Best Western Glasgow Pond Hotel

Good food, shame about the rest....

I stayed at this hotel for one night in January 2004

I was meeting up with a group of people and one of the members had negotiated a discount rate and a special meal for us.

On the eve, I phoned up and asked how early I could check in because I was due to arrive in Scotland about 8am and would get to the hotel about 11am. The staff said the earliest was 12 noon but they could always store my bag while I used the facilities (sauna, pool and gym).

In the end I arrived in Glasgow and went to the shops for a couple of hours. I phoned the hotel to ask which busses go past the hotel and was told curtly, "we are not in his city centre, and you'll have to get a cab"! As I couldn’t get any help from the locals, or the bus drivers about which buses take Great Western Road, I took a cab. And guess what? Turned out it was a main road that plenty of busses took!

Still, I arrived at the hotel after 2pm, (hours after the anticipated and informed the reception) and my room wasn't even ready! But they were checking other people into their rooms! So I had to wait - according to reception there was "nothing they could do"! And where did I wait? Well, the "lounge" is right next to the doorway and given that it was January, I got an icy blast every time someone entered or exited!

After an hour (and three enquiries!) my room was finally ready. The room was adequate for a single person (it was supposed to be a double). There was a view or the nearby lake, a decent sized TV and tea-making facilities. There was also a trouser-press

The bathroom was a little dim and that bath had a nasty green water stain it. The room was quite cold and as I couldn’t find a regulator on the radiator, I phoned reception to ask how I turn the heating up. I was told flatly that the heating wouldn't be turned on till 5pm! I explained that I was cold *now* and could they do anything about it? They said they would "see". A few minutes later someone came up with a small plug-in heater.

Unique Quality: (...continued from previous)

Later on when I joined rest of the party, they mentioned their rooms. One person said the door to her room looked as if it had been kicked in! Another person who had a smoking room, but no ashtray, phoned reception only to be told to "nick one from the bar"! We also found out that the bar charged for tap water!

The low-carb meal that they had prepared for us was really good. They got the requirements correct that some establishments tend to overlook.
The breakfast was full Scottish, it was OK, typical fare, nothing spectacular.

All in all the best parts of the hotel was the food, but the accommodation and the service really wasn't up to the price, my bill came to GBP70. At least we didn't pay the full rate!