff were friendly though not exactly capable of customer service. It may be that due to the size of the party we were having they had brought in additional untrained staff to cope. Whatever the reason, waiting at the bar for pre-dinner drinks turned into a momentus occasion. More senior bar members bullied newer members out of the way to use the till

The food was considerably average. I have since been told that we paid £38 per person for the food, which I struggle to believe based on the low standards. The portions were child-sized, the stuffing with the turkey was un-cooked, gravy was no-where to be seen, and one person commented that they had never had Xmas pudding with creamed rice before.
"No, that's not creamed rice love, the custard really is that lumpy."

We had also pre-arranged that we did not have to book out of the room until 2pm. At 10am the cleaner attempted to come into the room. And then again at 11am. At 12pm we got a phone call from reception asking us if we intended to book out.

All in all the event was very well organised, though the choice of hotel ruined it all. It may be suitable for a weekend retreat (if you make sure uit's not too busy beforehand) though they struggle to cope when large parties arrive. Especially if those large parties are used to much higher standards of service...

Summary: Choice of location ruined a normally excellent event