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The Hotels: A Journey

Islander said:
Probably also linked to the inevitable use of the app to unlock room doors, rather than being issued a key card.
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I mean that isn’t a terrible idea so long as they have alternative options for those who want them.

I have no issue with hotels using tech, I just think the check in is a bit clinical for an expensive hotel.
 
Dave said:
I mean that isn’t a terrible idea so long as they have alternative options for those who want them.

I have no issue with hotels using tech, I just think the check in is a bit clinical for an expensive hotel.
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Hilton hotels all offer app based 'digital room keys'. It's just an option to skip the front desk if you prefer.

There are many reasons why it wouldn't be practical as a complete replacement for physical key cards.
 
Indeed Hilton do, I like the DoubleTree Hilton hotels and cant remember the last time I went to reception (aside to get one of the complimentary warm cookies).

With that in mind, they have staff stood near reception telling mobile guests where the lifts are, how to use mobile check in if they aren't familiar and escorting guests to the manned reception if they need. I strongly doubt Towers will do any of this.
 
The Efteling does digital hotel room keys too. It worked well during my stay in December. You can still opt to get a physical key card from reception if you prefer. If merlin can implement a digital system that works just as smoothly then I wouldn’t be against it but the option to get a physical key card should always be there.
 
Craig said:
But did Towers Loving Care really do much to improve things? The reviews had been continually sliding down for a long time prior to that and continued to do so after.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the hotel prices have had to jump up so much because the actual additional spend by guests on resort has dropped so much thanks to the poor product offered:
  • Secret Garden 3 course meal? Well there weren’t even any starters available at one point (is that the case now?), the service was slow as hell - so just grab a main out of necessity and just be out of there. There’s potentially £50+ gone.
  • Few drinks in the bar? Said bar was filthy and queuing for 10 minutes a round means people just grab an early night instead. There’s another £50+ gone.
  • Spending a few more quid while at the theme park? Let’s not bother because I feel like I’ve had my wallet absolutely rinsed as it is.
  • Families returning for a free/discounted stay after the shambles of their last one with multiple issues. The resort are making absolutely nothing from them as a result.
Of course it’s “blunt economics”, but is it sustainable? And surely as fans of the resort we should be giving damn about this regardless? Sure the hotels are busy at peak periods out of necessity for some guests, but is it encouraging them to return? Those return trips are needed in off peak periods, which judging from my visits in recent years and the fact that some hotels are closing altogether in those periods, appear to be falling off a cliff.

Is a stay at the resort resulting in guests promoting the resort (rating their experience a 9 or a 10) to their friends and family? Or is it turning them into detractors (rating their stay a 0-6), actively encouraging them not to bother? It’s why the resort are so obsessed with those KPI kiosks, and why I always say fill them in over anything else. An increasing number of guests who are stating they’ll actively tell people not to visit has a far higher effect than any advertising campaign ever could.
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Whilst I agree with the points your making I think some of this isn't driven by Merlin. There is such a lack of staff available at the moment, since Brexit, that long wait times and cuts have had to be made just to ensure the basics can be filled.

I'm a Stratford upon Avon local and last summer was horrendous. 1000's jobs going, most restaurants were struggling to meet the expected volume, as were the tourist sites, with some even closing in the evening in peak summer due to staff shortages.

It doesn't justify the price increases, but if there aren't enough staff to fulfil everything, then aren't some concenesions best to at least offer a product of sorts?
 
Jb85 said:
Whilst I agree with the points your making I think some of this isn't driven by Merlin. There is such a lack of staff available at the moment, since Brexit, that long wait times and cuts have had to be made just to ensure the basics can be filled.

I'm a Stratford upon Avon local and last summer was horrendous. 1000's jobs going, most restaurants were struggling to meet the expected volume, as were the tourist sites, with some even closing in the evening in peak summer due to staff shortages.

It doesn't justify the price increases, but if there aren't enough staff to fulfil everything, then aren't some concenesions best to at least offer a product of sorts?
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I think that argument only flies if you see the resort making efforts to attract staff. You also missed my later posts which acknowledged that as an issue though:
Craig said:
Probably more than that thanks to the use of agency staff at the moment. Of course I know the hospitality industry is struggling to recruit and accept there was a short term "knee jerk" need to use agencies to keep the cogs turning. But, the resort reopened post covid long ago now, yet I've seen little in terms of changes to encourage people into those roles. In the case of the now Aramark positions, the incentive to work there for young people - the very people they need to work those unsociable hours, has been reduced thanks to the drop in pay.
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Craig said:
Yup agency staff is the quick fix, which in the short term was fine. The agency handled the recruitment (they’d already have staff on the books ready to go) and in general they should have already had food hygiene training and service experience , so are ready to work straight away or at least in quicker time than direct recruitment.

But we’re now so far along from both Brexit and Covid that there should’ve been some sort of long term plan to wean themselves off relying on them so much. It wouldn’t happen overnight of course, but at least there’d be a path to utilising them less. As discussed on the Aramark topic though, I don’t see anything that’s made the roles more attractive to those in the area.
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Fine if you need to make an adjustment to offer as you put - a "product of sorts" - I can accept that for a time post Covid, even places like Europa-Park have been doing that. But you can't substantially reduce that product while literally skyrocketing the rates to stay. That does nothing to encourage guests that the hotels are value for money and worth returning for another stay in future. As I mentioned, word of mouth is a killer for businesses and I think they're really underestimating the impact this can have. You only have to take a look at the Facebook comments on the park's resort stay posts (some of which have been posted in here) to see how this is already taking hold. Yes there's always some newer first time visitor families, but that pool is reducing because a) the cost is going sky high and b) more and more people will know someone who has visited and is now actively encouraging others that they know not to bother.

Back to staffing for a moment, nothing is going to change until they address the reasons why people don't want employment at the resort. Pay is obviously a massive factor - and cutting it a la Aramark certainly isn't going to help in the first place. But what about the practicality of working at Towers? Can the resort help staff live nearby? How can they make it easier to get into work? It's no good having staff transport when it's hideously inflexible, very infrequent and leaves staff with just a few hours back at home for sleep before heading back out for the bus back to work again. Can they rework shifts so they have a better work/life balance so the job is more attractive in the first place? As I mentioned, I don't think anything is a quick fix, but I've seen little to no effort to get onto any sort of path to even try at the moment.
 
Stayed in the luxury tree house on the 26th it was £700 split between a group of us otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford it, we stayed in the silver birch tree house.

First of all I'll talk about the service and complimentary things we received.
We had a free Costa upon arrival at 2pm, we all have annual passes and the one who didn't had a 2 day pass anyway and we all received 2 x 4 fast tracks for both days for wickerman, smiler, runaway mine train and gangsta granny, we went into the main hotel at 10am and picked these up so we could use them for the first day.

We also received free of charge a hamper of treats and a Alton towers cake as it was recently 2 of our friends birthdays we had 2 bottles of prosecco and a bottle of Rose.
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There's the cake and the treats hamper, the cake was actually really tasty.
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The tree house was lovely, really liked the upstairs balcony, the downstairs balcony with the hot tub which was really nice the hot tub definitely had some good use out of it.

Only issue there was is that the dishwasher was broken but that was hardly the end of the world and they did tell us on arrival and said if it was any issue we could have had a different tree house.

They had a Xbox series x to play on which was a nice touch however only had 1 game which was a collection of retro Sega games.

We were taken over to our tree house from the main hotel on a golf buggy which was decent.

Overall besides the food which I already mentioned on the Aramark page the whole experience was very memorable, made some good memories and was a great way to get my friends together and have a good time.
 
zeock said:
Interesting. So the tree houses now have Xbox Series X's instead of PS4's then?
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Atleast the one I stayed in had a Xbox series x, might have brought a game or 2 along if I would have known but to be honest we were happy listening to music, having a drink, chilling in the hot tub, obvs you can always go to the entertainments or bars which I believe shut around 10pm.
 
George W said:
Atleast the one I stayed in had a Xbox series x, might have brought a game or 2 along if I would have known but to be honest we were happy listening to music, having a drink, chilling in the hot tub, obvs you can always go to the entertainments or bars which I believe shut around 10pm.
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I stayed in Silver Birch in July 2022 and it was definitely a PS4 then. Sounds like a nice upgrade if you're into consoles! The treehouses are honestly very nice, but extremely expensive.
 
Breakfast this morning in SG was disgusting.

I refused to even touch the sausages that looked horrific. Mushrooms were passable as was bacon.

Tomatoes were green on some and the scrambled egg was quite clearly powdered mix. Rank.

Latte was just brown water. Best thing was the 🍌 that came out.

Compared to thorpe park Breakfast 4 weeks ago ( which was actually good with different options) it really was just awful this morning.

We opted to stay on site as it worked out slightly cheaper each to stay with MAP than it did to drive off site and use more fuel to get to the Uttoxeter premier inn.

After driving 4 hours to get here I didnt wanna drive anymore.
 

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Rob said:
I see hash browns are back in place of those hash brown bite things, that's something. Those sausages look worse than usual though, which is saying something.
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Absolutely yes... they were just awful.

Black pudding at TP yet not here
 
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