I and my daughter had the misfortune to stay at the Radisson Blu Hotel Schwarzer Bock in Wiesbaden, en route to Bavaria.
Where to start? Firstly, on checking in there was no one to take our luggage to our room, which was a long way from the lift and reached by going both up and down stairs to what seemed to be a newly opened and unfinished addition; the room looked slightly grubby and so it proved – a half empty bottle of water was left on the window sill. Reporting this to reception they seemed confused and asked if we wanted the room cleaned, we refused thinking it was a one off mistake. This was our mistake as we then discovered an ear plug left under the chest of drawers; further the window was broken, nearly injuring my daughter, and the curtain hanging off its railing. The whole room was dishevelled and clearly had been given the most cursory tidy up. Having driven from Calais we chose to live with it, the sheets looked fresh, get dinner and leave early. We went down to see in which of the two hotel restaurants we would dine to discover one shut and looking as if it had never been opened, and the other closed for a private function. On asking the receptionist what was offered to replace this we were told ‘room service, (a poor selection we’d already dismissed) or we can recommend a restaurant nearby’.
Leaving the next morning, after what it’s only fair to say was a good buffet breakfast, I complained to the receptionist and was given a very desultory apology. On completing a post visit questionnaire I received a letter of apology from the hotel saying they were ‘disappointed to read that we did not entirely meet your expectations’. Quite an understatement. I hope they do address all these problems, the Schwarzer Bock was once a truly grand hotel and a great pleasure to visit. No longer.
