British holidaymakers marched out of Nashville hotel under armed guard after threatening to give bad TripAdvisor review

The group had pre-paid for two rooms at the Knights Inn in Nashville

Told they couldn't go to rooms because man who paid for them wasn't there

Fourth member of group was in his room waiting for them to arrive



They were then escorted out after threatening to give hotel a bad review



Three holidaymakers were escorted out of a Nashville hotel by an armed guard after they threatened to give the business a bad review on TripAdvisor.



The three friends had booked and pre-paid for two rooms at the Knights Inn on Spring Street, Nashville, America.



But they were left stunned when the hotel receptionist said they could not access to the rooms because the fourth member of their party who had paid for the rooms on his credit card wasn't present.

The situation escalated when the jet-lagged guests, who had landed in America just hours earlier, mentioned giving bad feedback on travel website TripAdvisor and were escorted out of the hotel under armed guard.



Holidaymakers, pictured from left to right, John Howard, Lee Wilkinson, Alan Lloyd and Nick Cobban were refused entry to their pre-paid hotel rooms because one of them wasn't present

Alan Lloyd, 69, from London, said: 'He said he would not now rent us any rooms, and we had to leave.



'At that point he summoned an armed guard who stood with his hand on his gun as we picked up our suitcases and returned to the Ford Escape we had hired.'

Mr Lloyd and his travel-weary party were left stranded and were forced to drive to four neighbouring hotels in the early hours of the morning before finding a place to stay for the night.



John Howard, 67, from Leigh-on-Sea, said: 'It was an insane situation.



'He had empty rooms, two rooms had been paid for in advance, and yet here we were, completely tired out and road weary, and we could not get in.'



The hotel receptionist had claimed he needed the fourth member of the party - who had booked the rooms on credit card - to be in attendance to allow access to the rooms.



But Lee Wilkinson, 62, from East London, had already arrived at the hotel earlier that day and was awaiting his friends’ arrival in a room upstairs with no mobile network signal to contact them.

Removed: The group were then escorted out of the Knights Inn on Spring Street, Nashville, USA, after threatening to leave a bad review on TripAdvisor

Unhappy customers: Lee Wilkinson, back left, and John Howard, back right, Nick Wilkinson, front left, and Alan Lloyd, front right, were stunned by the incident

Mr Wilkinson said: 'I wondered what had happened to the others, whether they had missed their flights or what.



'I didn’t dream they were in the reception area waiting for me.



'A simple phone call to my room by the desk clerk would have solved the problem, which was completely unnecessary.'



The hotel boss later apologised for the error and offered the tourists a discounted stay.



Hotel manager, James Patel, added: 'I have reprimanded the member of staff involved and explained that although he should follow the rules, he needs to be flexible.'



Travellers who have posted derogatory reviews on travel site Trip Advisor have become accustomed to receiving a swift retort from manager Mr Patel in the comments section of the website.

Outspoken: The Knights Inn manager James Patel responds to most of the bad reviews about his hotel left on the website TripAdvisor

Apology: Knights Inn manager Mr Patel apologised for the incident and said the staff member had been reprimanded One reviewer - who left a one star review on the website - was met with the reply: 'We apologise that we didn’t meet your expectations.

'You were looking for Hilton standards and ambiance. The rate at the Hilton downtown was $350 per night plus tax, parking $40 per night, breakfast to be paid by guest and charge for wifi, refrigerator and microwave.

'You paid us $40 for the night with all the above listed things included in your price.'

Speaking about his nightmare stay in Nashville, Mr Howard added: 'This sort of incident reflects badly not only on Nashville, but the whole US tourist industry. ' It will make European tourists think twice about visiting America.

'Armed hotel guards are unheard of in Europe, and it is flabbergasting that they could be turned on hotel guests who have pre-paid for their rooms.' THE HOTEL RESPONSE TO OTHER BAD TRIPADVISOR REVIEWS 'Customer Service', one star, reviewed on April 21, 2013 'Have not stayed at this hotel, but have just experienced the worst customer service possible. I rang hotel requesting to be put through to room of guest, with an urgent family message, to be told that due to security reasons it was not hotel policy to do so. I then asked that they relay message to guest, to be told that they have 100 rooms and do not know what room guest is staying in??!! Yes, I can accept that hotels have rules but to not know what room is assigned to what guest seems highly unlikely. Laziness and a don't care attitude by the staff member is what it appears to be.'

The manager's response:

'When you called the hotel the desk clerk transferred your call to the room of the guest you wanted to talk to. The guests were not in the room. The desk clerk asked you to leave a message on their message system on the phone in the room. You became irate and told the desk clerk that he should find the guests wherever they are and that he should give you the room number the guests were staying in.the guest is the only person who can give you the room number For security reasons we are unable to give room number of guest to anybody. We cater to hundreds of guests regularly and have always transferred calls and taken messages appropriately.' 'A joke', one star, reviewed on March 22, 2013 'I completely understand that you get what you pay for, but this hotel is a joke. Our room was filthy, there was hair in the sheets and all over the bathrooms and it just did not smell clean. It looked like they just dumped furniture in a room and left. When I checked out I told the man at the front desk (who felt horrible, obviousl) and told me he couldn't really do anything about a reimbursement because I paid through hotels.com. He did however give me $15 cash for breakfast because he felt bad. And probably so I wouldn't write a bad review. So I called hotels.com and I was able to receive a 50% reimbursement that was handled instantly. So I really only spent about $12 on the room, but I would have rather spent full price on a room and location we were satisfied with. '

The manager's response:

'You had wanted a refund on the room after staying at the hotel as you were running low on funds.We have many satisfied guests that stay at our hotel because of clean rooms and great price.The reviews are all written by guests who have stayed at the hotel and are satisfied by their nice experience.You did not want to pay $300 plus tax at the embassy suites on 21st avenue where parking is $35 per day .The desk clerk asked you why you did not mention about your misgivings earlier and stayed the whole night wanting a free night.'





