Do I have grounds to take this further? Incredible noise and mould in a hotel room

fimonkey

My partners mother booked a night's in accommodation on  17.12.21 for my partner and I, I was checking in first, he was joining me much later. The booking was in my partner's mothers name but I paid the full amount as I checked in. The cost was £75.00

When I arrived to check in there was an immensely loud bar adjacent to the check-in desk.
When I checked in I wasn't given a receipt, nor the wifi code, nor any information on checkout, I was given a key and told where my room was.
When I got to the room the noise from the nightclub downstairs was incredible! I recorded it on my phone. There was a lot of mould on the window pane in the room (I have a picture), and the windows were painted shut. The bathroom window (the only ventilation to the room) wouldn't lock, and opened directly onto a flat roof with a fire-escape - so it was not a secure room. The heater in the room was on full, very hot, and would not turn down or off. The room was generally filthy.

I went back to reception to ask if they could move me to another room but I was told it was full. I was also told that the nightclub/bar goes on until 3am and this is on the booking information (which I did not receive as I hadn't made the booking). 

The night was dreadful! The noise in our room was literally like the nightclub was at the foot of the bed (we recorded this) and it went on until 3.30am with revellers screeching outside.
At 10am the cleaner walked into our room without knocking (check out is advertised as midday) - not sure who was more shocked, her or us! This meant we hasn't got to sleep until 4am, to be woken at 10am, and it was the worst nights sleep ever.

On check out I mentioned this to the receptionist who was not really bothered (she had heard it all before).

I immediately wrote to the hotel with my complaints, they offered me an £20 voucher to eat there in the future. I refused as I never want to go back there, but did reply to say I would accept if the voucher could be transferred to the person who booked the room.

They have not replied to my refusal for 14 days.

1. I would now like to ask for a full refund, do I have grounds for this?
On their website when you look to book a room there is no mention of the nightclub underneath (apparently the receptionist told me this is mentioned on booking.com). My partners mother booked by telephone however and maintains she was not given any terms or conditions or paperwork to confirm the booking.

2. How do I claim this refund if I am entitled to it? What is the section of law I need to know?

3. Who do I send the refund request to (the hotel is part of a chain apparently, so direct to the hotel or the chain)

4. If they continue to ignore me what do I do to take it further (small claims?)

5. Is it worth also contacting environmental health also re: the noise? That room is not fit for habitation (or is there another 'body' I need to contact?)

Thanks in advance

Fi

Upsidedownandaround

1. No.

You paid for a room and you got one so you have no entitlement to a refund.

At best the quality of the accommodation was poor so you have grounds for a complaint which you have made. You could ask for a refund but it sounds like they aren’t inclined to give you one.

The main issue appears to be the noise levels but if you book a room above a pub/nightclub (or in your case have someone else book a random room for you) you have to expect some noise particularly at weekends.

martindow

fimonkey said:

My partners mother booked .....
 I was also told that the nightclub/bar goes on until 3am and this is on the booking information (which I did not receive as I hadn't made the booking).

If this was on the booking information think your partner's mother is at fault not letting you know in advance.  Have you asked her what she received when she made the booking?

fimonkey

Interesting replies thanks you.

@martindow: My partners mother booked by telephone and there was no mention of noise, nor any correspondence re: noise
@Upsidedownandaround: Other than noise the mould was unhealthy, and the room unsecure: - And yes if a room is above a pub you expect noise - but until 3.30am/4am? And noise that is incredibly loud? - would you accept that (it is not mentioned on their own webpages by the way)

I have looked at the Consumer act 2015 which states that a consumer has a right to the satisfaction of basic needs. Including access to basic, essential goods and services such as adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, public utilities, water and sanitation. I would argue that the room did not satisfy the basic need for shelter.

Rather than an opinion, is anyone versed in the Consumer Act and whether it would apply to accommodation please?

Also is there is any other board/body I could complain to?

Thanks for the replies and interaction so far, it is appreciated.

Upsidedownandaround

fimonkey said:

Interesting replies thanks you.

@martindow: My partners mother booked by telephone and there was no mention of noise, nor any correspondence re: noise
@Upsidedownandaround: Other than noise the mould was unhealthy, and the room unsecure: - And yes if a room is above a pub you expect noise - but until 3.30am/4am? And noise that is incredibly loud? - would you accept that (it is not mentioned on their own webpages by the way)

I have looked at the Consumer act 2015 which states that a consumer has a right to the satisfaction of basic needs. Including access to basic, essential goods and services such as adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, public utilities, water and sanitation. I would argue that the room did not satisfy the basic need for shelter.

Rather than an opinion, is anyone versed in the Consumer Act and whether it would apply to accommodation please?

Also is there is any other board/body I could complain to?

Thanks for the replies and interaction so far, it is appreciated.

You stayed in a room above a “nightclub” on the Saturday before Christmas. Someone else for some reason booked this for you. You have no idea what was said when the booking was made and what they were made aware of. You don’t know whether this event was advertised on their website when the booking was made.

A lot of pubs and hotels throughout the country would have had significant noise from events at that time including ones that charge a lot more than £75 for a double on the Saturday before Christmas. You have some responsibility to be aware of where you are staying and whether it is suitable for you.

Mould can be found in a lot of poor quality accommodation it’s not nice but if it was that bad the time to ask for a refund was when you noticed it.

Re the window again the time to raise this is when you noticed it and if you weren’t happy to stay ask for a refund then.

In any event good luck but I think you are wasting your time if you think you are going to get a refund for a room you stayed in weeks ago.

In my opinion you would be better off using it as a learning experience to make sure you do some sort of research on where you are staying in the future. 

k3lvc

Out of interest where was the hotel (I'm assuming UK) and would a reasonable person understand that the location at the price on a Saturday night pre-Xmas would generate noise and an associated reduction in sleep

I stay in many hotels (pre-Covid 100+ nights per year) and complaints are minimal and generally based on whether it met my expectations for the price/location - I've also learnt that if someone else books it I do my own due diligence to understand what to expect

As above you're expectation of a full refund is unrealistic (unless it's a Premier Inn but wouldn't expect one to have a 'nightclub' and would have expected them to deal with it in a better way

onashoestring

Why did you ask your partner’s mother to book the room when you were the one going to pay for it ? 

If you wanted to be sure that it was what you wanted then it would have been better to  research the available hotels yourself and then you could have checked the description/reviews etc.

If you didn’t have time /  to check and book yourself then unfortunately you took the risk that it would not be what you were expecting.

powerful_Rogue

fimonkey said:

Interesting replies thanks you.

@martindow: My partners mother booked by telephone and there was no mention of noise, nor any correspondence re: noise
@Upsidedownandaround: Other than noise the mould was unhealthy, and the room unsecure: - And yes if a room is above a pub you expect noise - but until 3.30am/4am? And noise that is incredibly loud? - would you accept that (it is not mentioned on their own webpages by the way)

I have looked at the Consumer act 2015 which states that a consumer has a right to the satisfaction of basic needs. Including access to basic, essential goods and services such as adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, public utilities, water and sanitation. I would argue that the room did not satisfy the basic need for shelter.

Rather than an opinion, is anyone versed in the Consumer Act and whether it would apply to accommodation please?

Also is there is any other board/body I could complain to?

Thanks for the replies and interaction so far, it is appreciated.

Where exactly does the Consumer Rights act 2015  state that?

onashoestring

powerful_Rogue said:

Where exactly does the Consumer Rights act 2015  state that?

I wondered that too ? 

elsien

Where did your partner’s mother find the hotel information, number and availability?
She may have ended up booking by phone but it might be helpful if you check what websites she looked up initially to find the hotel and what information those give about the nightclub? 

Is the hotel part of a chain or a smaller privately owned place?
Are they accredited to anyone for star ratings? If all else fails, trip advisor if you want to warn other people about the hygiene issues.  

What redress are you actually looking for? However manky the place, you did still stay there so I don’t think an expectation of a full refund is a reasonable one. 

fimonkey

I know what was said when my partners mother booked it, because she has relayed the conversation to me. No mention of noise, or mould, or windows that don't lock, or cleaners walking in on you without knocking etc. Also no mention of this on their website.

Why did I not personally book it? - not sure how this is relevant to this case but to satisfy your curiosity my partners mother was holding a family gathering and thought she was doing us a favour by booking something close to where she had organised the gathering. I am sure those who have replied would never let anyone book accommodation for them, but sometimes it does happen. My boss's PA books accommodation for them frequently as an example.

How did my partner's mother find this place? - again not sure how this is relevant, but she asked around and this place was suggested to her by a neighbour who hadn't stayed there for many many years.

Why didn't we leave? Because the noise became apparent when we returned from the family gathering at midnight, and we are not from the area - there was nowhere else to stay at that time of night. The mould became apparent in the morning when we were dealing with the condensation on the windows.

Why didn't we ask for a refund immediately? Because when we returned the 'reception' area was overrun by bouncers and incredibly drunk people. When we checked out we made our problems known but just needed to get out of there after such a poor sleep. 

It looks like it is a privately owned place on the website, however the email address seems to be a generic email and on companies house the description states 'public houses and bars' (plural)

The town was Sutton Coldfield

Review on trip advisor left, along with many others complaining about the poor state of this supposed accommodation (more 1 stars than 4 or 5).

I feel I have answered your questions. If I haven't then apologies.

No more replies needed as the gist of the replies if that it is my fault. I disagree. As is the nature of a forum we are entitled to opinions.

Thank you for your interactions and kind wishes