Brighton wedding soured by holiday let with 'mould and blood stains'

Jennifer and Alex Macleod-Shaw decided to elope to the south coast with their friends and booked an eight-person townhouse online through a third party.

However, the wedding party say they arrived at Brighton Station Townhouse to find many of the windows would not open, the bathroom had mould and cracks in it and some of the bedding was stained.

An independent company who dealt with the complaint refuted the claims.

Jennifer and Alex (L-R) (Image: Jennifer Macleod-Shaw)

Jennifer, 32, from London, said: “It was just a bit of a s**t show.

“We got there and it was crazy. There were five beds in one room, the back door had a key jammed in it and there was only one window which opened.

“We were so excited we didn’t look at all the bad reviews. There also weren’t any visible fire alarms in the property.

Blood-stained sheets (Image: Jennifer Macleod-Shaw)

“There was loads of black mould by the shower and a crack by the bathroom door which one of my friends tripped on.”

Jennifer also reported numerous other problems including live wires dangling from TV boxes and a wire which reportedly hadn’t been safety tested since 2018.

The couple added that after stripping the bed to help cleaners at the townhouse they found a duvet with blood stains and a “brown stain”.

Mould on the floor of the bathroom (Image: Jennifer Macleod-Shaw)

Jennifer said that the ordeal was “very stressful” and “frustrating”. She also alleged that, after they complained, their booking ended up being classed as a “no show”, meaning they were only entitled to a refund of around £90 of their £700 booking fee.

MOST READ:

• 'Beautiful' hedge set to be cut down after complaints
• Shaun the Sheep sculpture 'ripped from base' and left in road on art trail launch day
• Work restarts on major seafront project after it was paused over £3m funding gap

The townhouse in Saint George’s Mews in North Laine has been subject to a slew of negative reviews stretching back over a year.

While some described the townhouse as "exceptional", others staying there reported “sticky” floors, broken beds and a “mouse” in the living room.

Of 175 reviews on holiday booking site Booking.com, 56 rated the townhouse as "very poor" while 35 rated it "superb".

Frayed wires (Image: Jennifer Macleod-Shaw)

Jennifer added that she wanted to share her story as she “didn’t want other people to go through this”.

She added: “Brighton had become a special place for us over the years.

“The whole thing has definitely put a sour taste in our mouth especially when Brighton was a special getaway for us.”

A spokesman for Otto Hotels, an independent company which handled the couple's complaint, claimed that the couple were making the complaints "as a ruse to stay in a holiday home for several nights". 

The spokesman added that the threat of a bad review was 'manipulative', 'aggressive' and 'intimidating', something which the couple denied.

When asked about the company's response, Jennifer added that there was "no intimidation" and that the claims were "not false".

She added: "We have told them our issues and sent them proof."