Best Western Plus Nottingham Westminster Hotel

I booked a two-day Christmas break with my wife, but serious health problems affecting a very close family member meant we couldn't go. I explained the situation in several emails replying to messages from Best Western. None bounced back, but I never got an answer. I understand the Nottingham hotel wasn't responsible for receiving those messages, though the lack of response still reflects on the business as a whole. After the booking, the hotel asked for feedback. I shared what had happened and included proof of the emails, which had apparently been read. The person who replied was sympathetic, but said they couldn't help because I hadn't contacted the hotel directly, and told me I wasn't entitled to a refund. I hadn't asked for one. I was hoping for a little flexibility given the circumstances. The offer was free breakfast if I booked again, which I won't do. The people who received my emails and the hotel could both have shown more compassion. The manager followed company policy, but customer service and compassion take more than simply sticking to the rules. I'm very disappointed.

The breakfast was good, but that was the bright spot. This place feels shabby, dirty, old and dated, so I don't understand its four-star rating. The room information is ancient: the phone is gone, but the card listing numbers to call is still there. There's no food or snacks apart from breakfast, which even some two-star hotels provide. The doors don't close automatically when you leave, and there's no extra lock on the inside, so security is a concern. The rating needs reviewing soon. I've stayed in three-star places that were better.

We felt rushed and disturbed when staff knocked on the door before checkout, as if they were trying to get us out early. That was really disrespectful, and I wouldn't stay again. We'd had to pay to upgrade because of heaven parks on Booking.com, but the upgraded room still felt like a standard one. The bathroom water swung between boiling and cold, the TV was nowhere near the bed, and the room was so hot that turning down the heating didn't work.

The breakfast and service earn the one star. We booked an executive room and checked in at 2pm on Saturday. From then until we complained to the manager at 6pm, there was banging, cutting, hammering and drilling in the room next door. Nobody had told us about the construction, and we weren't offered a room change when we arrived. The room was large but cold even with the heating on, and we could hear a lot of outside noise. The Wi-Fi didn't work in our room until they restarted the router. There wasn't any coffee in the room either.