Clayton Hotels
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BIRMINGHAM CLAYTON HOTEL TOOK £250 OUT OF MY ACCOUNT AND ACCUSED US OF SMOKING IN THE ROOM WHEN WE DIDNT
I wish i could write a good review about this hotel but my experience has now been dampened because ive had £250 taken out of my account and been told evidence of smoking was found in the room. I visited this hotel for a well needed weekend break with my friend to unwind and relieve current stress. I am now more stressed than i was before I started the weekend. When we first arrived at the hotel I was told I didnt have a booking even after showing my email, I made my booking on their website. I was then asked to look for a confirmation number to be told after "Oh ive found you, you already checked in online" which we didnt, but thankfully this was resolved and we went to our room 512 on the 5th floor. We stayed from Sat 24th Feb and checked out on Mon 26th Feb. I have just returned from the hotel approx 14.45 on Mon 26th Feb to find that £250 has been deducted from my account and we have been accused of smoking in our room. They said they found evidence of "ash" and "buds of cigarettes" in the bin. Not that the room smelled like we had been smoking in there and also not that the actual buds of the cigarettes in the bin had been burnt!! But let me continue... I was not notified by the hotel, nor had anyone dicussed the matter with us or stated there had been any issue with our stay, my card has just been used after we departed and has been charged without no warning nor any wrongdoing. I called them to investigate thinking I had been charged twice for the room as I paid £238 previously for our stay and £250 was deducted. When I was first put through to a gentleman and mentioned the missing money he said, "oh yes, the reason is because that night when you had an issue with your door, the key fob has now been broken" I replied "What are you on about, we never had any issues with our door or a broken fob" he then said "oh I think im talking to the wrong person" well clearly sir!! and it seems they just like to be handing out charges to people for anything. He then asked me what I was calling about and when I explained that I had been charged again for the room he said he would investigate and let me know what happened. He then called back to state that evidence of smoking was found in our room. My friend uses cigarettes to roll up with, so she will make 1 cigarette 2 roll ups instead of smoking a whole 1, hence "the cigarette buds" he had the cheek to refer to. We went outside of the hotel when we first arrived to smoke as we didnt realise there was a designated smoking area. We went out to dinner on our first night and when we returned I asked the gentleman at reception where the smoking area was to which he replied opposite the bar. From that point during our stay anytime we wanted to smoke we went to the balcony opposite the bar. I dont always finish smoking so i will dab it out half way to smoke the rest later. When you do this it has a stronger scent. Id then go back to the room and smoke the unfinished cig outside on the balcony later or in the morning, this is probably the "evidence of ash" they referred to or the only reason the room may have a scent, however, nobody smoked in the room as we are not adolescent black children who dont know how to follow the rules. We did exactly what we always do which is smoke outside. There is also no rule to say you cannot roll up in your room, or bring back a half smoked roll up to your room. All of this was explained to the gentleman, and he said "I do believe you madame, however, theres nothing I can do and I need to speak to my general manager tomorrow for them to investigate the matter and look at the cctv to show all the times you "say" you went out to smoke". Ive had to now wait for 24 hours for them to investigate this matter and check their security footage to see the actual 101 times we went out to smoke on their balcony in the freezing cold as instructed. Ive also requested to see this "picture evidence" they say was in our room of these so called "cigarette buds and evidence of ash" which they said would be emailed to me and I am yet to receive. Im so livid and honestly trying not to make this a racist thing, but honestly why is that of all the peole who were constantly outside smoking that we would be charged for smoking in the room when we did the exact opposite. I feel insulted and outraged as im £250 out of pocket because I followed the rules, and am now feeling so miserable after what was supposed to be a great weekend. For this reason i will never stay at this hotel again nor recommend anyone else that smokes does. If the picture evidence comes through I will upload