Merlin is not magic…

This post is not me slating the BBC TV series because quite frankly I have not seen the programme and probably never will (fantasy adventure isn’t really my cup of tea). The title is referring to the Merlin Entertainment group who own the main three Resort Theme Parks in Britain: Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures. As regular readers will know, I have visited the first two recently and had negative experiences on both occasions.

In September, I stayed overnight at the Splash Landings Hotel at Alton Towers because I thought it would make life easier for myself after a long day on the rides. Now the park was fine and I easily got on all the main rides such as Nemesis, Oblivion and my favourite Air (flying is such a surreal feeling). A few times in fact. However, the issues begun later that evening back at the hotel.

The first problem was the minute room size considering it was meant to be disabled friendly. The phrase ‘no room to swing a cat’ came to mind as I struggled to manoeuvre my wheelchair around and eventhough I’m only 5 foot 11, my feet were hanging over the edge of the bed. Everything was small apart from the price. My disappointment didn’t end there. When we went to eat at the restaurant later, the buffet was £20 each which isn’t bad for all you can eat but the food tasted awful so I could only eat half a plate, let alone go back for refills.

Although the issues I had are relatively small, I thought a company such as Alton Towers would value customer feedback in order to make improvements so I decided to send an old-fashioned letter. The Guest Services department did reply via e-mail but I feel they didn’t grasp the message of my complaint. I made it clear that I wouldn’t be returning to the hotel yet they offered me 25% off a future stay. What did they not understand? I will never be going back (I’d return to the park but not the hotel). Plus, why would I want to give them more money after I wasted my money last time?

However, my complaints seemed trivial compared to what happened at Thorpe Park a couple of weeks ago (hit up my blog tomorrow evening to read all about it).

Bye for now!