Grand Harbour Hotel

If you wish to read my review from last year where EVERYTHING was a disaster at the grand harbour , this new review will surprise you. For the last 4 years , we have held our " old school boys" reunion ( Tauntons grammar school 1962-1968) at this hotel. Last year ? Forget it !! This year ?? Truly outstanding. Whether or not there has been a total change of management and staff I don't know but this years visit (7th to 10th September 2017) was a total turnaround from that experienced in 2016. My wife and I arrived on Thursday 7th and the concierge took ownership of our car to park it offsite due to the forthcoming boat show. The greeting at reception for checking in was warm, welcoming, courteous and professional and above all, fast. I spoke to a very smartly dressed and smiley young lady who seemed to be in charge of " something" at the hotel as she walked around the bar area casually chatting to guests. I enquired as to whether it would be possible to reserve an area in the bar for our reunion the following evening. " of course sir" was the response ,unlike last year when it was " against the rules" . I also ordered refreshments for the following evening to be delivered at 8.30. Our room was splendid with everything in perfect working order, but my wife needed an extra quilt as she likes her own . Housekeeping were called an a quilt arrived within 5 minutes by a sweet elderly lady with a wonderful smile. We called housekeeping on a few occasions during our stay and each time the response and service was excellent The following evening my old school chums and I gathered in the bar at 7pm . The area we requested had been duly reserved , refreshments arrived at exactly 8.30 , the service by the bar staff was 100% and we all had a memorable evening . My son, daughter, and grandchildren arrived to join us the next day and they were truly impressed with the standards in the grand harbour. My daughter even commented on the improved state of the swimming pool as she had visited last year as well. I saw the young lady who fixed our reservation and refreshments on many occasions during our visit and she was always so very elegant, smiling and called me " mr williams" each time. I was one of many guests staying there so to remember a guest's name is VERY impressive. Whoever she is , is a great asset to the team at the grand harbour. Overall, congratulations on a complete change of standards . Will we be back ? Will we recommend? .... - a 100%,YES.

Disappointed and I am sad to say that as it could be a great hotel. We came for an event in the hotel and a few days to explore the city. The city was wonderful and full of history. SHIPBUILDING & CUNARD history! AS with other reviews, the outside of the hotel is really nice. Your first impression is one of high standards and an above average hotel. Again, like other reviews, the concierge works hard and are great guys. Location is perfect for beautiful views of all the ships coming in, the ports and close location to shopping malls and the old walled town. When booking, ask for a sea/port view. It's worth it! The room was nicely appointed but the air conditioner did not work and the days were hot. Hard to even get ready to go out! We let front desk know and they told us once that they would send someone up to fix it. No one came. Called again and again. Next day they finally gave us a fan closer to the evening. with no explanation. The event in the hotel was for 350 ppl from around the world. No air conditioning! It was the most uncomfortable evening ever. Most ppl took to standing outside on the driveway as they could not take the heat in the hotels conference hall. Bartenders supplied were seen picking their noses and then serving drinks. DAMN if the prices of the drinks went up through the night!!! That was pure "in your face" ripping off ! That is the worst in my view, when a the hotel allows staff to undermine the hotels reputation. Standards need to be enforced and making a buck is all well and good but blatant ripping off of the guests is deplorable. I would actually stay here again because I see that this hotel has potential and believe that management has a great opportunity to turn the reputation around by enforcing standard health and safety and making a concerted effort to fix their issues for the sake of their pride in service and the hospitality industry. Being upfront and proactive with issues faced in regards to electrical problems before events booked and just generally having a standard that is not wavering. On services offered for breakfast, it was a nice dining area and a variety of hot and cold items. Morning breakfast staff were awesome Evening dining in their signature dining room was a limited menu. Vegetarian or vegan ppl would have a narrow choice as meat is the prime feature. Re-vamp your menu and you will fill your dining tables as I felt the theme was old. Bar is large and welcoming. Use it for all your pauses in your day as the seats are comfy and the room airy and light filled. Reception staff are polite but need to prioritise as our complaints were neglected or forgotten I felt. No value placed on guest relations. We are easy going people, a call or an effort to acknowledge ongoing attempts to fix problem goes a long way. End thought.....this hotel needs some love and attention and it will be great.

Booked the best suite in the hotel as a birthday treat. Although the rooms were lovely and clean there were a few problems which if changed would make what you pay worth it. There were no instructions on how to use heating/cooling system or the lights (which were not easy to figure out) and the jacuzzi bath did not seem to work (or if it did again there was no instructions on use and could not figure it out). No doubt if we had asked they would have told us but that would have meant calling and having someone come up to the room on at least 3 occasions. Also although you are asked to fill in details if you want breakfast in your room and a questionnaire about your stay there were no pens provided to do this. The restaurant was a lovely space, the staff were very friendly and the food was cooked perfectly. My only problem was when I had finished my starter and this was being cleared the waitress asked me why I did not eat everything and then said there are 'hungry people around'. Not something that should be said to a paying customer. Probably a one off but was what happened. One of the best things about The Grand Harbour hotel is the concierge. Incredibly friendly bunch who were only too willing to help with our car as with the boat show on parking was an issue. They are a credit to the hotel.

Description says warm welcome! Not from any of the Managers I can assure you. Cancelled my booking due to inept attitude, passing the buck and generally dreadful customer service from all but 1non senior member of staff, (the only reason for the one star). If this was before I stayed, wasn't going to chance having a bad experience after the many bad reviews! Real case of too many chiefs..shame!

Hotel needs to be refurbished. Lobby area is very dark. Dining areas are okay but many of double pane windows have the seals broken, dirty windows. The bar area is ok, but don't look up. It looks like 2 years worth of dust is caked on the vents. Our room was an executive suite. Very funny. Virtually no furniture in the room. The deck was a concrete alcove, which may not have been too bad except it smelled like an ashtray and was covered in cigarette butts. The bath could have been the best feature with a walk in shower and a bath. It was clean, but again dark. We searched for a switch to turn on the lights around the mirror. What we found were exposed light connections hanging down from the mirror above the sink! No lights to shave. I guess we were not going to be electrocuted, but to have exposed wiring near water was a bit unsettling. The hotel refunded our breakfast charge, but refused to lower the room rate because we booked thru Expedia. Sub-par hotel.

We stayed at Grand Harbour on their Ultimate Cruise package before our Britannia cruise in August. We have stayed here before and never been disappointed with the quality of room, service and food. The concierge service is exceptional, the men work so hard to store an alarming large amount of luggage from numerous people, they do so with a smile, working so hard to make, what could be such a stressful start to our holiday, smooth and stress free. We cannot thank them enough for this excellent service which includes a very friendly and efficient transfer to the port. They are a great bunch of people and a credit to the hotel. Reception is always busy, its a busy hotel so you do expect to wait but check in is efficient and very friendly. Our room was lovely, so spacious, with a great balcony and view over the harbour. It was wonderful to look out early in the morning and see all the lights of the ports and ships arriving home. Possibly the bathrooms could do with a little updating as could some of the furnishings but it is purely cosmetic and I am sure the hotel have a programme of refurbishments and will do every room eventually. The restaurant has been taken over by Marco Pierre White Steak house in the evenings which seems to have turned it into just a grill. The food was plentiful and well presented, but we thought the quality was good before so it was nice to see old favourites like the fish and chips still on the menu. Again service was good and friendly, which gets you in the holiday right from the off. Breakfast was the usual selection and buffet style, again it was well cooked and plentiful although the toast machine ( like many hotels who use this ) did not really deliver but with pastries and other breads to chose from one can't really complain and you certainly would not go hungry! Being on the cruise package we were entiltled to use the cruise lounge on the day of our departure, this was really the only slightly low point of the whole experience as the waiter in charge was very surly, we demanded to see our paperwork before allowing is in. We have done this package before and never had to show anything and this time we were not given anthing new or told we needed to show proof of purchase! The manager sorted it out for us but I do thnk they could do with a bright and welcoming member of staff in the area as to made to feel like you are doing something wrong by asking for an orange juice just before your holiday is not what you want. On our return the organisation for getting a taxi was brilliant and collecting our car and keys was stress free and efficient, greeted once again by the same great guys at the concierge desk who helped again with luggage before wishing us a safe journey home. Thank you Grand Harbour, once again a 'Grand' start to our wonderful cruise.

The hotel lives up to its name Grand from the outside only , but from the moment you walk through the revolving door things start going downhill. At reception it took 10 - 15 minutes to check-in because the receptionist was dealing with check-ins and check-outs. After finally checking -in I took the lift to the 3rd floor, which smelt of curry for the duration of my stay. The bar had one barman who was fully engaged dealing with customers. While I was at the bar waiting to be served a customer returned his bar snack looking very annoyed, the barman left the bar and took the disgruntled customer away to air his grievance elsewhere leaving the bar unattended for a period of 5 min. or more. In short I consider the hotel was seriously under staffed for a supposedly top hotel. And finally a further £10 was added to my bill to recover my car from the adjacent car park which belongs to the local Council ( this was after a one night stay, as the hotel doesn't have a customer car park.) In short the hotel was smelly, tacky and understaffed.

When I arrived I waited over 10 minutes when only one girl on reception spoke to another guest on the phone who could not get his key to work. All she had to do was to send him. A new key. There was no concierge or porter when I arrived. When I did speak to the receptionist despite showing her an email and a printed confirmation from the Company for whom I am working that they are paying g the bill, she insisted or tried to, that I had to sign I was paying g the bill and demanded my credit card. It took her quite a few minutes taking my phone and print out to confirm that the bill was being paid by the company. I had had a long journey so ordered a cup of coffee and the same nonsense started again but this time the waiter accused me of refusing to pay the bill! There needs to be some serious staff training in how to deal with bookings and welcome guests and make them feel welcome. I certainly did not.

Checkin was a nightmare so that started the rotten stay we had. Even had to recheck in the second day for the same room as they weren't smart enough to amalgamate two bookings. Try to get a beer in the bar it's impossible after 15 mins so we opted for room service of two pints of Stellar which we have had all over England and it is bubbly and refreshing. What we received was cloudy bitter bilge water.. The room was adequate except for the Verandah Door being partially Locked Open allowing for Street noise and cold air. Maintenance could not open or unlock it really making it a Unsafe and Dangerous room. They stuffed around with it til 4.30pm and by this we had unpacked and were over their lack of service. They came back and asked us to move. No way after taking so long to get a room in the first place. Breakfast for $20 Pound what a joke. Couldn't even get a freshly cooked egg. Had to have the dried out ones in the Bay Marie which were Luke warm and hard as a rock. Bu far the worst English Breakfast we have had in 12 days. Weather good one day sorry the next. Much better elsewhere. Avoid at all costs and we paid dearly.