Guests at a hotel have been accused of being 'troublemakers' by the hotel's owners, who have a track record of hitting back at criticism.
The couple, who have asked to remain anonymous, have spoken out about their "horrendous" stay at Minster Garth hotel in Hull.
The independently-owned guesthouse has been mired in controversy for years following bad reviews, Hull Daily Mail reported.
Back in 2017 a sign reportedly hung over its door which read: "Women are not welcome".
The owners have been quick to push back against bad press, stating that all those who post on a "trashy review site" should be "ashamed of themselves".
Despite the reviews, one couple thought that they would give the guesthouse a try for themselves.
"We stayed at Minster Garth the other night after looking for somewhere in Beverley," the couple explained.
"We had seen that the owners had advised people 'not to take any notice of the harsh reviews', so we thought we would give it a go.
"Well, it was just horrendous. There was paper hanging off the wall and a crack in the window - I didn't dare open it in case it shattered and sent glass everywhere.
"I've never been in a hotel before that has extension leads with wires running across the floor. The TV was balanced on top of the fridge for goodness' sake.
"The room was also unclean and we noticed that there was only one towel on the bed."
Unhappy with the state of their room, they message the owners, only to wait until the following morning to hear back.
"We messaged them again, before finally getting through the next morning, when we asked if we could have a partial refund," they continued.
"The lady on the phone told us that it 'wasn't her department', and we thought, but you're a family-run business - how many departments can there be?"
After learning that the member of staff they were speaking to was in London for the weekend, the couple asked why they did not have a night porter or someone on standby in case of emergencies.
What followed was a string of messages that the couple claimed was the worst customer service they'd ever experienced.
The the staff member asked them: "So why do you want a refund? How much compensation is due for only 1 towel? £2.50? I guess you are very young."
They then went on to deny the refund, calling the couple "troublemakers".
The staff member continued: "As I said, you are a troublemaker. You are ruining my weekend away in London with family and you booked the cheapest room in Beverley and the only thing wrong was you only had one towel.
"I repeat, you are a troublemaker. Go away and ruin someone else's weekend."
After reiterating they had never been spoken to so disrespectfully as paying customers, the couple went on to explain that it was not only the missing towel that was below standard.
They also listed the broken window, visible wires from extension leads, poor quality furnishings, and the unclean room.
"We just want to stop other innocent human beings from making the same mistake," the couple said.
"I would hate for anyone else to be spoken to the way we were."
The owner of the hotel said that they have a "very strict cleaning regime" and that "every room is cleaned and hoovered once a guest has been in."
"We only became rude with this customer after they had started to be rude to us," they added.
"They also purposefully unplugged the TV booster in their room which provides television signal for half the rooms in the guesthouse, meaning that other guests were without TV signal.
"I guess this just goes to prove that she is, indeed, a troublemaker."
