Megan D
Google
We had an incredibly disappointing stay at Hotel Bowmann. I trawled the Internet to find a 5 star hotel suitable for my husband's big birthday. I Mow regret choosing this one.
Firstly, I am baffled that this hotel has been rated as a 5 star. If it were a 3 star hotel, I'd be more forgiving but the hotel is not up to any other 5 star hotel standard that we've stayed in.
Upon check-in, my husband's birthday was not even acknowledged, despite a note in the system.
Room:
- Dirty carpet
- No bin in bedroom (only one tiny bin in bathroom)
- Shampoo and body wash is an 'all in one', not really what you'd expect in a 5 star establishment
- Shampoo ran out in our bathroom - was not topped up by staff
- Toilet and sink were not clean (both had yellow staining, unacceptable in a hotel of any rating, but especially in a 5 star).
- Bathroom was shoddy, dirty grout and rough around the edges (see photos). The bathroom looks like marble in photos but it's actually cheap imitation marble (plastic?)..
- Hairdryer was old, dirty and sticky
Hotel Common Areas/Facilities
- Men were working on the lift every day (noisily), which meant relaxing was not possible - no mention was made of this prior to booking. We would have booked elsewhere as we wanted a quiet relaxing stay.
- The other lift is tiny and often in use, so we always had to take the stairs (which were filthy and covered in dirt).
- One of the main reasons for booking the hotel was the sauna, steam room and pool. What a disappointment they were. Body wash had ran out, one day the sauna didn't work at all (despite us and numerous other guests trying repeatedly), the steam room was so temperamental and ourselves and other guests struggled to get it to work properly. This is not a luxurious spa, certainly not one you'd expect to find in a 5 star hotel.
All of the above wouldn't be such an issue if it weren't a 5 star hotel. However, this just isn't up to 5 star standard.
Staff at reception only acknowledged us once throughout our stay! They ignored us each time we left the hotel.
Lastly, be aware that if you book direct - that the total price shown is not the total price (even though it says 'inclusive of ALL taxes and fees). City tax has to be paid separately on departure and is not included in the price shown. I actually cancelled my booking with a third party hotel website (which included city tax in the total) as it appeared cheaper to book direct. However, booking direct wasn't actually cheaper because they hadn't included the city taxes.