Today’s unexpected diary entry – I had cause to want to stay a couple of nights in Plymouth so I went to hotels.com to see what I can find and this is what they came up with. The property can be seen here.
The price was reasonable so I forked out for two nights for £110 and ‘signed on the dotted line’. I would have easily spent this per night in Plymouth town itself which has two problems. The first is the general price of hotels and secondly lack of parking at a property and need to find street space which needs to be costed in.
Parking costs can be quite considerable if you don’t find the right place.
My chosen bed and breakfast was about three miles north from the city centre which suited me fine. I normally read the reviews on TripAdvisor and for some reason I failed to do this time, but after making the booking I noticed that someone complained that they could not get breakfast. In other words it was not included although it said it was included on the hotels.com site.
There is one thing that annoys me and that is what I’m offered not fitting in with what I was promised and paid for.
Tips for you when complaining
I decided to take this up with hotels.com and to cut a long story short I was very impressed by the service I received. The story is quite interesting and may help others in their quest. I got the wrong idea by the way that you only paid when you showed up but in fact the individual property has the right to impose its own terms and conditions as did this property when they said ‘no refund’.
So, why I have to pick a hot and sunny morning to spend time on a boring admin task I don’t know but ‘needs must ‘so off we go, fighting through the Q and A and seeking out the virtual assistant.
I referred myself to the virtual agent. I could have had a phone call but I thought I would try the agent first.
You will see the conversation below which took place from the inception to finish in about 20 minutes
# with no gaps between the service.
# They quickly got access to my notes
# did not ask irrelevant questions,
# saw my point immediately,
# contacted the hotel,
# found out the facts from them
( bearing in mind that not all TripAdvisor reviews are accurate)
# reverted to me with what they could and could not do.
That’s as good a service as I’ve had.
From my point of view
# I felt it necessary to get all the facts together when you make the call.
# You should stick to the point and not waste time on any other matter.
# always be courteous to the agent. May you are the 30th complaint they have had to deal with today. How would we manage with such a task? Me – not very well.
# No point in giving your opinion on what you think of the facility because that is not relevant. You could think they are devils or angels and that matters not.
# If things do not go your way be gracious because these people are just administering the system, they did not create it themselves.In other words they’re not the managing director of something, but just some fairly lowly paid person no doubt following the rules so don’t blame them.
# Always praise the operator for their efforts.
So here is my record of the virtual chat
Virtual Agent said
Help is on the way! Connecting you with an agent as soon as possible.
Please keep this chat open. If you leave this page or make other selections, you could lose your place in line queue.
I’ve added you to the queue and an agent will be with you shortly.
Current position in the queue is 3 with an estimated wait time of 1 minute. Please don’t exit out of the chat or you’ll lose your place.
Now the actual live agent joins in
Sagnik joined the conversation (obviously an Indian call centre)
Hi Brian
As I can check your query is regarding cancellation – correct?
Brian:
72063730***397 just booked but the info in Hotels.com said that breakfast is included is not correct. Is this grounds to cancel
Sagnik
I understand your concern, and I’ll surely try my best to assist you.
Please allow me 2-3 mins to check the details for you.
As I can check, the room booked is a basic double room, shared bathroom (4) and as per the amenities, free breakfast is not included with this reservation.
However, I can check that the booking is for a non-refundable/non-modifiable room and if canceled from our end without the hotel’s approval, they wouldn’t initiate any refund.
Brian
OK but in hotels.com it did say that breakfast was included
Sagnik
Please allow me 3-5 mins to kindly contact the property for seeking an approval.
Could you please share a screenshot of the same regarding the free breakfast with this booking? (I did not, instead I sent the page link)
Brian
https://uk.hotels.com/ho1225552096/a-home-from-home-2-plymouth-united-kingdom/
The incorrect statement is on Hotels.com page under the entry above
Sagnik
Kindly allow me to check
As I can check, you’re right as per their amenities, free breakfast should be available.
However, when I had a talk with Davey, the manager, they said that they offer free cereals and not full English breakfast and also denied our request for free cancellation, imposing their non-refundable policy.
Since calling them was not helpful, kindly allow me to transfer this chat to our specialized team and they’ll assist you with this reservation further.
My query was escalated to someone in UK
Your position in the queue is 3 with an estimated wait time of 1 minute. Please don’t exit out of the chat or you’ll lose your place.
Christina A joined the conversation
Hello, this is Christina , the Supervisor from the Resolutions Team. Please allow me a few minutes to review your conversation with our previous representative. I’ll be back with you shortly to address your concerns. Thank you for your patience……Based on your conversation with previous agent I have understood that you are contacting in regards. Your reservation incorrectly stated that breakfast is included, which is not the case under 72063730***397-A Home From Home 2, is that correct?
Brian
OK the hotel.com ad says that breakfast is included. I saw from a review that it is not ….after I booked
Christina A
Thank you for confirming and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused. Rest assured I will try my best to resolve the same for you.
I have checked the property details on my end as well Brian and it is stated that this property does offer complimentary breakfast each morning.
Brian I quote from a recent Trip Advisor Review
False advertising and very disappointed
On arrival the place looked inviting and we were greeted by Kathleen who was very nice and polite. She had no idea we had booked, so i had to show her the booking from hotels.com and the receipt.The room was clean and tidy, and the bathroom was also clean and well stocked. Unfortunately that’s where the niceties ended, when we booked it was for bed and breakfast and use of kitchen and garden. Kathleen informed us that they do not provide breakfast and the kitchen and garden was also not available. We booked through Hotels.com. Kathleen informed us that she stopped b&b over 2 years ago. We will now have to pay extra for breakfast and meals. This is false advertising.
Reviewed 1 week ago i.e. 13 June 2025
Christina A
Absolutely! I understand your concern and would request you to allow me a moment to thoroughly review your reservation and explore possible solutions for you. Thank you for your patience.
Brian
The previous review was in 2018 !!!!
Christina A
I’m currently communicating with the hotel. Kindly stay connected.
I have spoken to the hotel, Brian, and they confirmed that breakfast is available; however, it is not a full meal. You will be able to help yourself to porridge and cereal, as the hotel does not provide table service for breakfast. You can also take coffee or tea to your room. Please note that the garden has been closed due to safety and health concerns.
I have reviewed the details on our end. The specific food items are not mentioned, as that is entirely at the property’s discretion since it is an additional service. Additionally, I have verified that the booking clearly states that a self-serve breakfast is provided
The hotel has decided to adhere to their policy, and unfortunately, for cancellation, the refund has been denied.
However, if you choose to continue with your stay, the reservation will remain unchanged. As a gesture of goodwill, I will be adding 30 OKC (equivalent to £30 GBP) to your account, which you can use toward your next prepaid hotel booking
Brian:
OK a buffet is fine no problem. Sometimes it just takes a small tweak in the info So lets close the case. Thanks for the gesture
Christina A
You’re welcome.
I have kept the booking active. I’ve added the points 30 OKC to your account—they should be visible either immediately or within the next 24 hours. Is there anything else I can do for you?
Brian
If it is not too late say I am looking forward to coming and thanks for the clarification
Christina A
Your reservation is still active and good to go. You’re welcome and I am glad to be able to help you.
Amazingly I got a call on my mobile from an 0203 (non local) UK number asking if everything was OK. That’s going the extra mile.
NB This will be a running diary since I have concerns about the difference between the review and what the manager said so I may well take it up with PayPal on the grounds of force description. I think that hotels.com were fobbed off by a false description from someone who claims to be ‘the manager’.
The weirdest thing is that for six years no TripAdvisor reviews have been given so that can only be because the facility was not functional. Anyway I will not let this rest so ‘watch this space’ . I wrote via Trip Advisor to the reviewer so see what he has to say.
