by Raymond Singleton-McGuire | Apr 5, 2019 | SMGBlog
Raymond Singleton-McGuire states this is his; Second Stay This Year!!! – Unexpected Concerns
Raymond Singleton-McGuire reports; whilst you cannot complain about the undeniable seaviews this iconic hotel offers ranking it above every other hotel in Klaipeda, we stayed in Room 1402, which appeared to have a problem with extremely poor lighting and excessive overheating compared with our room on our last stay. The hotel was kind enough to supply additional stand-alone lighting but the room remained a sauna despite the air-con on full!
Raymond Singleton-McGuire points out; there was also very little wardrobe space especially for hanging clothes on coat hangers. We were perhaps spoilt on our last stay in Room 1306, which by comparison is perhaps twice the size.
Raymond Singleton-McGuire reports that; at breakfast, we found the fresh fruit juice replaced with concentrate and cappuccinos were no longer available! Unfortunately, our breakfast was disappointing on this occasion; lukewarm or even cold by the time you sat down to eat it. Whilst the staff appeared surprised when we mentioned this to them, it did not distract from the fact that piping hot replacement trays were put out for the staff breakfast!
Raymond Singleton-McGuire states; we are planning another couple of trips to Klaipeda within the next few months, by which time we hope the Amberton Hotel have sorted out their little breakfast ‘niggles’.
Raymond Singleton-McGuire sums up; all-in-all, this is a recommendable hotel and let us hope on our next stay we will have a different experience, (or in fact a different room and a hot breakfast!).
by Raymond Singleton-McGuire | Jan 30, 2019 | SMGBlog
It is very admiral and endearing to see from the various responses that Acorn Taxis can and does provide a good service! It is unfortunate we have not been privileged to this. Mostly things like this are a one-off occurrence and lightning never strikes twice! It was a mistake to contact Acorn Taxis a third time on Christmas Day as we had already decided never to use Acorn again because of past issues.
The person who took the call on Christmas Day 2018 stated he owned Acorn Taxis and if we had a complaint invited us to go ahead as he would look forward to reading it!!
Based on our initial issue with Acorn some 2 years prior (April 2017) and never receiving a response from Acorn’s Director, Zhaheed Younis, quite frankly we had dismissed the issue and moved on; as we did the second unfortunate experience at the Ropers Arms (Summer 2018); but to be dealt a third issue – is unacceptable.
Whilst there may be many good news stories from Acorn’s taxi drivers regarding Acorn and its service, our issue has not been with Acorn drivers as our bookings have never progressed that far, (apart from the first occasion which took almost 2 hours), but seemingly with Acorn’s operators who appear to act as ‘gatekeepers’, on ‘who’ and ‘who is not’ worthy of a taxi! Clearly, our experiences have been an unbelievable nightmare.
To all the ‘Fake Newsbees’ and ‘Doubting Thomas’, I shall publish evidence tomorrow.
by Raymond Singleton-McGuire | Jan 8, 2019 | SMGBlog
Raymond Singleton-McGuire’s wife is a regular user of taxis and decided to use Acorn Taxis for the first time on 12th April 2017 at 01:19 am and they failed to collect leaving her stranded in the freezing cold (remember we had snow in April 2017!). After a total of 19 calls (including Acorn astonishingly putting the phone down on Raymond Singleton-McGuire’s wife on a couple of occasions) and an abundance of excuses why they had not picked her up, they finally condescended to pick her up, an hour and a half later at 2.30 am! – Disgraceful.
Unfortunately, on a second occasion, Raymond Singleton-McGuire decided to contact Acorn Taxis around 12.30 am after a family meal at The Ropers Arms, Horncastle Road, Boston. They refused to collect them stating the journey to Spilsby Road was not long enough for them to issue a taxi and told Raymond Singleton-McGuire that we could walk it! Again, unbelievable behaviour.
The third time Acorn Taxis was contacted by Raymond Singleton-McGuire was on Christmas Day 2018 when, after a family dinner party we required a taxi for one of his guests. After being accused of shouting!, and again having the phone put down on them!; they finally agreed to send a taxi after his wife called back to complain, only to be sent a text a few minutes later to say they had withdrawn the taxi! What a shambolic bunch! They don’t deserve Boston’s business if this is how customers get treated.
Raymond Singleton-McGuire was clearly taken aback at such disgraceful behaviour from a basic fundamental request to a taxi company. Acorn Taxis in Boston clearly have a customer service/relations issue and if Raymond Singleton-McGuire’s experiences are typical of others then he doubts Acorn Taxis will be around much longer. Raymond Singleton-McGuire can only advise – ‘Avoid Like The Plague’!
by Raymond Singleton-McGuire | Sep 7, 2018 | SMGBlog
Raymond Singleton-McGuire states the resort is excellently located with steps and walkways leading down to a white, clean sandy beach scattered with palm trees and the iridescent clear blue colour of the sea which can only be better described as a ‘picture postcard setting’. The hotel grounds are excellently maintained and manicured by a hardworking team of gardeners.
Raymond Singleton-McGuire states; it is hard to criticise this resort as we found everyone is very friendly and the staff always try their best with big smiles. Just some of the fundamental basics we take for granted were missing.
Raymond Singleton-McGuire states that if you can tolerate the above incidentals (after all, this is beautiful Cuba) then compared to other Cuban resorts where we have stayed, you will not find a more idyllic location. Worth every penny and excellent value for money, well worth considering if you are planning a holiday in Cuba.
by Raymond Singleton-McGuire | Sep 7, 2018 | SMGBlog
Raymond Singleton-McGuire reports on the Animation/Entertainment; as others have advised on Trip Advisor, the entertainment is very poor and sometimes we found non-existent. We discovered they sometimes mistakenly advertised a different start time to the actual start time. Additionally, not all information boards display start times of the shows. The weekly information board in the Luna reception not only fails to display the start times but don’t even state the location of the shows. We found only one board displaying the correct start times and that was outside the theatre itself. In fact, we found the entertainment side at the resort extremely confusing and poor, e.g., one evening’s entertainment was moved to the main hotel reception without notification; another evening was cancelled without notification and we found the staff, including one of the entertainment staff, less than helpful with regard to start times which vary from 8.00pm – 9.30pm dependent on who we asked! All of this perhaps went some way to explain why the shows are not very well attended by comparison with other resorts where we have stayed previously. The rifle shooting range is a bit ‘hit and miss’; we were told it started at 10.30am everyday; out of the two week holiday I managed to find someone operating it just once and then he was 15 minutes late! Whilst there is still plenty to do at the resort, the entertainment could benefit from better timekeeping and improved information.
by Raymond Singleton-McGuire | Sep 7, 2018 | SMGBlog
Raymond Singleton-McGuire reports on the food; the restaurant leaves something to be desired as does the food, as you will note from other Trip Advisor comments. The layout of the food servers presents confusion when busy. At the end of each section there is a facility for freshly cooked food, which results in several queues forming immediately in front of the self-serving trays making access difficult.
Raymond Singleton-McGuire states; once we had our food and sat down in the restaurant, we ended up waiting forever just to get a drink with our meal. Trying to attract the attention of the waitresses for a second drink is virtually impossible, even when we asked (several times!) the drinks never arrived. Disappointingly, beware, the two occasions we ate in the restaurant our plates were taken away whilst we were still eating! We found eating in the restaurant was extremely uncomfortable due to the lack of air conditioning combined with the extra heat from self-serving units and cooking. You do have an option to eat outside. We returned to the restaurant for the third time in our second week to find the food and service no better than previously experienced. Clearly, this area could benefit from improvement both with management, customer service, food presentation and air conditioning!
Raymond Singleton-McGuire reports; the four a la carte restaurants; French, Mediterranean, Italian and Mexican are well worth a visit which is where we ended up eating most evenings, especially the French restaurant as it has the best food and the coolest air conditioning, with excellent attentive staff (well worth tipping). Although you are only permitted to have two a la carte meals per week, you can obtain a cancellation ticket from the Luna reception between 2.45pm and 3pm each afternoon. A small tip is a worthwhile gesture especially if you would like a further cancellation during your stay.
