Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel, Jersey — Hotel in St. Helier

Jersey is a beautiful island. I have worked there, I have met lots of lovely people there and I have returned there on several occasions during my lifetime. My wife and I had an amazing holiday there in April to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary back in April. This is the reason I wanted to spend last Christmas there with my wife, after what a tough year for us both.

Three years ago we spent Christmas in a newly refurbished hotel (Crowne Plaza), in Stratford-upon-Avon and we were really spoilt there. Whilst the cost of our stay was double the cost of what we spent three years ago, I thought well it was Jersey, it was the Radisson Blu.

We opened the room door and my first thoughts were…..oh no!! When I book a double room, I expect a double bed, not two single beds pushed together liked some cheap hotel saving money. It wasn’t just single bed bases, it was single mattresses and bedding.

The room was lovely and the view as I suspect as all the guest rooms in this hotel, had a lovely view over the marina and sea beyond. Just to explain….I paid extra for a sea view, but it looked as though all the rooms faced the sea and the ‘land view side’, are for various meeting rooms and suites for corporate use.

The main other issue in the room, was lack of information. Sure we were given a brochure about what was happening in Jersey during 2019!!…but there was nothing about what time breakfast or dinner was, nor was there any menus, nor was there any information about hotel facilities that were available. I checked the TV and again nothing about the hotel facilities, just a ‘sales pitch’ video about the parent company and how good their hotels were.

Walking passed the bar, the bar had many trays of dirty glasses on the counter and we both thought that we missed a great evening. Our thoughts turned to frustration when we had to wait some 15 minutes to be seated for our breakfast. When we were eventually seated, we were told where the buffet bar was….but that was it. No immediate offer of tea or coffee and I suppose because of our late arrival….it was just 08.30, there wasn’t much food left to choose from.

We made the most of it….the sourdough bread was delicious. Whilst having our food, I noticed that did not seem to be any routine or team management when it came to running the restaurant. Staff just wandering around, not seeming to be doing anything. Empty tables were not cleared, even though staff walked passed them empty handed. Nobody seemed to be in charge.

With the exception of the reception team, not one member of staff went out of their way to make us feel welcome or special. We went on our way thinking that the attitude was caused by a busy Christmas Eve, evening.

That evening we got dressed up and went for our ‘special Christmas meal’. Sadly more trays of dirty glasses and uncleared empty tables. Yet another lengthy wait whilst, presumably non-residents paid for their meals with cash. Then to our disappointment, there wasn’t a table available for us and we were asked to wait in the bar for a couple of minutes whilst a table was readied. After 15 minutes we were shown to our table. It was a single table placed on the entrance to the restaurant. No frills. Other tables has crackers and other Christmas things that made them look ‘special’.

We were given an A4 sheet of paper…hastily typed it would seem, with a very much poor offering. See photo. I complained and was informed that this is what was being offered. I asked where the traditional offering was and was told that there was a Christmas lunch offered earlier, but she would asked the chef if there was any left for us.

She returned with a couple of plates. On each plate was some slices of dry turkey, soggy roast potatoes, 4 sprigs of asparagus and sump lumps of cranberry jelly. I voiced my opinion of our ‘special meal’. It was not good.

Our checking in and out was friendly,...

Location amazing especially if you have a marina/castle view room. Rooms very clean. Staff very friendly and most of the time very efficient. Let down a couple of times by airport drivers calling hotel to advise pick up would be 30 minutes later than arranged. Getting very anxious when no driver appeared only to find out reception had not passed on the message to me. Breakfast choice from the A La Carte menu forgotten about because person who took the order distracted by chatting to other guests rather than place breakfast order.||FOOD - in general a very poor choice. It is the same menu for lunch as it is for dinner in the evening. There is an exception to this which I will touch on later. The menu is more akin to what would be classed as UK mainland pub grub. Jersey is renowned for its sea food yet the best the Radisson can manage is fish and chips…….really !!!!! One night a week in theme night. The night of my arrival was such a night, yet when a table was booked for evening meal this was not made known. Upon arrival at the dining room at, from recollection about 7.30 I was advised that it was an Asian theme night. The food was laid out buffet style. Food looked very appetising however was cold. Several guests complained at not only the food being cold but also they were neither advised it was a theme night nor given a food option. Finally with some reluctance a member of staff produce the daily ‘pub grub’ menu and warm food was ordered from that by almost the majority of guests in the dining room. ||DECOR - With a number of hotels closing in Jersey due to the down turn in tourism the demographic tends to be towards those middle aged to elderly visiting the hotel. It certainly was during my stay. Why then must the sitting and dining area have only large heavyweight chairs. Wooden legged chairs on a wooden floor do not move easily and the chair arms are very difficult to get hold of and pull in towards the table. It was very common to see elderly people searching for cushions from empty chairs and placing them on their own chairs so that they could sit higher and nearer to the tables. A very simple solution would be to fit felt pads to the bottom of the chair legs not only making it easier to move the chair but also make it a lot quieter rather than dragging chairs across the floor.||GUEST ROOMS -.As previously stated clean and tidy and well appointed. Once again considering the demographic why have such high sided baths in the bathrooms. Supplying a nonslip rubber bath mat is not really the answer. There should be handles on the wall to assist the elderly in and out the bath. Currently the only thing to grab hold of is the towel rail at the end of the bath and a hot towel rail at the side of the bath. Both far from ideal since neither are designed for...

Central areas are very nicely updated and decorated. Bedrooms are not. We booked a superior sea view room but on arrival they had allocated us a standard room and only had one of the 2 of us booked in for breakfast. They sorted the errors but they seemed to be hotel not travel agent issues. The bed was very comfortable but the walls needed a lick of paint, the furniture looked a bit worn and an under powered shower in a bath felt very outdated. Room has a fridge and each floor has a water cooler. You are given glass bottles which you can refill. This was a good and eco friendly facility. House keeping and "engineering" were helpful and fixed our curtains that were falling off the rails and the lights that didn't work. They were also prompt to unlock the safe which has been left inaccessible. I'd wrongly expected a coffee machine and bathrobes but there is a kettle! Sea view is lovely but be aware that having a seaview means room is over the hotel's terrace so if you open the windows it also means noise from below. Pool is nice and hotel gives towels to use there. Steam room and sauna were also very nice. Breakfast was good with a nice range of foods. Coffee machines seemed to be set to very weak coffee. Had to boost my regular americano with an additional esprssso to taste the coffee! Fresh fruit in abundance was much appreciated. Location of hotel is great for sight seeing as it's close to St Helier and also close to the bus station to get out and about sight seeing. Staff were friendly and helpful although reception staff always seemed busy so there was always a wait to speak to...