A QUICK-WITTED Irish cottage owner left a brilliant response to a tourist who complained that his west of Ireland holiday home didn’t compare to Dubai.
The tourist recently stayed at Quilty Cottages in Co. Clare, which is so well-rated that just 4% of its reviews sit below excellent or very good.
Despite plenty of amenities including free parking, a pool and a tennis court, the visitor wasn’t convinced and took to TripAdvisor to air his two cents.
The disgruntled reviewer wrote: “If you are looking for a basic place to stay then it will suit you fine.
“But it was a bit dirty around the cooker and in the bathrooms. One of the rooms stunk so badly of mould we struggled to use it. Fair enough… There was also no Wi-Fi in the houses.
“They have an indoor swimming pool which we used, but once again it was not very clean, felt kind of slippery in the pool and there was so much chlorine our eyes were burning before we got into the water.”
Cottage owner Patrick Mungovan took to TripAdvisor to thank the reviewer, who was from Dubai, for sharing their experience but quickly shut them down for their nitpickery.
“Thank you for sharing your experience from your recent stay at Quilty Holiday Cottages,” Patrick wrote.
“I can see that you are based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I have a friend living in Dubai and I have been told that the hotels and accommodation over there are of an extremely higher class than Ireland.
“Unfortunately for us, we are not based in your beautiful country of Dubai, we are situated in the West of Ireland and although we might not have everything that meets the standards of your country, most of our guests are very happy with their stay and for that, we are very proud of our "basic place to stay".
He added: “With regards to your comment that ‘there was also no Wi-Fi in the houses’, we do not have good a good internet signal in the west of Ireland at the moment, we just about have internet quick enough to be able to check our emails and reply to TripAdvisor reviews.
“For this reason, we do not mention/advertise that there is Wi-Fi available in our houses.”
Mr Mungovan said he was disappointed to learn that the reviewer thought the pool “felt kind of slippery”.
He explained: “Unfortunately this problem is beyond our control as our swimming pool contains water and most people know that when a surface gets wet, it gets slippy.
“As for the chlorine levels … if you would like to send me your email address, I can send you records of our chlorine levels for the past three months.
“Once again I am very sorry that you did not have a pleasant stay with us and thank you for your review.
“Best regards, Patrick Mungovan.”
