I was extremely disappointed with my stay at the Pullman Liverpool. For a hotel that advertises itself as a 4-star property, I expected much better standards of room maintenance and customer service.
When I arrived, I discovered that neither the lights nor the telephone in my room were working. As I was staying on the 7th floor, I had to return to reception to report the issue. Rather than simply issuing me with a new room key, the receptionist asked me to go back up to my room, collect all of my luggage, return to reception, and then collect the key for a replacement room on the 8th floor. I suggested that it would make far more sense to move my luggage directly from the 7th floor to the 8th floor instead of making an unnecessary trip back down to reception first.
Unfortunately, the problems continued throughout my stay. The following day, my room key stopped working and had to be reactivated. The day after that, exactly the same thing happened again, requiring yet another trip to reception. Having to repeatedly queue at reception because the hotel couldn't provide a functioning room key is simply unacceptable.
Housekeeping was also below the standard I would expect. On one day, the toilet was not cleaned at all.
What disappointed me most was the response from staff. I spoke with Lucie, the Duty Manager, who appeared largely uninterested in the series of issues I had experienced. Her only suggestion was to take my email address so that the Guest Experience Manager could contact me. However, when I asked when I should expect a response, I was told that the manager was on annual leave until the end of the week, even though my three-night stay was ending the very next day. This did little to reassure me that my concerns would be addressed.
Both Lucie and the male receptionist I dealt with displayed very poor customer service. There was no genuine apology, no sense of ownership of the problems, and no attempt to make things right. Instead, I was left feeling that the repeated inconveniences I experienced were of little concern to the hotel.
The breakfast experience was equally disappointing. After being seated, I ordered a coffee and was told that it would be brought to my table. It never arrived. After waiting for a considerable time, I had to stop another member of staff who happened to be passing and ask again. While this may seem like a minor issue on its own, it reflected the same lack of attention to guests and poor service that I experienced throughout my stay.
A hotel can occasionally experience maintenance issues, but the real test is how staff respond. Unfortunately, the lack of care, empathy, and professionalism I encountered was the most disappointing part of my stay. Based on this experience, I would not recommend the Pullman Liverpool and would certainly think twice before staying here again.
