Reviews of Kings Arms Hotel, Malmesbury
Review by Kellie Anders on 2nd August, 2010
Add your review Date visited: 31/08/10
I stayed at this hotel a couple of years ago in a room above the kitchen which wreaked of gas - I mentioned it to the landlady and she dismissed me entirely, I wasn't happy. When I heard the place had new proprietors I decided I would give it another go - however I very much regretted my decision!
When I rang to book the hotel the lady that answered the phone, Kay, took 14 minutes to find her glasses and decipher the booking register. How I regret not following my gut instinct and putting the phone down! I had been concerned about dealing with someone so disorganised and was a little worried there may not be rooms when we arrived, however I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt as she said they had only just moved in. Kay told me she would give me two small double rooms as they didn't have any singles left at a cost of £50 per room. I offered my credit card as a guarantee and she took the details but said she couldn't do anything with them.
When my Grandmother and I arrived the gentleman that checked us in said he couldn't see out booking. Then have gave us only one room when we had booked two and we had to wait for the second. We were shown to two outside rooms (9 and 10) at the back of the hotel. The gentleman that took us carried my bag but not my 78 year old Grandmothers!! We were going out to meet family so we dropped off our bags and left, returning only at half past midnight.
When we returned we inspected the rooms and to ouir horror realised they were absolutely filthy. The carpets did not appear to have been hoovered in years and everything was thick with dust. The room my Grandmother had was the proud owner of a lamp with a lampshade held together with cellotape - surely a fire hazard! The lights worked intermittently which wasn't ideal. The grouting in the bathrooms was perished, black and dirty and in my bathroom there was a hair in the sink which I found very off putting. The bedding was reasonably clean though there were a couple of marks on the bedding on one of the beds, so I slept in the other, but the bases were yellow and dirty looking. I did not look at the mattress for fear of what I might see!
The toiletries in my bathroom had obviously been 'refilled/recycled' and the small talcum powder which was open was dirty on top - very off putting. All light switches were filthy dirty and I did not want to touch them. I slept in my socks as I didn't want to put my feet on the floor. In my 78 year old Grandmother's room the concrete at the bottom of the door had been broken away, leaving a good four inch gap which was more than adequate for rats and mice to wander in, given that were were outside at ground level she didn't sleep worrying about it. The piece de resistance for me in my room was when I closed the door I was greeted by a massive bunch of cobwebs with a load of dead spiders in, obviously not having been hoovered for a very long time - I have a phobia of spiders and this really made me not want to stay there - had we not arrived back so late we would've undoubtedly left and gone somewhere else. If this wasn't bad enough when I tried to go to sleep there was a very loud whirring noise (it sounded like a generator) which started up, switched off after fifteen minutes and then continued like this throughout the night. I hardly slept.
The next day I did not shower even though I felt dirty as I would've felt more dirty having been in the shower. I could not wait to get to my sisters so I could shower and feel clean.
I went to check out and was asked if I was not going to have any breakfast. I wasn't because apart from being a vegetarian I would rather have died than eaten in that filthy establishment.
Being a nice person I was going to pay the bill first before letting the proprietors know my feelings on the room because I didn't want them to think I was not going to pay. I was aware they had not long since moved in and wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt believing they did not know the state of the rooms. I was then advised that a twin room was £69 - I said I had agreed with Kay I would pay £50 per room. The gentleman taking the payment apologised and said he didn't know the rate agreed. At this point Kay appeared and he mentioned it to her, she denied having agreed this rate and said she'd only agreed that for the wedding party! If I had booked that hotel for my wedding I would've hung myself!!
At this point I was incensed and told them I would pay the £50 per room but I didn't think it was worth £5 per room as they were so filthy. Kay commented it wasn't her fault and that I should speak to the housekeeper!!!! I was absolutely gobsmacked. She never apologised, refused to take ownership of the problem, was extremely disinterested and said I should take it up with the housekeeper if I had an issue. I was stunned! The housekeeper was in the bar area so I went and spoke to her - she was also disinterested and just asked where the dead spiders were.
If they had apologised I could have been understanding but I can honestly say I have NEVER EVER received such BAD service anywhere, stayed anywhere so DIRTY and had someone be so RUDE and UNPROFESSIONAL. If I treated my customers like that I would be out of a job.
STAY HERE ONLY IF YOU LIKE WILDLIFE, PEOPLE BEING RUDE TO YOU AND BEING RIPPED OFF!
Review by Anonymous on 16th June, 2009
Add your review Date visited: 2009-06-16
Good Points: Excellent location in the heart of Malmesbury.
General review: Suited our purpose perfectly. Our rooms opened onto the carpark which could have been a problem if going to bed earlier but as we did not return from a friend's party until after midnight they worked very well.
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