A tourist has slammed his ‘holiday from hell’ after a four-night stay at what he described as Torquay’s ‘lowest rated’ hotel, which he believes may be the worst place he’s ever stayed. Canadian visitor Jason Smith was exploring the English Riviera as part of his UK tour when he checked into the OYO Sherwood Palm Hotel on Belgrave Road.
His experience at the hotel left him with an overwhelmingly negative impression, citing the “smell of mould” and even “blood on the sheets” as part of his “horrific” stay. Among the low points, Jason alleged encountering rude staff, a blocked shower, and “garbage” littering the floor.
His photographs from inside the hotel show furniture stacked against a door, a cluttered lounge with a grimy food preparation area, discarded laundry on the floor, slug killer on the doorstep, and a large spider making itself at home on the bed.
OYO, the international hospitality company, is aware of the bad review. It said that the hotel’s owners are elderly but stated it will “sever the relationship fully” if things don’t improve soon.
Jason, a seasoned traveller who has visited many exotic locations including Nepal, Costa Rica and every US state, was shocked by his experience in Torquay. “I have never had a problem like this with accommodations until I stayed in Torquay at this hotel,” he said.
He posted a scathing review online which said: “Don’t stay here – and I can’t say this enough. This place is not even fit for a human to stay in.”
Jason isn’t the only former guest to leave a negative review online. The Sherwood Palm has garnered some of the worst feedback in the seaside town, scoring low ratings of 2.4 and 4.3 on Google and Booking.com respectively. It is number 77 out of 77 traveller ranked hotels in Torquay on TripAdvisor, based on 240 reviews and scoring an impressively bleak 121 ‘Terrible’ ratings.
Speaking to DevonLive, Jason said: “I am a visitor to your country and decided to visit Torquay based on recommendations. My stay at the Sherwood Palms Hotel was horrific and the worst I’ve ever been in.”
“The staff was rude, fire exits blocked by furniture, room doors that are broken, garbage everywhere in the hotel, the lounge is a health and fire hazard, blood stains on bed sheets, spiders in room, chemicals not stored properly and accessible. Lastly, the hotel smells like mould.”
Jason said he stayed at the hotel from September 7 to 11, for which he paid £152.35. “No one was available to speak to,” he said. “The front desk was empty and the staff were in the lounge talking on their cell phone showing no interest in the guest.”
His experiences only went downhill from there: despite requiring assistance with a clogged shower, Jason was refused a room change. He also listed numerous other complaints including a lack of WiFi connection, only one roll of toilet paper provided, a view overlooked by visible rubbish, a door that looked as if somebody had tried to kick it in, no telephone in the room, no air conditioning, no fan in room, cracks in walls and some walls falling apart.
But Jason’s review is positively glowing compared to others online. The long list of complaints range from “reeking of pee” to startling discoveries like “sick in the drawers”.
Other negative reviews mention odours in the hallways, and in one case, a guest decided to leave shortly after seeing the sorry state of their room. One word reviews also include “Spooky”, “Disgusting” and simply “S***”.
According to travel websites, the Sherwood Palm is a three-star facility and does have many of the features Jason said were missing. It’s described as boasting a central location close to Torre Abbey Beach.
Positive reviews online include “Pleasant”, “Phenomenal” and “Ok, be back again before Xmas.” One said: “What do you want from a room?” and another “For £39.00, for one night sleep, you can’t complain.”
In its response to Jason’s review online the hotel said: “Dear, Jason! Sorry for the trouble that has caused. We would like to thank you for sharing such valuable reviews. Definitely we can work on it to make sure that your next stay turns out to be awesome. Regards, Kenneth! “
An OYO spokesperson said: “The hotel is being operated by a really elderly couple. Given the bad guest reviews, we have been counselling them to focus on both physical and service improvements.”
“We had already removed the OYO branding from all booking platforms so consumers don’t assume a certain quality level associated (with) the brand. We are being patient since this is the livelihood for aged owners.”
“But we are monitoring closely and will sever the relationship fully if things don’t improve soon. We do hope for the owners sake that they are able to turn the quality around.”