Heartbreak as Hove hotel closure hits couples (From The Argus)

Oh poor them! A soa weekend 7 miles from home ruined.

What about the people who have lost their jobs?

Yes it is sad that people have lost their jobs.

It does not matter how far it is from their home ,
They were looking forward to a spa and
had paid for a service they are not getting .

A cancelled spa day: disappointing, yes, but heartbreaking, hardly..

I feel sorry for anyone who has booked a wedding and is not sure what is happening but as the hotel have stated, events as yet haven't been cancelled and are looking into still going ahead or finding a new venue for them.

Hopefully the hotel won't try to get out of paying back any deposits or monies paid to them if events are cancelled though..

The sad 'where's my compo?' faces to camera make me laugh.

Should never have changed the name/strategy from the famous Dudley which lasted a century while under this name/concept it went under in a few years....pathetic call

before you short memoried people have a dig about others misfortunes and facial looks, go back to the original argus report that stated that the management had dealt with all outstanding matters reguarding bookings, obviously they hadnt, and I expect this story and the disappointments to continue to feature over the next few months as the truth comes out. the boiler assuming its a nice large capacity industrial/commercia
l unit is a major undertaking, but not one that shuts a hotel permanantly, especially as it will be needed for the serviced appartments, watch the argus for more developements Is my advice

If having a short, local, hotel booking cancelled is the only thing you've got to worry about then you should count yourself lucky.
There are hundreds of other hotels in the south east - some of which have spa / pool / leisure facilities.

It was my Daughter Donna whose wedding plans have now been left in tatters. I/we genuinely feel for the staff losing jobs, but honestly when in post, I never had a call back to the numerous messages I left, so whilst (we'll never know) possibly not their own fault, their system was never ever efficient or sympathetic to resolving issues, as its now been shown!! - As to suggest we'd make an alternative arrangement with the Lansdowne or its owners in other establishments, ?? ... hardly! .. we will make plans elsewhere such was the terrible way this was handled.

There is a case here for deposits for any function to be paid into a separate account at an independent bank.

sussexram40 wrote:
If having a short, local, hotel booking cancelled is the only thing you've got to worry about then you should count yourself lucky. There are hundreds of other hotels in the south east - some of which have spa / pool / leisure facilities.

Maybe there are hundreds of other hotels but if you have saved and paid for your special night, you wont have the money to go somewhere else.

To all those who think its just one day, how about you save all year round, pay a hotel for your wedding then have it taken away!! See how u like that u Moran!!! That's if u can find someone to marry you. Yes there are plenty of hotels but surprisingly enough you still have too pay, not all of us are like David glover and nick Sutton, sitting in luxury homes and with millions in the bank!

It is understandably very upsetting not to receive a service you have paid for, especially if it for a special ocassion. However many hardworking people have lost their jobs on New Years Day, with no notice, causing huge distress to them and their families. It's not like the staff even had the opportunity to let anyone know what was happening.

Everyone's going on about the staff, and yes it's not nice for anyone. But suspicouse activity has been going on in that hotel since at least September... Are you honestly telling me, not one member of staff picked up on this?????

Stoves wrote:
Oh poor them! A soa weekend 7 miles from home ruined.

What about the people who have lost their jobs?

I Being a good friend of the Taylors and also the aunt of one of the wedding couples , take offence at some of the remarks against these people.
the real point of the reason these people have complained to the Argus, is to bring to the attention of the public that these awful things are allowed to go on in our society, where people are legally stealing other peoples money , that they have worked hard for !!

ptommo wrote:
It was my Daughter Donna whose wedding plans have now been left in tatters. I/we genuinely feel for the staff losing jobs, but honestly when in post, I never had a call back to the numerous messages I left, so whilst (we'll never know) possibly not their own fault, their system was never ever efficient or sympathetic to resolving issues, as its now been shown!! - As to suggest we'd make an alternative arrangement with the Lansdowne or its owners in other establishments, ?? ... hardly! .. we will make plans elsewhere such was the terrible way this was handled.

I see your daughter is getting married in 9 months time, so she has time to find another venue, it's not a nice thing to do but I am sure there will be sympathetic ears from other hotels in the City who might be able to help out, it's not the end of the World now, is it?

Of course she could always have a moan at the great council leaders in City Hall and mention how p'd off she is and the way she has been treated, and if they could help it might save her moving to an out of town venue and taking revenue away the from City coffers.

I take it she has taken insurance out on her wedding plans as well? Something that newly married couples over look preparing for their big day. Good luck to her and her intended.

Thetruthhurts101 wrote:
Everyone's going on about the staff, and yes it's not nice for anyone. But suspicouse activity has been going on in that hotel since at least September... Are you honestly telling me, not one member of staff picked up on this?????

I can't see what 'suspicious activity' could have occurred for the staff to pick up on when they were doing their jobs as instructed only to be made redundant without notice.
Fair enough a lot of special events have been unfairly ruined but loosing your job unfairly is not nice either.

Fercri Sakes wrote:
Looking at her face it seems like she's had quite a lot of disappointment in her life.

lets see your photo then , are you so wonderful??

And I have said its not nice to loose your job!! There has been plenty the staff could of picked up on. Not going into detail but in my opinion, at least some of them knew, I'm not blaming them it's clearly not there fault. Your soon see when it all comes out.

Well said save at home!!!

Dave lol

Fercri Sakes wrote:
Looking at her face it seems like she's had quite a lot of disappointment in her life.

How dare you?! What makes you so special that you think you have the right to judge a person's life by their image. Your childish, dispensable comment bears no relevance to the article whatsoever. You know nothing of these people and therefore you cannot possibly pass judgement on them.
Regardless of their story, they are just one of many who have been robbed by this man and have just as many rights as others to be angry. They work hard for their money and paid for a service that didn't deliver. Clearly you yourself have never been affected by such a situation and god forbid if it should happen to you.
And, HoveLady FYI... they have a right to receive their money back as much as anyone else, not sure where you are getting your information that they are simply after compensation, even if they were it's frankly nothing to do with you and in my opinion they are just as entitled to it as anyone else. Unlike weddings, people would not normally take out insurance for this type of event and therefore are more than likely lose the money they have parted with.

Dave At Home wrote:

ptommo wrote: It was my Daughter Donna whose wedding plans have now been left in tatters. I/we genuinely feel for the staff losing jobs, but honestly when in post, I never had a call back to the numerous messages I left, so whilst (we'll never know) possibly not their own fault, their system was never ever efficient or sympathetic to resolving issues, as its now been shown!! - As to suggest we'd make an alternative arrangement with the Lansdowne or its owners in other establishments, ?? ... hardly! .. we will make plans elsewhere such was the terrible way this was handled.

I see your daughter is getting married in 9 months time, so she has time to find another venue, it's not a nice thing to do but I am sure there will be sympathetic ears from other hotels in the City who might be able to help out, it's not the end of the World now, is it? Of course she could always have a moan at the great council leaders in City Hall and mention how p'd off she is and the way she has been treated, and if they could help it might save her moving to an out of town venue and taking revenue away the from City coffers. I take it she has taken insurance out on her wedding plans as well? Something that newly married couples over look preparing for their big day. Good luck to her and her intended.

Yes there is time to re-book, as I think I said we intend to do - Noone died, so I understand what you're saying - But ... when you take the trouble to 'meet' with the event planning staff, view the hotel, book rooms for travelling guests - 'get a contract', issue a cheque and send out (at expense) invites for your big day, then of course you get angry & upset when it falls apart - Our biggest gripe is/was not about what to do going forward, but moreso, was it fair to find out your wedding plans are all out the window, by reading it in the paper before anyone had any morals or decency to let us (my daughter) down by a phone call, letter or even an e-mail first!!! - To this day we still have had ZERO response from the Lansdowne.
Anyway - Onwards, upwards & thanks for your comments, duly noted.

Would've been better to focus on the wedding couple rather than someone missing out on a spa birthday present, surely?
And who does the hotel owe money to? Will it cause financial difficulty for any suppliers who might be owed thousands?
I hope the staff find new jobs soon, good luck to them

"We had asked our daughter to look after our house while we were out."

Why?!

hove dweller wrote:
"We had asked our daughter to look after our house while we were out."

Why?!

Becuase they live in Hollingbury of course, we all know you cannot vacate your house for more than 59 minutes in Hollingbury without having someone look after it!

LOL!

"Mr Glover said customers can contact the general manager Michelle Brown if they have specific queries. Her email address is mbrown@lansdowneplac
e.co.uk" This is a case of passing the buck - as Michelle Brown is no longer affiliated to the hotel......... Down to you Mr Glover. Buck stops with you.
Some very petty comments on here too - grow up.

audereestfacere wrote:
"Mr Glover said customers can contact the general manager Michelle Brown if they have specific queries. Her email address is mbrown@lansdowneplac

e.co.uk" This is a case of passing the buck - as Michelle Brown is no longer affiliated to the hotel......... Down to you Mr Glover. Buck stops with you.
Some very petty comments on here too - grow up.

Petty smetty.

You grow up you big bafoon!

This whole situation is pretty unsurprising after what happened to the Royal York which was also run by the same people. Odd that Glover is taking all the flack and no mention of Nicholas Sutton.

Stoves wrote:

audereestfacere wrote:
"Mr Glover said customers can contact the general manager Michelle Brown if they have specific queries. Her email address is mbrown@lansdowneplac


e.co.uk" This is a case of passing the buck - as Michelle Brown is no longer affiliated to the hotel......... Down to you Mr Glover. Buck stops with you.
Some very petty comments on here too - grow up.

Petty smetty.

You grow up you big bafoon!

Pathetic

audereestfacere wrote:

Stoves wrote:

audereestfacere wrote:
"Mr Glover said customers can contact the general manager Michelle Brown if they have specific queries. Her email address is mbrown@lansdowneplac



e.co.uk" This is a case of passing the buck - as Michelle Brown is no longer affiliated to the hotel......... Down to you Mr Glover. Buck stops with you.
Some very petty comments on here too - grow up.

Petty smetty.

You grow up you big bafoon!

Pathetic

Thank you!!

Smelly head.

There are rooms and events still booked this month and no news from a hotel that advertised extensively in the run up to Christmas. A hotel that has had the time to speak to the newspapers but not to the people with events planned. People with thousands on the line in what appears to be a completely unregulated business where it would appear you can do whatever you want.

staylor23 wrote:

Fercri Sakes wrote:
Looking at her face it seems like she's had quite a lot of disappointment in her life.

How dare you?! What makes you so special that you think you have the right to judge a person's life by their image. Your childish, dispensable comment bears no relevance to the article whatsoever. You know nothing of these people and therefore you cannot possibly pass judgement on them.
Regardless of their story, they are just one of many who have been robbed by this man and have just as many rights as others to be angry. They work hard for their money and paid for a service that didn't deliver. Clearly you yourself have never been affected by such a situation and god forbid if it should happen to you.
And, HoveLady FYI... they have a right to receive their money back as much as anyone else, not sure where you are getting your information that they are simply after compensation, even if they were it's frankly nothing to do with you and in my opinion they are just as entitled to it as anyone else. Unlike weddings, people would not normally take out insurance for this type of event and therefore are more than likely lose the money they have parted with.

FYI, staylor23 (a relation by any chance?) If you read my post again, you'll find that I said I hope that the hotel don't try to get out of paying any monies back that have been paid to them (if any) - even though I still don't think a cancelled spa day is anything to get too upset about, I would certainly expect anyone who has paid monies to the hotel to receive refunds

If the Taylors paid money in advance for the spa day and have not received a refund, it's unusual for this not to be mentioned in the article - perhaps you can provide more information on this.

If the reality is they have either not paid any money or have received a refund why do you think they are entitled to compensation too?

People claiming compensation IS very much my business as it results in companies having to cover themselves from being sued for every slight, real or imagined, and the cost of that gets passed to us.

Again, my sympathies lie mainly with those who have organised weddings and those who have lost their jobs.

Does anyone know for definite if Michelle Brown is actually still with the Lansdowne? If she is not then the statement in the Argus is incorrect. I have e-mailed her 3 times with no reply.

Hovelady wrote:

staylor23 wrote:

Fercri Sakes wrote:
Looking at her face it seems like she's had quite a lot of disappointment in her life.

How dare you?! What makes you so special that you think you have the right to judge a person's life by their image. Your childish, dispensable comment bears no relevance to the article whatsoever. You know nothing of these people and therefore you cannot possibly pass judgement on them.
Regardless of their story, they are just one of many who have been robbed by this man and have just as many rights as others to be angry. They work hard for their money and paid for a service that didn't deliver. Clearly you yourself have never been affected by such a situation and god forbid if it should happen to you.
And, HoveLady FYI... they have a right to receive their money back as much as anyone else, not sure where you are getting your information that they are simply after compensation, even if they were it's frankly nothing to do with you and in my opinion they are just as entitled to it as anyone else. Unlike weddings, people would not normally take out insurance for this type of event and therefore are more than likely lose the money they have parted with.

FYI, staylor23 (a relation by any chance?) If you read my post again, you'll find that I said I hope that the hotel don't try to get out of paying any monies back that have been paid to them (if any) - even though I still don't think a cancelled spa day is anything to get too upset about, I would certainly expect anyone who has paid monies to the hotel to receive refunds

If the Taylors paid money in advance for the spa day and have not received a refund, it's unusual for this not to be mentioned in the article - perhaps you can provide more information on this.

If the reality is they have either not paid any money or have received a refund why do you think they are entitled to compensation too?

People claiming compensation IS very much my business as it results in companies having to cover themselves from being sued for every slight, real or imagined, and the cost of that gets passed to us.

Again, my sympathies lie mainly with those who have organised weddings and those who have lost their jobs.

They are my parents and yes I was present with my mum when we paid for the spa in full in November as these were the terms at the time of booking (unusual I know as previously we were never required to do this) my mum then booked and paid for, in full, the hotel stay. A lot of hard earnt money was parted with. No one is asking for your sympathy and they certainly didn't ask to be made the headline of this article, they were just another couple who had contacted the argus because it has been impossible to get hold of anyone to speak to in order to request a refund, they were under the impression this article would be small with pictures of many couples and that their own story would just be mentioned in addition to that of others. Please stop picking on specific cases, many people have been affected by this and my family and I fully appreciate this but it does not give people the right to dismiss us just because our loss was not that of a wedding, it was still a special occassion that was fully paid for none the less.

Hovelady wrote:

staylor23 wrote:

Fercri Sakes wrote:
Looking at her face it seems like she's had quite a lot of disappointment in her life.

How dare you?! What makes you so special that you think you have the right to judge a person's life by their image. Your childish, dispensable comment bears no relevance to the article whatsoever. You know nothing of these people and therefore you cannot possibly pass judgement on them.
Regardless of their story, they are just one of many who have been robbed by this man and have just as many rights as others to be angry. They work hard for their money and paid for a service that didn't deliver. Clearly you yourself have never been affected by such a situation and god forbid if it should happen to you.
And, HoveLady FYI... they have a right to receive their money back as much as anyone else, not sure where you are getting your information that they are simply after compensation, even if they were it's frankly nothing to do with you and in my opinion they are just as entitled to it as anyone else. Unlike weddings, people would not normally take out insurance for this type of event and therefore are more than likely lose the money they have parted with.

FYI, staylor23 (a relation by any chance?) If you read my post again, you'll find that I said I hope that the hotel don't try to get out of paying any monies back that have been paid to them (if any) - even though I still don't think a cancelled spa day is anything to get too upset about, I would certainly expect anyone who has paid monies to the hotel to receive refunds

If the Taylors paid money in advance for the spa day and have not received a refund, it's unusual for this not to be mentioned in the article - perhaps you can provide more information on this.

If the reality is they have either not paid any money or have received a refund why do you think they are entitled to compensation too?

People claiming compensation IS very much my business as it results in companies having to cover themselves from being sued for every slight, real or imagined, and the cost of that gets passed to us.

Again, my sympathies lie mainly with those who have organised weddings and those who have lost their jobs.

Yes they did pay in advance for the spa and extra treatments and were encouraged to do so by being offered a discount by paying up front , a very small discount i may add.So the hotel knowing they were closing were trying to get as much as possible out of people , not exactly the season of good will ,was it .

If they paid by credit or debit card they should contact their banks to get a refund.

What is so sad is to read so many vicious comments. It says so much about how nasty local people have become. It is an appalling situation for the staff, as well as those who have worked hard and paid in advance, and now will have to fight to get repaid. These people deserve sympathy, not crass, offensive comments.

So the hotel is still not talking to people. Are there any lawyer types reading this? Surely this is breach of contract at the least, for both staff and customers. I prefer to look on it as theft as he is dishonestly appropriating cash, with clearly no intention of providing a service, or maybe its fraud. In any case this needs to be brought to the attention of the council, companies house and anyone else who can stop this man from running businesses! Clearly he does not have the moral fibre to do so.

Argus - You have contact with him, ask him times, dates, of when he will make contact, actual useful information for people. Time for sob stories is over, we want action.

So the owner has spoke to the Argus and someone has censored comments on Facebook (ie. removed them), it's nice to see someone has also had the time to remove (or instruct the removal) of the Lansdowne Hotel Facebook page.

How about sorting the problem in hand?

As SarahBtn says... how about contacting the owners...

https://www.duedil.c
om/company/03267652/
imperial-property-co
mpany-limited