Westcliff Hotel

Poor communication resulting in a lost venue booking.

This review is not a reflection of the hotel, restaurant, or spa itself, but rather of the service we received while attempting to book one of the venue spaces for a private event. My mother and I attended a venue viewing on 13 February 2026. The interaction began on a noticeably cold and unwelcoming note, which only improved after my mother engaged the venue coordinator in conversation. We later learned that this attitude was apparently due to a belief that we had missed a previous appointment scheduled for an earlier date. However, I had specifically arranged the viewing for Friday, as it was the only day our schedules aligned. Even if there had been a misunderstanding regarding the appointment date, I would have expected a professional establishment to contact me to confirm whether I was still attending or wished to reschedule. Instead, we were met with what felt like passive-aggressive treatment from the outset. Following the viewing, I received information regarding the venue we were interested in booking. We exchanged several emails regarding the menu options, as we were not satisfied with the available selections. On 26 February 2026, I formally requested an invoice so that we could proceed with payment and secure the venue. I received no response. I followed up again on 27 February 2026, attempting to finalise the arrangements, and was advised that the coordinator was out of office and would attend to the matter first thing on Monday morning. I fully understand that a venue is not secured until the necessary documentation is completed and payment has been received. However, as the client, I made every reasonable effort to move the booking process forward. I proactively requested the invoice, asked what information was required from my side, and followed up when I received no response. On the Monday, I was asked for my company billing details, which I provided later that day. Shortly thereafter, I received a phone call informing me that the venue had already been booked by someone else. When I asked when the booking had been confirmed, I was told it had been taken on 27 February 2026 — the day after my email requesting the invoice had gone unanswered. This was extremely disappointing. While I genuinely loved the Cellar Door venue and had been looking forward to hosting our event there, the lack of communication, poor handling of the booking process, and apparent disregard for my attempts to secure the venue left a very negative impression. Based on this experience I unfortunately cannot recommend the venue booking service based on the treatment we received. This level of service falls well below what I would expect from an establishment of this calibre.