Hotel owner hits back at unhappy guest who claims room was 'like a murder scene'

A hotel owner has hit back after a guest claimed her room was "like a murder scene with red marks".

Unimpressed customer Vicky Ford, 36, left the scathing review of the New Oxford Hotel in Blackpool, saying she was "horrified", reported LancsLive.

Her mum Noreen had reportedly booked four rooms for her daughter, grandchildren and two friends and their children.

The hotel owner said if she had complained then he could even have put her in different accommodation.

Vicky told LancsLive: "We were all absolutely horrified at our rooms when we got to them."

New owner Paul insists that he just taken over the hotel in the last couple of weeks and does acknowledge that some work is still needed. However he can't understand some aspects of the latest negative review.

Vicky Ford was very negative about her stay at the Blackpool hotel and said that bin bags were left lying around (MEN Media)

He said: "The hotel is in the process of being renovated and aspects such as the carpet and various other things are in the process of being replaced.

"We had plenty of double, twin and single rooms available on those dates so we would have happily have moved them into those. We actually own another hotel on the promenade which they could have even have been moved to.

"The complaints weren't logged with us at the time so we can't do anything about it if we don't know about it but everything goes in our maintenance book."

Vicky added: "The window in my mum's friend's hotel room wouldn't close. I had my two children in with me and the plug lead for the kettle was too small to reach the plug socket so I had to keep the kids away while I boiled the kettle on the floor.

Vicky said that she was "horrified" with the condition of the rooms for her family in the hotel (MEN Media)

Vicky also said that the PA testing was out of date on the electrics (MEN Media)

"There was a soggy toilet roll on the window sill because it was all damp and there was no hot water coming from the sink.

"The kettle in my friend's room was on a massive tray on a small shelf so it could fall off. The shower door was broken and there were dents in the walls and doors, not to mention red marks which looked liked what can only be described as a murder scene.

"It's only that the carpet was so old I presumed nobody had been killed there.

"The PA testing was out of date on the electrics in our room and my friend took pictures of stains where there'd been a leak in the ceiling. The shower door also came off when I tried to close it."

Vicky also claims that when they went to explore the rest of the hotel she discovered further causes for concern such as a mirror held together with masking tape, threadbare carpets, bin bags left in front of the fire escape and food still on tables in the dining area at around midnight.

She said: "We didn't approach them about the issues as we had children with us didn't want to cause drama while we were there.

"When we said we were disappointed about the bar and no entertainment as advertised however the woman we spoke to just went on about free tickets for Elf she had got because cast members were staying.

There was a stain on the ceiling claimed Vicky where she assumed there had been a leak (MEN Media)

"We just wanted to try and prevent anyone else's stay from being ruined. We paid £600 for these rooms and we just put up with it and sought refuge at the hotel across the road at the Ruskin Hotel in the bar in the evenings.

"Some people may not be able to afford that kind of money and have their holidays completely ruined. We don't want that to happen to anyone else."

The last eight TripAdvisor reviews dating back to August have been rated as "terrible" however 42 excellent reviews have been left in total out of 65.

Vicky said that she didn't complain at the time because she as there with her children (MEN Media)

Owner Paul continued: "The shower door is lift on and lift off so she must have taken that off. The door lock pictured is actually a laundry cupboard door not a main door and the PA testing - I'm going to make enquiries about as when we took over the rest of them had been done.

"In terms of entertainment we usually put this on the at the weekend and those guests stayed through the week.

"We've just had the entire cast of Elf stay here and we have plenty of good reviews on Booking.com so we have plenty of people who have been happy when they've stayed here.

Vicky also took a photo of food that had been left on a table and not cleaned up (MEN Media)

"We've ordered new windows which includes the one the guest is saying about in one of the rooms.

"As far (as) marks and stains we have only taken over recently and there is still work to be done. If we'd have known about these complaints we would have logged it straight away in our maintenance book.

"The mirror the guest took a picture of has now been replaced. In terms of food left, it depends what time the picture was taken but we always wait for tables to finish before clearing away.

"The photo of the bin bags must have been taken at 10am as we put all rubbish their at that time ready to take to the rubbish bins that are located at the bottom by the fire escape. This is the reason the liners are there around this time daily.

"Every room in our hotel has hot water so perhaps when she tried to use the tap someone else may have been using theirs at the same time.

"It's difficult because we are in the process or renovating so to not tell us about the issues you had with your room and then to go around and take photos of the rest of the hotel feels a bit unfair.

"I'm willing to sort this out with the guests directly if they'd be willing."