Braeside Guest House — Hotel in Great Britain

UPDATED DOWN TO 1 STAR after B&Bs response... The Police never removed us but supported us to leave safely. Chris told them he was happy for us to stay. We (6 people in 3 rooms) decided to leave as we had no trust left and were frightened to go out for dinner. Chris (🤥) was telling us, Macs Adventure and the police different stories...

ORIGINAL REVIEW:- A nice B&B with a lovely young female receptionist BUT a horrendous 'Duty Manager' called Chris (Mr 🤥) ....

Having booked two ensuite doubles and one twin ensuite through international tour agency, Macs Adventure (MA), we arrived tired after our first day walking the West Highland Way. We were taken to our rooms, two twins and a double!

We queried this and confirmed on our Macs App it was two doubles and a twin. The professional reception checked saying they were full and no other doubles available and it was out of her hands.

Enter stage right Duty Manager Chris saying 'you asked to speak to me'. Explaining the situation he said there had been a mix up with MA on the booking. (Untrue) He says there is nothing he can do as they are fully booked. I said I had contacted MA and they would be calling him to discuss it.

I update MA who tell me there is no way it can be a 'mix up' as the booking is correct on their system and it is an automated process with the provider.

We then find a bathroom door lock isn't working so I have to ring DM Chris to fix it. He tells me the bathroom door doesn't have a lock but he'll have someone look at it the next day. (when we have left) 🙄

For clarity I message him with pictures of the door clearly showing a lock (see attached). He replies with the same message 5 times saying, 'it doesn't have the mechanism inside but worth noting' Eh! I ask him not to contact us unless he can give us some good news about a double room or compensation.

I receive an email from MA saying they have had an apology from DM Chris ADMITTING it was their fault.

A knock on the door and it's DM Chris. I ask him why he lied saying it was a mix up when it was clearly their fault which they have now admitted. He says not to worry we will get a refund and we can get our things together to leave! 🤯

I say 'I don't think so' and ask him to speak to MA closing and locking the door. Our family in another room hear him say 'that will be right, we'll see'

I inform MA who call to say they are trying to call the manager but will look for alternative arrangements in this small village!

20-30 mins later while our stress levels increase with concern we get another knock on the door. It's the police, yes you read right DM Chris has called the police to evict us for being unhappy at not getting our booking correct.

He provides some story to the police to say that he lives off site and worried we are going to trash the room tonight. 😆 But also tells the police he is happy for us to stay! Eh! 🤯 What a waste of police time.

We explain to the police what has happened, we have walked to this location and are being flung out when they have made the mistake. We no longer trust DM Chris so don't want to stay and hope MA will find alternative accommodation for us, our kids and elderly in-laws.

Thankfully MA find us 3 rooms of the right combination in the Buccleugh Arms 5 minutes away so we pack up and leave. When never see DM Chris again - thankfully. 😁 The police are waiting outside to check we haven't trashed the rooms! 🤯

You have been warned... If you are walking the WHW and are booked into this property, the BRAESIDE GUEST HOUSE just hope that nothing goes wrong as they don't give a s*e about you and have the attitude that paying guests should be thankful they are getting a room for the night.

Having worked as a Maintenance Manager of a 4* hotel, I politely suggest that DM Chris is sent on a customer service training course and stops lying to paying...

Of all the places we stayed on the West Highland Way, this was the only one that we found disappointing. Ignore the pretty pictures of the main house on the website as you won't be staying there! Even though we clearly booked as a family, we were alloted rooms in two seperate buildings out the back. The double room we were given was in the 'pod' which is a tiny static caravan with a fold-out bed, no privacy and unbearably hot. That is it not a proper room was not made transparent during booking. It was very clean though. The other niggle was the lukewarm welcome. There are lots of rules on the door about how and when you can check in. Even though we obeyed them, all we were told to come back as somebody else was being checked in. That was OK but we then had a long delay raising the owners who we had to phone and frankly they seemed a lot more interested in drinking with friends out the back than dealing with pesky customers. Didn't have any other interactions other than that as breakfast is offsite somewhere else (and was OK). Everywhere else was so welcoming along the WHW, maybe it is just that Braeside falls short in comparison vs being terrible per se but I think not offering a proper room is poor.

Quick response to Braeside's response.

1. First up, thanks for taking the time to respond.
2. We were definitely booked in as a family and not four adults and indeed you gave as a double and a twin for the kids - just in different buildings - so you must have looked at the wrong booking in your reply. Outside of your static caravan pod double, we were given a twin room - it wasnt another double. And there wasn't a balcony per se (double doors in the sky, opening onto the car parking area, but I can see how you might upsell it). The twin room was fine though so no complaints there. Also, there was no fridge full of cool drinks in the Pod, alas. We were given some milk for tea though which was appreciated.
3. "None of us can recall problems with check-in that day". Sure, perhaps 'cos there was no-one around to notice anything (despite the cameras, the phone number and the knocking)? If you had 3 staff on hand, why couldn't we have been checked in immediately rather than being asked to come back? Eventually, after coming back, we wandered round the back of the house and found someone. Their first response was to tell someone else to deal with us as they were having a drink. It wasn't exactly bad, just very different and with a bit more friction/DIY to the welcome we were given after a long walk elsewhere.

Anyway, hope you work it out and good luck...

n the first half of September of 2022 we had the pleasure of staying at the Braeside Guest House while we walked the West Highland Way Not only were the facilities very clean and up to date, Chris, as a host, went above and beyond. He hefted our luggage up to the rooms before we arrived even though it wasn’t required by the tour organizer.

He did everything he could not only to make our stay at his guest house comfortable but also enhance our walk. This included giving my otherwise vigorous 84 year old father, who was more challenged than we expected him to be, a ride to Balmaha so he could skip the trek up Conich Hill. This was above and beyond, but then Chris insisted on entertaining my father for hours the following day and providing a great deal more transport so that he could also skip the unexpectedly rough and remote section of the trail between Rowardennen and Ardlui.

Chris refused to accept much of a gratuity and when I offered to pay him for all the transportation he would only accept the estimated cast of petrol, which I gladly handed over. Chris simply said that we had come a long way to make a wonderful walk and he wanted to do everything he could to make our experience the best it could be. Our level of enjoyment and satisfaction was important to him not only for his business but also for all the other businesses who served all of the walkers of the West Highland Way.

I don’t know how to nominate Chris for any awards for his service, but he deserves several special accolades. He single-handedly elevated this trip to first place among our collective travel service experiences. I have never in all my travels experienced this level of hospitality and empathy. I have experienced many episodes of excellent service over the years, but this was above and beyond them all.

Scott -...