First of all, I am deeply sorry that your stay here in Barcelona was not as pleasant as it should have been.
Please rest assure that we have been taking all the necessary actions to avoid reoccurrence of this nature in the future and we hope you accept our most sincere apologies for not coming up to your expectations on this occasion.
Mr Lauchlan, once again, sorry for the inconvenience caused and we hope this shortcoming will not keep you from coming back to the Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel on your next trip to Barcelona.
First of all, I am deeply sorry that your stay here in Barcelona was not as pleasant as it should have been.
Please rest assure that we have been taking all the necessary actions to avoid reoccurrence of this nature in the future and we hope you accept our most sincere apologies for not coming up to your expectations on this occasion.
Mr Lauchlan, once again, sorry for the inconvenience caused and we hope this shortcoming will not keep you from coming back to the Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel on your next trip to Barcelona.
You fired off an absurdly over the top email that was not even particularly accurate about the article you seem so [***] bent on taking offence over.
I can assure you there is no prospect of an apology of any form as there is nothing to apologise for. In fact, I would suggest you in fact are causing considerably more embarassment to Barcelona than my comments ever did.
You seem obsessed with the idea that I have attacked Barcelona. I have not. I have criticised one hotel - which was appalling - and one BA employee - who was a nightmare. This is not an attack on Catalan. This is not a plea to tourists never to visit Spain. This is not a rallying cry to defend Gibraltar to the last UK citizen.
Get things in perspective and let it lie.
And remember, in the words of Monty Python, no-one expects the Spanish inquisition....
You fired off an absurdly over the top email that was not even particularly accurate about the article you seem so [***] bent on taking offence over.
I can assure you there is no prospect of an apology of any form as there is nothing to apologise for. In fact, I would suggest you in fact are causing considerably more embarassment to Barcelona than my comments ever did.
You seem obsessed with the idea that I have attacked Barcelona. I have not. I have criticised one hotel - which was appalling - and one BA employee - who was a nightmare. This is not an attack on Catalan. This is not a plea to tourists never to visit Spain. This is not a rallying cry to defend Gibraltar to the last UK citizen.
Get things in perspective and let it lie.
And remember, in the words of Monty Python, no-one expects the Spanish inquisition....
Sorry, but while I bow to your experience of implementing systems, I find some of your comments somewhat patronising in the extreme and smacking of 'oh bless the dear little Spanish and their funny little ways'.
Let's get this clear. I wasn't staying in some darling little hotel run by local Spanish families high up in the mountains. Nor was I renacting a Carry On scene on the Costa Plonka in a package tour pre-fab building site. This was an international hotel catering - it said - for international business people and based in the business and commercial and cultural heart of Barcelona.
You ask whether receiving US style service would have diminished the the cultural exchange? No, but it would have reduced the exchange that did take place.
Receiving hot water would have improved any cultural exchanges no end. Getting breakfast served in one go would have been nice. Having a business centre for their target audience of business people to use would have made my day.
As for plumbers or lack thereof - who cares? If there were no plumbers, they could have moved me to a room with hot water as I requested. They did not. This is nothing to do with cultural norms or differences. This was plain and simple bad service by an international hotel hoping to cater for international business people.
While I appreciate that there are those -apparently such as yourself - for whom the pleasure of having to take freezing cold showers may be all part of the fun and frolics of a holiday, I regret that as far as I am concerned it is not.
As for your comments on BA's lack of customer focus, there at least we can agree.
Sorry, but while I bow to your experience of implementing systems, I find some of your comments somewhat patronising in the extreme and smacking of 'oh bless the dear little Spanish and their funny little ways'.
Let's get this clear. I wasn't staying in some darling little hotel run by local Spanish families high up in the mountains. Nor was I renacting a Carry On scene on the Costa Plonka in a package tour pre-fab building site. This was an international hotel catering - it said - for international business people and based in the business and commercial and cultural heart of Barcelona.
You ask whether receiving US style service would have diminished the the cultural exchange? No, but it would have reduced the exchange that did take place.
Receiving hot water would have improved any cultural exchanges no end. Getting breakfast served in one go would have been nice. Having a business centre for their target audience of business people to use would have made my day.
As for plumbers or lack thereof - who cares? If there were no plumbers, they could have moved me to a room with hot water as I requested. They did not. This is nothing to do with cultural norms or differences. This was plain and simple bad service by an international hotel hoping to cater for international business people.
While I appreciate that there are those -apparently such as yourself - for whom the pleasure of having to take freezing cold showers may be all part of the fun and frolics of a holiday, I regret that as far as I am concerned it is not.
As for your comments on BA's lack of customer focus, there at least we can agree.
Nothing in our story talks about whether customers are from California or Barcelona. There might be some respect to be found in only taking offence at things that actually appear in stories, but there you go...
As for global respect, if you read the story, you may note that it is the lack of global respect involved in the concept of so-called global marketing that is one of my points.
I think next week I ought to write about something less likely to stir up the Spanish nation to nationalistic fervour. Gibraltar's looking less controversial at the moment...
Nothing in our story talks about whether customers are from California or Barcelona. There might be some respect to be found in only taking offence at things that actually appear in stories, but there you go...
As for global respect, if you read the story, you may note that it is the lack of global respect involved in the concept of so-called global marketing that is one of my points.
I think next week I ought to write about something less likely to stir up the Spanish nation to nationalistic fervour. Gibraltar's looking less controversial at the moment...
My answers
Dear Mr. Lauchlan ,
First of all, I am deeply sorry that your stay here in Barcelona was not as
pleasant as it should have been.
Please rest assure that we have been taking all the necessary actions to
avoid reoccurrence of this nature in the future and we hope you accept our
most sincere apologies for not coming up to your expectations on this
occasion.
Mr Lauchlan, once again, sorry for the inconvenience caused and we hope this
shortcoming will not keep you from coming back to the Eurostars Grand Marina
Hotel on your next trip to Barcelona.
Sincerely yours,
Sonia Ribas
Guest Relations
Dear Mr. Lauchlan ,
First of all, I am deeply sorry that your stay here in Barcelona was not as
pleasant as it should have been.
Please rest assure that we have been taking all the necessary actions to
avoid reoccurrence of this nature in the future and we hope you accept our
most sincere apologies for not coming up to your expectations on this
occasion.
Mr Lauchlan, once again, sorry for the inconvenience caused and we hope this
shortcoming will not keep you from coming back to the Eurostars Grand Marina
Hotel on your next trip to Barcelona.
Sincerely yours,
Sonia Ribas
Guest Relations
Get a grip man!
You fired off an absurdly over the top email that was not even particularly accurate about the article you seem so [***] bent on taking offence over.
I can assure you there is no prospect of an apology of any form as there is nothing to apologise for. In fact, I would suggest you in fact are causing considerably more embarassment to Barcelona than my comments ever did.
You seem obsessed with the idea that I have attacked Barcelona. I have not. I have criticised one hotel - which was appalling - and one BA employee - who was a nightmare. This is not an attack on Catalan. This is not a plea to tourists never to visit Spain. This is not a rallying cry to defend Gibraltar to the last UK citizen.
Get things in perspective and let it lie.
And remember, in the words of Monty Python, no-one expects the Spanish inquisition....
Get a grip man!
You fired off an absurdly over the top email that was not even particularly accurate about the article you seem so [***] bent on taking offence over.
I can assure you there is no prospect of an apology of any form as there is nothing to apologise for. In fact, I would suggest you in fact are causing considerably more embarassment to Barcelona than my comments ever did.
You seem obsessed with the idea that I have attacked Barcelona. I have not. I have criticised one hotel - which was appalling - and one BA employee - who was a nightmare. This is not an attack on Catalan. This is not a plea to tourists never to visit Spain. This is not a rallying cry to defend Gibraltar to the last UK citizen.
Get things in perspective and let it lie.
And remember, in the words of Monty Python, no-one expects the Spanish inquisition....
Sorry, but while I bow to your experience of implementing systems, I find some of your comments somewhat patronising in the extreme and smacking of 'oh bless the dear little Spanish and their funny little ways'.
Let's get this clear. I wasn't staying in some darling little hotel run by local Spanish families high up in the mountains. Nor was I renacting a Carry On scene on the Costa Plonka in a package tour pre-fab building site. This was an international hotel catering - it said - for international business people and based in the business and commercial and cultural heart of Barcelona.
You ask whether receiving US style service would have diminished the the cultural exchange? No, but it would have reduced the exchange that did take place.
Receiving hot water would have improved any cultural exchanges no end. Getting breakfast served in one go would have been nice. Having a business centre for their target audience of business people to use would have made my day.
As for plumbers or lack thereof - who cares? If there were no plumbers, they could have moved me to a room with hot water as I requested. They did not. This is nothing to do with cultural norms or differences. This was plain and simple bad service by an international hotel hoping to cater for international business people.
While I appreciate that there are those -apparently such as yourself - for whom the pleasure of having to take freezing cold showers may be all part of the fun and frolics of a holiday, I regret that as far as I am concerned it is not.
As for your comments on BA's lack of customer focus, there at least we can agree.
Sorry, but while I bow to your experience of implementing systems, I find some of your comments somewhat patronising in the extreme and smacking of 'oh bless the dear little Spanish and their funny little ways'.
Let's get this clear. I wasn't staying in some darling little hotel run by local Spanish families high up in the mountains. Nor was I renacting a Carry On scene on the Costa Plonka in a package tour pre-fab building site. This was an international hotel catering - it said - for international business people and based in the business and commercial and cultural heart of Barcelona.
You ask whether receiving US style service would have diminished the the cultural exchange? No, but it would have reduced the exchange that did take place.
Receiving hot water would have improved any cultural exchanges no end. Getting breakfast served in one go would have been nice. Having a business centre for their target audience of business people to use would have made my day.
As for plumbers or lack thereof - who cares? If there were no plumbers, they could have moved me to a room with hot water as I requested. They did not. This is nothing to do with cultural norms or differences. This was plain and simple bad service by an international hotel hoping to cater for international business people.
While I appreciate that there are those -apparently such as yourself - for whom the pleasure of having to take freezing cold showers may be all part of the fun and frolics of a holiday, I regret that as far as I am concerned it is not.
As for your comments on BA's lack of customer focus, there at least we can agree.
Nothing in our story talks about whether customers are from California or Barcelona. There might be some respect to be found in only taking offence at things that actually appear in stories, but there you go...
As for global respect, if you read the story, you may note that it is the lack of global respect involved in the concept of so-called global marketing that is one of my points.
I think next week I ought to write about something less likely to stir up the Spanish nation to nationalistic fervour. Gibraltar's looking less controversial at the moment...
Nothing in our story talks about whether customers are from California or Barcelona. There might be some respect to be found in only taking offence at things that actually appear in stories, but there you go...
As for global respect, if you read the story, you may note that it is the lack of global respect involved in the concept of so-called global marketing that is one of my points.
I think next week I ought to write about something less likely to stir up the Spanish nation to nationalistic fervour. Gibraltar's looking less controversial at the moment...
No.
No.