Complaints over hotel’s Christmas Kingdom
PARENTS have issued scathing complaints over the Christmas offering for children at a top Welsh hotel.
The Celtic Manor in Newport has again created a Christmas Kingdom where children can meet Santa but one mum said it was “one of the worst Christmas experiences I have ever had”.
The luxury resort has come under fire over the past week as parents have claimed the hotel should be “ashamed” of the state of its Christmas spectacle.
The hotel has already removed reindeer from the attraction after council officers found their enclosure to be unsuitable.
Jason Hartman, 31, from Caerphilly, took his children Tia and Jake to see Santa.
He said: “We took my son and my daughter on Wednesday night.
“The people there weren’t really good at speaking to the kids. We stood in the queue for about half an hour to see Santa.
“But the kids only had about 30 seconds with him.
“There was nothing magical about it. They should really be ashamed of it.” He had paid £15 per child. Sabrina Rees from Blackwood, took her children Imogen, eight, and Aderyn, three, to see the attraction on Saturday.
She’s since advised other parents “not to bother” taking their children to see Santa at the venue.
“It is literally a conveyor belt of cash to them,” Sabrina said.
“The first 10 minutes of the visit is basically a promotional video for the hotel.
“Then you are then hurried through two tiny rooms to make a shoddy gingerbread man with glue spreaders and icing that doesn’t stick and there isn’t enough room for all kids to sit down.
“There was no interaction from staff the entire time we were there and this was supposed to be a magical wonderland filled with fun.”
They had visited three years ago and were happy with the experience.
Sabrina said: “He wasn’t very good at speaking to the children.
“He told them to leave a Jack Daniel’s out for Santa this year instead of milk. I was really disappointed with it.
“They could also hear the other Santa speaking to children in the other rooms.
“We just wanted to make our older daughter believe for another year and make her look forward to Christmas.
“They were just really deflated after it.”
The Celtic Manor has said it’s “disappointed” to hear visitors have not been having a good time at the attraction this year.
A spokesman for the Celtic Manor said: “At Celtic Manor, we aim to make the Christmas Kingdom a truly magical experience for all the family.
“We are disappointed to hear that some of our guests do not feel that this was the experience they received this year.
“The event has been running at the resort since 2012 and has always been hugely popular, with many families returning year after year to enjoy Santa’s grotto and the other many festive activities at the resort.
“However, we take all customer feedback on board and are always looking for ways to build on our customer experience at Christmas Kingdom to ensure that we deliver an enjoyable experience for our guests.”