Has this ever happened to you?
I was made mindful of this the other day after a conversation with a colleague who was telling me that she and her OH had gone down to Dartmoor for a quiet break away from the kids one Saturday night recently.
They stayed at the Two Bridges Hotel - a very nice place, as it happens, in a lovely tranquil spot. At least it was when I last went there but her weekend, as it transpired, wasn't quite as peaceful and relaxing as she had hoped for.
You see, there was a wedding reception going on and all the guests were also booked in to stay the night.
I don't think the issue was that they were particularly rowdy - though there were quite a few in high spirits as the Lambrini flowed - it was more the fact that they were practically the only people there, other than the staff, who were not part of the wedding party.
This made them very uncomfortable - as though they were gatecrashing another person's party.
She told me she complained to the management about this situation but was informed that it was hotel policy to book out all rooms regardless.
Personally, I think if a wedding party is going to account for more than a given percentage of maximum occupancy then they should have to book out the hotel exclusively to that wedding. Either that or they inform guests that are independent of the wedding reception that there will be a wedding in progress on the date of their stay so that they can make an informed decision as to whether or not to proceed with the booking based on that information.
I was made mindful of this the other day after a conversation with a colleague who was telling me that she and her OH had gone down to Dartmoor for a quiet break away from the kids one Saturday night recently.
They stayed at the Two Bridges Hotel - a very nice place, as it happens, in a lovely tranquil spot. At least it was when I last went there but her weekend, as it transpired, wasn't quite as peaceful and relaxing as she had hoped for.
You see, there was a wedding reception going on and all the guests were also booked in to stay the night.
I don't think the issue was that they were particularly rowdy - though there were quite a few in high spirits as the Lambrini flowed - it was more the fact that they were practically the only people there, other than the staff, who were not part of the wedding party.
This made them very uncomfortable - as though they were gatecrashing another person's party.
She told me she complained to the management about this situation but was informed that it was hotel policy to book out all rooms regardless.
Personally, I think if a wedding party is going to account for more than a given percentage of maximum occupancy then they should have to book out the hotel exclusively to that wedding. Either that or they inform guests that are independent of the wedding reception that there will be a wedding in progress on the date of their stay so that they can make an informed decision as to whether or not to proceed with the booking based on that information.
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