Holiday Inn Dumfries by IHG — Hotel in Great Britain

We arranged a funeral tea in one of the hotel’s function rooms and stayed a couple of nights as we don’t live locally.||It transpires that the team arranging the funeral tea were not based at the hotel and whilst I thought everything was agreed there were subsequently a few communication issues which arose which we could have done without in the circumstances.||There is plenty of car parking onsite, including around the rear of the building.||Our room (#217) had been agreed at a special B&B rate, as was a room for our daughter who was only staying for one night. However upon checking-in staff at reception advised that we didn’t have breakfast included in the booking and asked us to pay for this separately as the “team” were not contactable. There was also some confusion when our daughter checked-in separately the next day. The issue was subsequently resolved when I contacted the events manager a few days later.||Our room was spacious, quiet and comfortable and although the ensuite could probably have done with a touch-up décor-wise the shower was perfectly functional so no issue. Our daughter’s room was apparently fine.||We met up with other family members later and had drinks and a meal in the restaurant on our first night which was pleasant. Breakfast likewise was served, buffet style, in the restaurant however the member of staff on duty was obliging as regards obtaining several items to order from the kitchen which was most appreciated. My wife, daughter and I had drinks and an evening meal in the restaurant on the second evening which were also very good.||At the funeral tea I was surprised to learn that the food was placed in a passageway used by the public next to the function room rather than in the room itself. Soup, sausage rolls and sandwiches were provided however the sandwich fillings were so thin it was difficult to distinguish what the contents were. The events team had indicated that a drinks order would be taken for guests upon arrival however this hadn’t been communicated to staff and the family had to make arrangements to get these from the bar ourselves where a tab was set up for further drinks required. In the meantime some guests had already purchased drinks themselves. Tea and coffee were self-serve from a machine. The hotel were able to provide equipment to project family photos in the background which was of interest to those attending and was one of the agreed arrangements which worked smoothly.||Overall we found the accommodation satisfactory, the evening meals very good however the breakdown in communication and the sandwiches offered at the funeral tea were a disappointment. To add salt to the wounds when checking-out staff were having issues with the new computer system and we were delayed for a very...

My partner and I booked the 3 night New Year break and overall were disappointed. I have previously mentioned that the hotel appeared overbooked such that the staff could not cope. As well as the weekend break patron there was a coach party.

Night 1: room environment control was not working effectively (it was cold!); reported to reception who stated there were problems and we were given another duvet!

We were told to go for dinner at 7.00pm and found that the restaurant was full, there was a hasty table put together in a side room, it was set with basic cutlery and we had to ask for water, side plates, condiments and other accoutrements. Later in the evening we were told that room only guests had arrived unexpectedly for dinner. We paid for DBB and expected to be in the restaurant; prior planning should have ensured this was the case.

Day/Night 2: breakfast to be kind was a total shambles.. The whole hotel was trying to be fed from a small servery area in which the food content was continually running out.. To compound this issue the kitchen appeared very slow in replenishing the food. Also with the number of guests again their seemed to be staff issues with no one available to clear and reset tables as they became available. We had to do this ourselves. In the end we took what was currently available and didn't wait for what was missing.

The Hogmanay Dinner was good and there was an improvement in the apparent management of the event, I'm not sure if a more experienced member of staff attended on the night.

Day/Night 3: we abandoned breakfast because the service was so poor and came back later for brunch. Dinner that evening was back to being poor service wise, rumour had it there had been an issue in the kitchen. Overall the food at the dinner was good but service was again fragmented. Our starters came at separate times, I had finished before my partner received hers, her main course was cold and had to be returned, in the meantime I had eaten mine.

Overall: a very disappointing experience, an expensive experience. In addition to the comments made we felt the bar was very overpriced for the facilities rendered. The one positive was that my partners GF requirements were catered for effectively.

I know that you will have received a number of other critical and negative feedback reports as there were a significant number of very discontented and upset people.

As a footnote I worked in the service industry for over 20 years, in my view this event needs to have a detailed end to end review of what was offered against what was delivered; the two are currently poles apart. So, if you have an overarching service review team, they need to...

What can I say that is negative about this hotel.................NOTHING.|When we booked this hotel I was unsure of what we were going to see.|The Hotel is situated in 85 acres of mowed lawns and gardens once a Top Hospial built in the 1800s by The grounds and landscaped gardens are free and accessible to the public all year round. The Crichton is a vibrant business and academic community with over 100 businesses and 5 academic partners currently located here.||The setting, facilities and location make The Crichton a stunning and popular choice for weddings, conferences, concerts, the arts, exhibitions, meetings, social and charity events, business, education and leisure breaks and offers some of the highest quality, flexible and affordable commercial property and meeting spaces in Scotland.The story of the Crichton begins in 1823 with the death of Dr James Crichton of Friar’s Carse who left to his widow, Elizabeth, the then considerable sum of around £100,000 to be used for charitable purposes. With the help of her friend, the Rev Henry Duncan, Minister of Ruthwell Parish and founder of the Trustee Savings Bank, Elizabeth attempted to endow a College of University status in Dumfries ‘for the education of poor scholars’.|The rooms are modern comfortable and very clean.|The selection of food available in their modern restaurant is fantastic the breakfast in the morning was the best i have come across from all the hotels i have frequented but when booking hotel room book with breakfast included as its around £18 PP and the service from all the staff with a nice smile and warmly welcomed.|They have a lounge area with television books,games and alo dog friendly.|Areas are available in the restaurant for evening meals and breakfast that are also dog friendly.|85 acres of ground to exercise yourself or your dogs win win.|We attended the church on Sunday which was from 9.15am to 10.45am it was a small congregation but we were so warmly welcomed by all and we were given a history tour of the church which was so nice but amazing, we took plenty photographs inside and outside. This is a must to see the craftsmanship of the internal and external facade all masonary and woodwork internal and external are from a local...