Oh, dear.
Now I'm not known for my one star reviews - I don't like bad mouthing businesses. Hate it, as a matter of fact. I wouldn't hurt a fly, even with a bad review. And you must bear in mind this was four years ago, so hopefully things have greatly improved. But bloody hell, the experience I had in the Grand cannot be glossed over.
Having stayed in Scarborough a few times over the years, I have always admired the beautiful building standing tall on the cliffs. Boasting exquisite, classic Victorian architecture hailing from the era of the seaside holiday, it's quite the spectacle to look at.
I always wanted to stay in the Grand because it seemed to have everything down to a fine art. I think my childish thought processes thought that if it was called The Grand and looked grand, then I would somehow be transported back through time to an age full of seaside pride and glitzy ballroom shows.
Wrong.
I don't know who took over the Grand or what the hell happened when I was there, but it was quite possibly the most unsavoury hotel experience I've had to date.
Let me just paint the scene - it's summer. You're 19, with your family and surprisingly excited going for a good old fashioned kids holiday without boozing. I viewed it as a bit of a detox.
So I was there with my mum, aunt, and two cousins - so far, so good. We quickly realised that the Grand left a lot to be desired.
On a superficial level, the staff were all over the place. You'd be left like hungry Horatio waiting to find out what was going on at breakfast. Our table, which was meant to be allocated to our coach party, kept being moved. Entertainment was cancelled. The hotel was still open despite the massive overhaul that was going on. We didn't get much assistance taking our belongings up to the room. I'm pretty sure there were leaks, too.
But the creme de la creme of my Grand experience was the sickness bug that staff neglected to warn us about. One by one, our elderly coach party dropped like flies - I think some people even got trains back home. People disappeared from the dining room area at a rapid rate, to the point that the vast space became ghostly with the lack of people buzzing around.
We should've known it was going to end like this - the plates and cutlery were smeared with the grime of everyday use. The knives were so dirty I wanted to bring my own plastic offerings, or cut to the chase and do their dishes for them. Absolutely disgraceful. But the definining moment, as if this isn't nightmarish enough, was watching my family get severe vomiting bugs!
First it was my litte cuz, then my teenage cousin, then my aunt who was sharing a room with them. So with little regard from the staff downstairs, it befell on me and my mum to figure out what we were going to do. Should we stay or should we go?
We ended up staying, because getting Benny on a coach with a 400 degree sweltering forehead didn't seem like a good plan. But for the duration, I panicked about my mum coming down with it. She was going through chemo at the time (nice, cheery topic for a Friday afternoon) and without rubbing salt in the wound, it was meant to be a bloody relaxing time away for her as she finished her treatment! Instead, I felt like I had bricked the rest of my illing family into quarantine trying to stop her getting a bug that would be made 100 times worse by the possibilites of a weakened immune system.
Turns out my mum is as strong as an ox, so with the bionic immune system she has she ended up looking after everyone, while also storming downstairs to complain as well.
We ended up getting vouchers for another holiday (like you'd want to return to the Hellmouth) and a written apology from head office stating that the bug was unexpected. But the shoddy service from the clueless staff and the fact they witheld important information has been burned on my memory as the worst holiday Of All Time.
Phew, that rant has been festering for four years. It's nice to air it. I feel quite proud to join the Holidays From Hell representatives, and this was a stinker! Let's hope the refurb also included Environmental Control, and that it has greatly improved since those dark days. read more