Trifter

Never heard of this hotel chain – think it’s a bit out of my price range anyway! I’m more your Doris or Sheila….!

Bravo,and they wonder why all the best staff are leaving in droves. Undervalued, undersupported and undermined and thats just the guests!

So he thinks all guests leave the brains at the front door does he? Sounds to me as if he had his removed a long time ago?!

It seems the best bit of “cost cutting” the company did was to get him off the payroll

I think you’ll find I took myself on the payroll, because I was bored! Like I said in the article, it was you that nearly got kicked off the payroll Rowan…. What short memories people have when the tide flows better suddenly for them. But for the record, some of that insider info came from your boss, I wonder how she feels about this article, hopefully she faces the truth a little better than you!

Thank God someone has had the guts to write this, I think its time that all staff did this sort of expose and the group saw itself as it really is, that is without those pathetically cheap rose tinted glasses.

As for brains at the front door, how true we are rude to guests and they take it as some sort of quint charm.

Good one Spencer, if I ever get to meat you i’ll give you a whopping big kiss! You have style!

And oh, Reality Check was Rowan was it? a typically cheesy response from an incredibly cheesy little weirdo!

Some very good writing, on an issue it seems all but a few know to be the truth

Love reality check’s comments, obviously some sad individual who has no grasp of reality. As an ex-employee myself who left before all the mess started all i can say is that what the author has written is very close to what I have heard about the group, and to what I could see happening. Well written piece!

It seems some are taking this far to much to heart, I have written observations, and furthermore the truth. I can only state that those that take this personally obviously do not have the companies best interests at heart. But as for cutting me from the payroll, I was such a problem that less than two months after my departure I was asked to return, and that’s the truth and ultimately the poster reality check knows that to be true too.

SPENCER I HAD THE GREAT PLEASURE OF WORKING WITH YOU FOR A WHILE AND EVERY WORD YOU HAVE WRITTEN HERE IS THE TRUTH. WHY TOM AND ALE HAVE TAKEN THIS SO BADLY I DO NOT KNOW. THESE ARE HONEST OBSERTASIONS WHY STAFF ARE BEING MADE TO FEEL LIKE YOU ARE THE ENEMY I DO NOT KNOW. I BELIEVE EVERYONE MISSES THE MAGIC YOU BOUGHT TO THE HOTEL. ITS A FAR DARKER PLACE WITHOUT YOU.

Spencer, you couldnt have got any closer to the truth. The management couldnt run a bath.
They seem to forget that Hdv need the staff more than the staff need Hdv.

Truth hurts doesnt it boys and girls!!!

First rate article Spencer.

The Hotel Du Vin Cheltenham could be a first class establishment with the right people running the place. What good are these “Managers” if they can’t earn the respect of their staff or , as it seems, run a hotel properly.

I find the gentleman managing the Bistro very slimey and he needs a good hair cut. I find one of the female manager’s very rude. The food is not as good since they have changed the Head Chef.

Bring in the right management and Hdv will be onto a winner.

However, I had dinner at Hdv Henley a few weeks ago. The benchmark for all Hdv’s.

Cheltenham, take note.

SPENCER HAWKEN FOR PM!! YOU JUST WON MY VOTE!!!

CLEAN PANTS FOR THE MANAGERS PLEASE!!!

WOULD NOT EVEN PISS ON THEM IF THEY WERE ON FIRE!!!!

I WILL FRAME THIS ARTICLE!!!

NICE ONE!!!

HA HA BUSTED ROWAN!!!!

I like the way the the writer has pretty much said there is nothing personal, and then Reality Check has made it a personal issue, sounds like they are the ones needing the “Reality Check”

My parents introduced me to Hotel du vin and Malmaison a few years back. It’s been like collecting stamps, I have felt compelled to visit each one. But my last three visits to Brighton, Poole and Winchester have been less than pleasing, I found dirty washing under a bed from a previous guest, poor service, and am heir of arrogance from senior management, while the staff run around frantically to make everything right. I cannot comment as to whether what the initial poster says is true, but having stayed nearly 40 times in the chain I can promise on recent experience I never would again. What I would say is that things I have seen and heard while staying suddenly make a lot of sense. I too note the change in linens, I now have better at home than I experienced in Poole recently.

It seems the chain should take some notice to what the author and the vast number of posters have written here.

if your familiar with the group you will undoutably notice this spiral has been going on for some time, it just seems someone has finally had the balls to talk about the invisible elephant sat in the corner of the room. I for one would never set foot into one of their hotels again only to be palmed off with second rate tat!

You have to laugh we are all told this is lies, but the e-mails with this link have been sent around employees and as this have caused what bosses did not want the public to be seen to get a wider audience. I just searched hotel du vin in yahoo and this came up before even their own website. Well done the idiot in the company who spotted this and turned spencer into the most read person who has written about hotel du vin. And well done Spencer for having the guts to say what all the staff think.

Very well written

Very well written and very true. I eat from time to time at he Hdv Cheltenham with my wife. To be honest, the Brasserie Blanc has edged ahead in terms of quality of food and service.

Hdv is certainly not value for money.

I agree. Hdv think they are so special and so good. If they removed their heads from their arses, they would notice that the final product is not what you would expect from what used to be a class establishment. I find the staff so arrogant. Trust me Hdv, you aint that good.

Watch out for the Kandinsky after the refurbishment. Top place with a top service.

Great article. They must be so upset to know that your brighter that the lot of them put together Spencer.

Nice to see how many ex employees think so highly of the managers!!!

If its a case of cutting costs, you have people there earning far to much money for doing. Take that best place to work award and shove it up your arse.

Whats that smell “Management”? Wipe your arses would you cos you stink.

So true!! Get rid of the lot of them.
It could be a great place. It just sucks working for retards. You all know who you are dont you…….

It was the same in the kitchen before last christmas. We had a really good Head Chef in Michael Wilson. But the rest of them were mouthy idiots who thought they were just a little special but not really that good.

We have a general manager who is never there. A deputy general manager who thinks she owns the place and pisses everybody off. I will not even mention the F&B management.

Mohammad for GM!!!!!

They complaing about cost cutting and all that bollocks. I think you will find that people have to be happy and pay for their meals before you can make money.Oh and it came out of our service charge which we work hard for. The amount of comps we gave out was unreal. The food is average at the service not much better as they cant keep hold of the best staff like Spencer.

All they care about is covering their own arses.

They would all look fab behind a KFC counter. Better be quick guys, only limited amounts of pot wash positions available.

“Economic slow down” my arse.

Cheltenham is an affluent area. Hdv is just pants.

You may aswell stick a butlins there.

Great article

I work in the very hotel spencer work in from open, before in fact I did good job pleasing guests and I made my department much loved by cheltenham people. But I was not loved by management because I say my piece and for that and all the many poins I bring in I get bullied. Hotel management make up many letters of complaint from customer that do not exist and eventually had to leave before I was sacked. The hotel was very bad to me.

Well written. I was actually going to book a party at Hotel Du Vin and found this article whilst trying to find the Hdv website.

I think Monty’s is the best bet then.

Very useful Mr Hawken.

Well done Spencer. staff are all numbers at Hotel Du Vin, you have made sure that you become more than one! Interesting that the idiot Reality Check wrote that it was good to have you off the payroll surely a two time employee of the month such as yourself would be a loss. Well regardless of what those upstairs think you were one of the best managers this hotel ever had!

Its lost more than its sparkle

well I have to disagree with some of the other messages on here, the food and service in the bistro when I last went was excellent, however a blonde girl on reception was very short with me when I asked some very simple questions. It’s that age old thing of getting one thing right and somebody else letting the business down. What had started well ended badly and this girl so full of her own importance has put me off going again. I am confused by the article though because when I looked for hotel du vin cheltenham on the Internet I got this, but the writer does not explain anywhere it was about cheltenhams hotel. My issue was with cheltenhams but surely not all of these???

The article was in no means Cheltenham specific, it was based across the whole group. However as I understand it Cheltenhams management chose to make it about them taking a universal view all to personally.

You forgot to mention Spencer that all the management went on a hate campain about you telling staff a lot of lies about you. Slimeball bistro manager (what a joke) moaned to everyone about you encoraging you encoraging us to read the article. And even the lame brained management bought it up in the 10 am meeting. This is how it has become so well assosoated with Cheltenham. We have a bistro manager that does no work and argued publically with his partner Alessia the DGM about stupid issues, while she runs his bistro because he is too stupid to do it. You have a manager who just dissapears like he is going through a midlife crisis. And a team so demoralized by the crap that goes on above that the staff leave in their droves, the only people to stay are those in senior management and thats because they run the place as they want to and occasionally put on a good show for important people. I wonder how they would react to a surprise head office visit?

What happened to the service charge, months without it while the management lined their pockets or covered there mistakes! Why do staff leave? why is the hotel getting a bad name? Because the management are complete scum bags that would sell their mothers for the bloody service charge!

as far as i’m concerned they just do not care about staff, across the board. I’m not from cheltenham, but the same things happen here and the same sad managers do the same stuff across the board. They are obviously told by idiots like Mike Warren to just do these things to staff.

congrats on the article google ranking above the hotels own website.

anybody for a happy meal at Hdv?

New for 2009! Curry and a pint for a £5
Huh sounds like something Tom Ross would come up with

That would be great Tom, we can watch you get pissed and fall down…. AGAIN!!!

Are you ready for tonights main event?
Alessia Faccini (Deputy General Manager) Vs Gerhard stein (Food & Beverage Manager).
They are live here Saturday 29th November 2008, Right here at HDV Cheltenham in our Bistro.

For ticket sales call: 01242 588450

This article above might be a joke but it does actually happen the DGM and f&B manager do argue in the middle of service. Ranting and raving at each other.

FIGHT!! FIGHT!!! FIGHT!!!!

Well It is a bit like David vs Galiath

But who was the best fighter? Kristina and John, or Alessia and Gerhard? Well lets find out!!!! Fight!! Fight!! Fight!!

I guess none of them were good fighters and you either, you are all quite right but at least assume a bit more your thoughts and stop to be scared to express them with your eyes… We can be great sometimes, but very short as well.. What did you choose for you today?!?

It seems sad that such a great piece of writing has been tarnished with a lot of petty squabbles. Good work Spencer try and encourage people to stay on track though!

At last a voice of sanity…

Well I for one have seen a sharp decline in Hotel Du Vin over the last few years. But this is the price bourne by rapid expanding chains.

So who are all these fans of Hdv Tom?

#46: Nice one Alessia but no.

I’m starting a campaign – GET GERHARD OUT, GET GERHARD OUT, you will see the Hotel improve ten-fold.

Join in, all those who are behind me!

get gerhard out!

get gerhard out

You forget something get a grip, we are in a recession jobs are not just growing on trees.

Besides knowing that everyone in the hotel has seen this, and knowing many of the people who wrote comments on this forum, if the upset staff left the hotel there would only be three members of management left, and I dont think any of those would be tom, who strikes most as being equally as unhappy, especially since the ale and jerry show run the hotel not him.

“Now I worked for Hotel Du Vin until very recently, and this is not a disgruntled employee lashing out at a company”

Sorry but an disgruntled employee is EXACTLY what you sound like. If it wasn’t that bad, then why slander it all over the internet? Also were you an model employee??
and I bet a bit of a snob as well fawning over “Lord suchandsuch” and leaving “poor Doris and Shelia” to fend for themselves, but in your world I don’t suppose that Doris and Shelia deserve to go to that type of hotel more than once in a blue moon as per your quote “People on the lower end of the financial spectrum would save for weeks and even months to enjoy the Hotel Du Vin experience”.
Remember people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

As a writer you write about what you know, not about what you speculate over.

If you knew me you would understand I’m not the sort of person to fawn over anyone, but I kind of expect you to know me.

Slander is where you bad mouth someone over things that are not true, might want to consider reaching for a dictionary before trying to master such BIG words.

As for glass houses, I’m pretty well protected… Though far from perfect… I wonder if you can say the same

Oh dear alloverash; you don’t sound like an outsider just passing through. More like one of the very idiots the poster originally spoke about. Sounds like your trying to protect your glass house.

omg! i hadnt heard about this until now!!! well done spencer, very well written, articulate and absolutely all true! I joined hdv with big expectations, but was sadly disappointed by the lack of opportunity and all the finger pointing. Management never, ever appreciated the staff and it is so sad they lost Michael as a chef, he was top class! Also a brilliant bar manager who taught everyone he worked with his skills, even if he did break a computer screen! It is so sad, but they have lost the team that made them great, and now its their neighbours time 2 clean up! Also a warning to all guests, give the waiters/resses cash tips, as the company holds the tips, and the staff rarely c them!!!

i used to work with gerhard in other place.
really annoying person…

so enjoy and have fun, guys ! ;-d

well spencer you got it right! ive been working for Hdv for a number of years now, as for the ime gerard and robin were here i just want to say that altought it was very nice for staff it wasnt the way to run a hotel business, it was more familial than anything and was out of this world i must say!( in a nice Way), well since MWB took over it has become more a cash machine than anything and personnaly im glad for the economic downturn as MWB directors are loosing a fortune and will not be able to sell the chain to anyone after what it has become. The old operations directors are looking after their own jobs and come with ideas that are destroying the Brand as a whole, take that 2009 promo , it is very important to have these kind of promo in a weak economic climate but nothing as been thaught trough and every body is ending up serving chavs and have to refuse normal fare paying customer.Regulars are feeling that change in the crowd and now prefer to avoid coming into our hotels.i cannot be too long on that comment but i d like to tell them to stay put and do what we do best, wine and simple food not giving wine away!which luckily will soon be illegal.
so long

and by the way making staff sign a document forbidding them to comment on the company on Facebook etc… is proper horse c**p!!!

Oh dear. How very sad. It seems to me that some of the individuals using this blog have far too many sour grapes to tread!
I would like to point out that to stay in buisness and keep the staff ( happy or not) paid, companies need to find ways of bringing in more money and expand. I have to say, that as a potential client of this hotel chain, I am glad that we will not to serviced by such narrow minded individuals