Radisson Blu Hotel, Letterkenny — Hotel in County Donegal

Raddison Blu Hotel managers temper tantrum

My wife and I were travelling on business and had been staying at the Radisson Blu in Letterkenny Ireland for just under two weeks when I caught the flu and became very congested. I'm asthmatic and congestion is a problem. My wife ran the shower for me to get up a steam, hoping a hot shower and steam would offer some relief. The hotel wasn't built with showers, instead a shower head is attached to a metal hose that is attached to the water main. After my wife turned the water on to run; a small rip in the metal shower hose was broke up and unknown to us, water shot out across the floor and into the hall. We shut the water off and mopped up the spilled water with towels and called the front desk, told them the problem, asked to have the shower fixed and to have new towels brought up to the room. The clerk said he would and that was the last we heard from him. Three hours later, I phoned the reception again and asked for a repairman and clean towels. The repairman arrived, fixed the shower head and left. Several minutes later a furious hotel manager called. She made three points in rapid succession. She was charging us $200 for the damage done by the faulty hose, there were two persons in a room booked for one and she was charging for the second person with penalties and that her workman had informed her that I was ill with the flu and did I want to see a doctor? I was taken aback by the verbal assault and the invasion of privacy and general obnoxiousness of it all. I told her, no, I didn't want to see a doctor. She said that it was not in the best interest of the other hotel guests to allow a sick person to "Carry on" in the hotel. I told her we were leaving the hotel that day so it wasn't an issue. I phoned my wife who was at her consulting site and told her about the manager's abrasive call. She called the manager and tried to explain that the shower hose was broken. The manager replied that "You and your husband are telling two different stories so we'll get you both in the same room and get the story straight" They agreed to meet at 5:00 that afternoon. I phoned the manager and told her I wanted the broken hose present as well as the workman who fixed the hose. That blew her fuse. She went off on me. She snapped that the workman had taken the hose with him and had left the property for the day and, she informed me, I was not to tell her what to do in her hotel. I asked her to calm down. She replied in a manner that made me think she was speaking for the benefit of someone else she said "You are raising your voice at me" "No one has raised their voice at you" I replied "I have Streep throat, I can barely talk," "In that case" she snapped "You are being aggressive towards me and I feel threatened by your mannerism" I told her she was being aggressive I was simply defending myself. She hissed something and hung up. Several seconds later she called back and told me that check out was past noon and I was to leave the hotel "immediately" I explained that we had arranged for a late checkout and we were leaving the hotel in four hours away, that I had a temperature, the chills and a breathing problem and I needed to rest before a four hour ride to Dublin. Her reply was that I was to vacate the room or that she would arrange with the local authorities to take me out of the...

We were only there for a couple of days on a Groupon Deal, from our daughters, but we were treated really very well. On arrival at Reception they realised I was disabled and have to use a Walking Stick (on a good day, Crutches on a bad day and Stay in bed on pretty much Every other Day - just to be closer to the bathroom and be more comfortable in Bed, just for ease and being able to get comfortable, but..) When they noticed they ask me how far I could walk - which is No distance without being in Pain ! So they worked out a room that was closer to the Elevator. This worked out well for several reasons !

1. Closer to the Lift !
2. Closer to the Bar and Restaurant !
3. Closer to the Pool ! So we were quite happy with a few short walks and staying in the Hotel for Breakfast - Lots of choice, from just fruit salad to cooked Irish Breakfast - with plenty of tea and coffee, breads etc. We took fruit and tea-bags, milk and sugar back up to our room for me to relax and read after having a nice long Shower, Sh & Shave ! While Josie went to the pool - which she was enjoying So much, I thought she had dozed off in the Sauna !! Dinner's were really very nice indeed -especially with the 'Free' bottle of wine ! The food was of such a high standard that it was the kind of Restaurant you would go out to with friends or family or a 'special occasion' just because it's so good. Rooms were very clean and tidy and quite big enough for 2 for even a Week. Bed was Huge! - being "shortish" people, we felt like 2 kids in their parents Bed ! The Housekeeping were happy enough just to take wet towels and such and let us be as tidy or messy as We wanted. There was a smallish @28ins flat screen TV - but only a worry if you're a Telly-addict. We'd been moved room to closer to the Lift, which put us at the back - which was quiet, but lacked any great views. But again, it wasn't why we were there! In fact I never brought any Cameras at all, except for the one's on our phones. Which led us - while taking a few pics on lovely chairs, of furniture and pictures - to meet a very nice couple from Scotland, taller and just over 10yrs older than ourselves, with 8 more years on the Marriage clock and like ourselves with 4 adult children (we have 4 girls, while they had 3 girls & 1 boy ) We all swapped phones for pics and went down for a few drinks and teas and swapped stories about traveling and trips. They'd done the opposite to us and went abroad when younger and were now holidaying closer to home - but quite a lot in Ireland, as the Groupon Deals were better, plus they were able to use their +60 Travel Cards, so they were having a great time later in life. They were a lovely couple and their Groupon Trips kept them fresh and happy and they loved Ireland because, as they said, they could meet people in a lift, and end up having dinner with half a family of people out for the night and be treated like part of the whole family. It wasn't a surprise, they were very nice, friendly people who could fit in with anybody or group of people. Plus the lovely atmosphere of the Hotel had the effect of creating a friendly, happy aura. Staff were very good - happy and helpful and made even a short stay was a nice and relaxing wee break. Would highly recommend, and be very happy to go back...

Our experience in this hotel was ruined by a woman (seemed to be a manager of some sort) who I unfortunately didn’t get a name of. In any instance with her, she was rude, disrespectful, and inconsiderate of paying customers. Our friends joined us for a meal and drinks multiple nights during our stay who lived close by, and spent a lot of money. We would have 2/3 drinks max per night and head off into the town, so as you can imagine we wouldn’t be causing havoc or trouble in anyway. On one particular night, we were in and out of the smoking area, like other guests and previous nights there was no trouble. We were seated right next to these doors, that were frequently used day to night in the restaurant. She proceeded to walk over and shout at us not to use those doors anymore as ‘alarms’ were going off, even though they were constantly used. When asked about this and why, she said they were emergency doors and not for our convenience. I realised very quickly that she was very argumentative and avoided any conversation with her because there really was no talking to her. On the other hand, the couple joined with us, who had full right to question her further as she was especially rude to them were told to leave the premises as they ‘weren’t guests in the hotel’. Before leaving the hotel my friend went to use the bathroom facility and she refused to let her use them, she followed them both to their car and shouted in the window ‘are you leaving’, and harassed them the entire time… for what? Using a door that was ok to use by others every other night and the nights after the incident (we stayed 4 nights). She initiated the argumentative interaction, yet she blamed my friend for it. I also seen on 3 other occasions, this woman treat other groups of people this way so she must clearly hate her job and people in general. We couldn’t have been a quieter group of people, and were always polite and thanked the staff. The treatment we got was as if we were destroying property or extremely drunk. I dreaded any interaction with her and couldn’t even look her in the eye for fear she would kick us out, as she seemed unpredictable. She worked most nights between the 20th - 23rd of June and was on the door some nights to let us back into our rooms.

The bar staff were very friendly and one particular man on the door one evening was very kind and apologetic when asked for ID and searching for it in my bag. This particular woman just overshadowed all the good...