Television tantrums, pecking chickens and other guest problems

A guest smuggled a live chicken into a Perthshire hotel, causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage.

After letting her bird peck its way around the bedroom, the woman was stunned to be refused another room reservation.

It is one of the many strange complaints received by staff at Crieff Hydro.

Bosses at the historic four-star hotel have revealed some of the most bizarre grievances from guests.

A spokeswoman said: “Everyone working in customer service knows the customer is always right. But some complaints are a little hard to take seriously.”

One member of staff had to deal with a guest who complained he was unable to watch the TV in his room.

The hotel’s spokeswoman said: “The issue at hand was that when lying on his bed flat, he was unable to see the wall-mounted TV. The reason? His feet were in the way. The guy even brought a photo along to prove it.”

In another strange exchange, a customer complained about breakfast in bed. But his grumble was nothing to do with the food.

“Hi, we’ve just had our breakfast in bed delivered to the room,” he said. “Is it OK if we eat it on the chair by the desk, and not actually on the bed?”

The receptionist responded: “Erm yes, of course you can. You could even eat it in the bathroom if you’d like to.”

He replied: “Right, well that should have been made clear to us.”

Relating the chicken incident, the spokeswoman said: “A woman complained after being refused a room reservation. It turns out that on her previous visit she sneaked a chicken into her bedroom, a live one.

“But wait, there’s more. She ordered it room service and allowed it to peck, poop and generally make a mess of the room, causing hundreds of pounds of damage.

“So in this case the hotel was happy to recommend she take her custom, and her choice of roommate, elsewhere.”

Staff have also had to deal with a complaint from someone who didn’t get Christmas dinner. But it turned out he had eaten so much in the morning, he couldn’t face lunch.