8:05am Tuesday 26th January 2010
By Mark Stead
THE owners of a York hotel listed among the dirtiest in Europe on a travel website have defended themselves against the unwelcome rating.
Visitors used the TripAdvisor guide to “name and shame” places to stay which they claimed did not come up to scratch on cleanliness – including the Minster Hotel, in Bootham.
But Colin Marsh, the director of the business, has reacted to its ranking as the tenth most poorly-reviewed hotel in Europe for hygiene by pointing to other positive surveys – and says some of the unhappy guests may have set their standards too high.
However, tourism chiefs say they are “concerned” at the Minster Hotel’s score and are investigating why it fared so poorly in TripAdvisor’s analysis.
“The Minster Hotel is rated as a three-star guest accommodation property, and it is possible that the comments on TripAdvisor are because people expected a higher standard of accommodation, such as a three-star hotel,” said Mr Marsh.
“Also, reviews on TripAdvisor can be made by anybody even without staying at the hotel, whereas other booking websites show the hotel scores similar results to other hotels in the city.
“While some guests may have been disappointed, the comments need to be taken in context and we are clear that our service matches or exceeds the hotel’s current quality assessment rating.”
Mr Marsh said the last survey of the hotel carried out by the AA saw it given a 70 per cent rating.
Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of tourism body Visit York, said: “Quality and high standards are something which York is renowned for and something which is so important for the city’s reputation as a top-class visitor destination.
“All hotels and guest houses which Visit York promotes must hold a quality inspection through Quality in Tourism or the AA.
“We are most concerned to see this hotel in this TripAdvisor rating and are now in discussions with the owners to investigate the situation.”
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/trade_directory/