Victoria Bates, her husband Gary and their three young children were among a group of nine who had booked a lavish dinner at The Park Hotel in Netherton, Merseyside
A furious mum has blasted a Netherton hotel for dishing up a “cold and unappealing” £600 meal that forced her family to stop for a KFC on the way home.
Victoria Bates, along with her husband Gary, their trio of tots and three pals, hoped for a Christmas feast at The Park Hotel on Dunnings Bridge Road in Netherton, Merseyside. The mum said the group had booked a 2:30pm slot for Christmas Day 2024, but claimed they were forced to wait until 5:30pm before even glimpsing their food.
When it finally did arrive at the table hours later, the family deemed the meal so subpar that some didn’t take a single bite. Speaking to the Liverpool ECHO, Victoria fumed over the quality, saying the beef was “like pink mash” and the food was “freezing” when it arrived. She said: “We sent the food back for them to warm up and it came back burnt to a crisp.”
The vegetables were black and the Yorkshire puddings crumbled in your hands. I wouldn’t have fed that food to my dog, I thought I was in a nightmare.” Her children didn’t fare any better, the mum added, with the three youngsters served cold chicken they only ate out of hunger.
She said: “I have three kids under five and they were served cold chicken goujons. They were freezing but they were so hungry that they had to eat them.” Victoria said her children’s obvious hunger left her heartbroken, and she started crying while watching them look for scraps.
She said: “The thing that broke my heart the most was coming in to see my son trying to get food off the scrap trolley in the corridor. My kids kept saying ‘mum, I’m so hungry, can you feed me?’ I started crying and sobbing – my kids were starving.” Victoria expressed her regret to the ECHO about choosing to dine out for Christmas Day for the first time with her family, a decision that has left her disappointed. She said she was let down by The Park Hotel’s response to her complaints. She recounted how staff mentioned a “disaster” in the kitchen but failed to provide a detailed explanation.
Despite repeated attempts to contact the hotel following their unsatisfactory festive meal, it wasn’t until February 13 that Victoria received an offer of £297.50 in hotel credit for accommodation and events. Dissatisfied, Victoria said: “They ruined our Christmas Day, we had to go to the KFC drive-thru because we were so hungry.”
She added: “At the moment everyone’s struggling, they’re skint and they took all our hard earned money. We thought it was a nice treat for Christmas and it was our first time having Christmas dinner away from home.” Victoria continued: “I’ve been messaging and calling.
“They finally got back to me this month and offered us credit to stay at the hotel, which was their ‘final offer’ – we don’t want to stay there. I just don’t want this happening to another family this year. It was a disaster.” A spokesperson for the hotel maintained that they have been “in regular communication in an attempt to resolve this issue” and kept the guest informed of the expected timelines throughout the process.
But they admitted the meals the group was served were not up to par. A spokesperson from The Park Hotel admitted to the ECHO: “Guests enjoyed a 3-course meal in 3 hours, which was a 2-3 hour Christmas Lunch sitting, that included festive entertainment. Subsequent investigation revealed that some of the guests’ meals were not as per our own expectations.”
They added: “Unfortunately, the behaviour to our staff of the guest mentioned has fallen below the reasonable exceptions of societal norms on multiple occasions even though we have been in regular communication in an attempt to resolve this issue.” Despite the issues, the spokesperson added: “In the interest of balance, please be aware that we have had a considerable number of guests rebook for Christmas 2025 following their 2024 Christmas day experience.
“The Park Hotel team has been in regular communication with the guest in question, having sent a number of emails and advising the guests through email that we were conducting an investigation. I informed the guest of anticipated timeframes throughout. The guest has been offered a significant hotel credit as compensation and as a gesture of goodwill.
“I am sure that you will appreciate that we who work in the service industry are entitled to be treated reasonably by guests, as we continue to seek a mutually acceptable settlement.”
