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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Abigail Nicholson

Britannia's decade of shame: bloodstained sheets, mould and filth

This week the Britannia hotel chain, who own The Adelphi, was ranked as the country's worst to stay in for the 10th year running.

The research, conducted by Which?, was based on almost 4,500 hotel stays, with respondents invited to rate their experiences at 35 chains across 10 key categories, including cleanliness, bed comfort, food, customer service and value for money. Which? gave Britannia a customer score of 56%, highlighting issues raised by guests with everything from cleanliness to mould, faulty toilets and a lack of hot water.

The consumer group said the firm “should be avoided at all costs.”

READ MORE: Murderer tried to kill girlfriend's ex-lovers hours after killing her

One guest described their room as “absolutely dire, drab and smelly”. The Adelphi, where guests travelling on the Titanic stayed before departure, was now described as “tired and tatty,” with a “rough and ready” feel.

Guy Hobbs, editor of Which? Travel, said: “With a decade of dismal reviews cementing its place as one of the UK’s worst hotel chains, our results suggest that Britannia should be avoided at all costs.”

Britannia Hotels was contacted for comment.

Over the last decade, The ECHO has published dozens of stories relating to people's stays at the hotel including people finding bloodstained sheets, mould and filthy messes in their rooms. The hotel is currently subject to two separate city council Environmental Health investigations.

One of the ongoing Environmental Health investigations concerns the death of 21-year-old Chloe Haynes at the hotel. Chloe was found dead having been crushed by a wardrobe on September 10.

A second investigation is being carried out after a further incident in May 2022 after another guest was injured. Following the new research ranking the Britannia hotel chain the "worst" place to stay, here are some of the worst experiences people have had in Liverpool's Adelphi Hotel.

Adelphi guest finds room like a 'horror film' covered in 'hay with blood stained bed'

A guest said she was left shaking after opening her hotel room door to be greeted with a scene "straight from a horror movie'"

Rebecca Hill was staying at the Adelphi hotel when she claims she made the gruesome discovery. The 42-year-old from Neston said she checked in at 4pm and was given the key to room 124.

She told the ECHO: “As soon as I opened the door I knew that something didn't feel right. It felt weird. I opened the door and I was faced with this box thing on the floor that looked like it had hay in it.

“As I looked around, the room was an absolute state. There was hay in the corner on the floor, and to me what looked like rabbit droppings to be honest. It was all over the place.

“Empty bottles empty cans. Food cartons all over the floor.”

However worse was to come as Rebecca approached the unmade bed and claims she found blood smeared all over the sheets.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Man walks out of 'filthy' Adelphi over 'mouldy coffee and takeaway rubbish everywhere'

Dirty dishes left in the Adelphi hallway (Liverpool ECHO)

A man who booked a room at the Adelphi refused to stay the night after finding the hotel 'filthy'.

The 18-year-old, from Dingle, said that he noticed the "dirt" and "rubbish" all over the reception and hallways, before he even got to his hotel room. The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, also claims to have found a mouldy coffee cup left on the bedside table in the Adelphi hotel room he booked.

He told the ECHO that he had paid £30 to stay in the room, on Wednesday, June 2, with a friend because they hadn’t seen each other in a long time. They planned to just have a "chill night" however after being confronted with the 'filth' in the room felt they couldn’t settle because "everywhere was dirty".

He said: “Basically I went with a friend, we were meant to be staying but when we were going to our room there was dirt and rubbish scattered everywhere. There was a cup of coffee left inside the room on the bedside table with mould in.

“Downstairs in the lobby there was takeaway rubbish everywhere, no staff had been to clean, in fact we didn’t even see any staff other than one person on reception.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Woman wakes up in 'filthy' £80 Adelphi room 'you wouldn't leave your dog in'

Ell said she was shocked at the state of her hotel room (Ell Willson)

A woman claims her Adelphi Hotel room was "absolutely filthy" and "falling apart" after a recent visit to the city.

Ell Willson, 27, from Hull, had visited the hotel in July after arriving in Liverpool to see family. She says that despite several attempts to contact Britannia Hotels, who own the Adelphi Hotel, she has had no response to complaints made after she woke up and realised the state the room was in.

Speaking to the ECHO, Ell said: "We'd booked to stay from the 21st to 25th of July for four days and had stayed there before the pandemic. We've got family in Liverpool and it's a place we visit regularly, before covid we used to go to that hotel - it is a bit dated and an old hotel but we've never had issues before.

"This time though our hotel room was disgusting."

Ell said her and her brother Aaron had arrived late at night having booked a twin room and didn't realise the full extent of the state of the room until they woke up the next morning.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Man pays £273 for 'damp' Adelphi room with 'nicotine stains' on walls

Stain on the ceiling of Ryan Caine's and his dad's hotel room at the Adelphi (Ryan Caine)

A carer claims he paid £273 for a two-night stay at the Adelphi Hotel where the room had "nicotine stains" on the walls and "smelt of damp".

Ryan Caine, who is originally from Liverpool but now lives in Glasgow, came to visit the city with his dad who he cares for. The 27-year-old claims he paid £136.50 a night for two nights at the hotel on Saturday, September 25 to Sunday, September 26.

Ryan said that after a visit to Stoke-on-Trent, the pair decided to visit Liverpool as Ryan's dad had never been and the 27-year-old could visit his mum. However, Ryan was not pleased with what he found in his hotel room.

Photos shared with ECHO of the hotel room shows the fire alarm suspended from the ceiling with the wire exposed and yellow stains on the walls.

Speaking to the ECHO, Ryan said: "From Stoke-on-Trent we decided to go to Liverpool, [my dad] has never been to Liverpool and I was seeing my ma. We got the Adelphi for two nights, £273 and it is meant to be a good hotel.

"When we got to the hotel our hotel door was open before we could even put our key in it. Then when we got in it, the fire alarm was suspended from the ceiling and there were exposed wires.

"The walls had nicotine stains and so did the ceiling."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Hotel guest says he 'paid for the best suite' but slept in a 'waterlogged cesspit'

Tim said he paid for the 'best suite' but instead got a 'waterlogged cesspit' (Tim Millea)

A "furious" man who booked to stay in a hotel suite said he was instead put in a "waterlogged cesspit".

Tim Millea decided to book into the Adelphi hotel after spotting a room that looked "very attractive" on the Britannia website. But when he arrived at the hotel he said there was a mix up with his room and it had a "bad smell".

The 54-year-old was visiting Liverpool, from Huddersfield, for The Beatles Convention on Sunday, August 29, with his mum. He said he wished to ‘surprise’ his 83-year-old mum with a grand twin room suite but was instead given a smaller four poster room, which had just one bed.

Tim complained to the reception staff and claims he was told the hotel was full. However he claims staff said they could arrange to have a second bed moved into the room instead.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Woman FaceTimes her sister from 'absolutely filthy' Adelphi Hotel room

The woman was left 'horrified' when she went to stay at the Adelphi Hotel (Leanne)

A woman who booked a surprise stay for her sister and her partner at the Adelphi was horrified after seeing the room she had been given.

Leanne, who wished for her surname not to be published, booked the Adelphi Hotel for her sister Libby and Libby's partner for a surprise to say thank you and allow them to visit family in Liverpool. After working right the way through the pandemic as care workers, Leanne said she wanted to do something nice for her sister, but ended up being a 'horrific' experience.

She told the ECHO: "Me and my little sister have both worked right the way through the pandemic. She works days and I work nights and she's been helping me look after my little boy. So to say thank you I wanted to book her and her partner a little getaway.

"We live in Norfolk now but are from Liverpool and have family here so I thought it would be nice them coming back to our home city. Originally I was going to book the Dolby hotel but I thought it would be out the way, so I changed my mind and booked the Adelphi instead because it's right in town and everything is close.

"She arrived on Monday and was put in one room but the window was all cracked and there was a hole in the ceiling with a bin under it. The bin was covered with water as though there had been a leak and was also covered with rubbish."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

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