A guest staying at a plush Edinburgh city centre hotel has fumed about the overcooked waffles at breakfast and the long wait times throughout their stay.
The tourist from Ireland stayed during the first week of February and despite having a positive experience while checking in, slammed the hotel for an array of incidents throughout the trip.
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These included waiting a long time to get a bill brought to their table, and a disappointing experience at the buffet breakfast. Bosses at the Sheraton Grand in Festival Square have since apologised.
The frustrated visitor wrote: "Stayed here for a night and it was a very disappointing experience. Checkin was friendly and welcoming - any positives stopped after this.
"Room certainly not 5* with the phone not working, no coffee machine, no information booklet, tatty stained and torn tent cards on the tables and Gilchrist and Soames toiletries that you would get in any 3* hotel.
"The bar was a disaster having to flag waiting for staff down for service and then waiting 15 minutes for a drink. Had to request the bill three times over a 30-minute period as no one brought it down with one saying it wasn’t their section. Then it took another attempt to pay as they forgot to bring the credit card machine."
They continued: "The worst though was breakfast. Queue up as far as the concierge desk by the front door. When we go to the desk the manager brought us down to an annexe room at the back of the restaurant.
"As she was about to sit us another guest interrupted and asked for an order to be taken. The manager turned her back on us and took the order while we were left standing.
"Once the order for the other person was taken we were told to sit down and told it was a buffet. We also had to flag someone down for tea and coffee as no one came for our order."
The guest was also seething over the standard of the breakfast buffet.
They said: "The breakfast buffet was not good. Ran out of cereal bowls and had to wait, ran out of plates and had to wait and got cold plates. The scrambled eggs were runny verging on raw. The milk was on the overside of the room to the cereals which makes no sense.
"The waffles were so overcooked and hard. The toaster wasn’t even a proper conveyor like most hotels and took an age to toast the bread. They ran out of butter portions and had to cut butter and put it out uncovered in bowls which were really unhygienic."
Finally, they fumed: "In the end, we had enough, went upstairs, packed and checked out on the Marriott app to avoid any further bad service.
"Overall this is a 5* hotel that charges 5* prices. If I got this service in a 3* hotel charging 3* prices I’d be accepting of that. But please do not masquerade as something you are not. I will not return and will not recommend it."
A manager responded to the review and wrote: "I would like to thank you for finding the time to leave such detailed feedback regarding your experience.
"I am sorry to hear that your stay was not what you would expect. In particular, I would like to apologise for the breakfast that you experienced, as I was in charge of that shift.
"It is very disappointing to hear that our breakfast left such a bad impression on you, as I can assure you it was not our typical order of service.
"On this particular, we served over 300 guests and it was the busiest breakfast we have had for the last few months. My team worked really hard to serve every customer and get everyone seated as soon as possible.
"I have taken into account your points regarding omissions during the service and passed them to the Management team. I hope you will give us another try and visit us again sometime."
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The Sheraton Grand is a luxury city centre hotel and spa averaging four and a half stars on TripAdvisor. Other guests have credited the business after enjoying their stay.
One customer praised the staff and wrote: "First time in Edinburgh I always travel late due to business and not had many good experiences till I arrived at your hotel.
"Marco man on reception was outstanding rest of the hotel and stay were okay but the welcome I got and the information were great il be using Sheraton more often so looking forward to coming again."
Another said: "The staff went above and beyond for us. Arriving at breakfast on the ‘birthday girl’s day, they had festooned our table with balloons, a happy birthday sign and stars on the tablecloth.
"Although these were supplied by us, they offered to put them up and made sure we had a wonderful experience. Our enjoyment of this incredible hotel did not end there.
"The concierge team were on hand as soon as we arrived to enquire about our plans and offered lots of excellent advice on where to go and when."
While one added: "One of our favourite hotels to stay in whilst in the capital. Modern and beautiful with great big rooms and a lovely Bar / Restaurant, but the highlight for us is the wonderful spa and hydro-pool facilities we can not fault the place."
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