I spent 2 nights in The Merchant Hotel last week, I will not be visiting again. My daughter who is coeliac was unable to have breakfast there so despite spending a LOT of money on our stay including breakfast, we were forced to go elsewhere to find her food. The hotel has a GF breakfast ‘menu’ and this in part informed our decision to stay there, but in reality the menu is simply a listing of the items from the regular menu that do not contain gluten, think eggs bacon etc (no sausages). That’s fine if you like eggs & bacon, my 13 year old daughter doesn’t and she had the not unreasonable expectation that she might be able to have pancakes, or pastries, or French toast (all of which were offered on the regular menu, though there was some smoked fish available to her - a definite favourite for kids!). We were, after all, paying the same price for her breakfast and she was a guest of the hotel too. What was truly astonishing to me was that after our experience where our daughter could only have half a grapefruit for breakfast on the first day, and we highlighted this to staff, no arrangements were made to have anything available for her on the second morning. To add insult to injury we were informed that there was a French Toast special that day just not for people who have a gluten allergy! I was genuinely shocked at the poor level of service received at this hotel, it’s listed as a 5 star which is supposed to be characterised by excellent service. Our experience here was quite the reverse. My strong feeling is that if you are coeliac, or a child at The Merchant they simply do not feel that you should expect to have the same quality of experience as other guests. The hotel staff seemed not to understand that when a family member is reduced to tears on the second morning of their stay because they have no breakfast AGAIN, that this affects the whole family. Staying in a luxury hotel for our family (which we rarely do) is about enjoying the room and enjoying the breakfasts. This experience completely ruined our stay. Do better please.
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