Guests’ fury at ‘Fawlty Towers’ of Highlands

Amother was left angry and upset after her family endured their “worst holiday in the worst hotel” in Aviemore.

Former teacher Pauline Johnstone sent a catalogue of complaints to Britannia Hotels following a six-night stay at the Coylumbridge Hotel costing more than £1,500.

Based on the experiences of nearly 200 others this summer, she is not alone.

The hotel has been reviewed on TripAdvisor 204 times since the beginning of June.

A total of 75%, amounting to 153 reviews, have rated the hotel one-star.

Numerous reviews said they would have offered zero stars if it was possible.

The hotel has an average score of 1.55 out of five across that period.

Over the same summer period in 2018, six months before it was taken over by Britannia Hotels, it scored an average of 3.64 out of five.

The hotel promotes itself as “the perfect escape for an unforgettable family vacation”.

Its website boasts a ‘We’re Good To Go’ certificate, recognising it follows government and industry Covid-19 guidelines, including on cleanliness.

Mrs Johnstone, 50, said the hotel was “filthy” and a “shambles”.

She listed grievances about its appearance, hygiene, cleanliness, food, queues, closed attractions and management attitude. These include:

• Buying her own cleaning products to clean the family’s room;

• Making her son and his friend keep their shoes on because the bedroom was so dirty;

• Buying food for the children as the hotel meals were “awful” and identical the whole week;

• A children’s play area and other facilities were shut.

The family was offered a 10% refund and a discounted rate for a return visit, which Mrs Johnstone said was “a slap in the face”.

She said: “It was just awful. The hotel is very badly run. It looks like they are running it into the ground.

“It was filthy. I certainly wouldn’t go back.

“It’s a beautiful part of the country, but I feel Britannia Hotels are letting down the area badly.”

Mrs Johnstone, from Dundee, visited the Coylumbridge with her husband, 12-year-old son and her son’s friend.

The stay from July 11 to 17 cost £1,517.

She said guests were queuing for 90 minutes to check and was told staff shortages were caused by half the workforce walking out a few days before.

In a letter to the hotel she complained: “This six nights break was supposed to be a relaxing time for my family after the struggles of the last year.

“It turned out to be the worst holiday and the worst hotel we have ever stayed in.”

Her husband had waited 40 minutes to be served at the bar and guests queued for 20 minutes to enter the dining room and 15 minutes for their food.

Mrs Johnstone, who is disabled from a work accident and uses crutches, was not offered help or invited to go to the front of the queue.

She added: “The hygiene in the hotel was disgusting at a time when cleanliness is more important than ever.

“Never once, in all the time we were there, did we see anyone cleaning surfaces, toilets, carpets, tables, windows.”

Replying to Mrs Johnstone’s complaint, Mark Johnston, the hotel’s general manager, offered a 10% refund and discounted rate for a return stay.

He said the discounted offer was made as “our services did not meet your expectations”. The offer of a return stay “would demonstrate the level of service we would expect our customers to receive and to restore your faith with our company”.

He added: “This is our final offer and no further offer will be made. Any further correspondence in relation to the above will not be responded to.

“This is our final communication on this matter.”

The Press and Journal’s calls to the Coylumbridge Hotel and Britannia Hotels were not returned.

In the last week, reviews have described it as “very poor”, “dirty” and “the Highlands’ answer to Fawlty Towers”.

Last year, the hotel caused outrage by sending letters to around a dozen employees ending their contracts and instructing them to leave staff accommodation following the Covid outbreak.

Britannia Hotels later said the letter was sent due to an administrative error.