Warning for Virtuoso Travel Advisors: The hype is one thing, the reality is quite another - Not Recommended
To Virtuoso and all other luxury travel advisors, here is a factual summary of my experience with Estelle Manor.
I’d never recommend them again.
Based on the facts you decide.
INCOMPETENT RESERVATIONS TEAM:
I spoke with their reservation team and asked for three rooms: one for two adult parents, then one for 20 and 16 year-old male siblings, and one for an eighty year old grandmother and her 19-year-old grand daughter.
Based on this party configuration, the hotel gave me three rooms in the manor house.
Later, by chance I discovered that these rooms only had double beds. Since the hotel had been given the details of the party make-up and their ages this was an odd recommendation. At the very least I’d have expected them to mention on the call and in writing the fact that their manor house rooms had exclusively double beds.
I brought this to the hotel’s attention and they suggested a combination of a Suite in the manor house + one of their Woodland Cabins about 10 minutes walk away. They confirmed in writing that both rooms offered twin beds.
NOT ON THE LIST:
Because I was not at all confident about this hotel, I decided to visit it personally for lunch on the day of the clients’ arrival. Of course, on arrival at the gate the staff had zero knowledge of our reservation and made us feel like second class citizens whilst they spoke to whoever…
FOLLOW-UP:
Once allowed in, I went to visit the Woodland cabin in advance of the client’s arrival. There I discovered that in both rooms the beds had been made as double beds.
Then, when I asked them to remake them as twins as requested, I was told the only one of the rooms could be made as a twin – far from ideal for either the brothers or the 80-year old grandmother and her granddaughter.
INCOMPETENCE GUEST SERVICES:
A couple of days later I told the hotel that I wanted to pay for the clients’ final dinner as a surprise for them. I offered credit card details to make this surprise as slick and simple as possible.
The day the clients checked out I received an email from the hotel saying that the clients had been charged for their final dinner but that the hotel would refund them as long as I paid a separate payment link they sent me.
I was puzzled as to why the charge would be put on the clients’ account since I’d paid for the original hotel booking AND I’d offered card details to pay for the dinner. In short what was meant to be a nice surprise turned into confusion and tedious admin for us and the client. The hotel's lack of finesse eluded poor J.W who was just focused on getting the payment taken car of.
I wrote to my contact KDS at the hotel to express my concern about the rooming issue and never received any follow-up from her or the hotel’s GM.
Other Google Reviews are spot on about this place.
“The hype is one thing, the reality is quite another.”
“This place is Butlins for wanabees.”
From the minute I walked in at 13h00 on Sunday the 1st August, the place felt disorganised, stressy and chaotic. The pool was rammed with people and it was no better on the Monday or Tuesday.
As another reviewer commented:
“They have 100 or so rooms + members - so good luck trying to find 2 square inches in their 23 m pool. It seems like they want to have their £ cake and eat it.
The reassurance of a membership base all year long particularly in the low season at £3750 & £1000 joining fee + hotel guests. As other reviews confirm, the problem is that there's a clear conflict between their two audiences and way too much stress on their facilities, staff and guest experience.
Where most country hotels offer shotguns, here you get air rifles. That's not just their reality it's metaphor for the whole place.”
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A bad guest experience unacceptable, but ignoring the person who brings your serious failings to your attention is rude and unprofessional.