A luxury Marlow hotel has left customers “outraged” after refusing to honour complimentary vouchers after being taken over.

Nicole Hutt, from Marlow Bottom, had been looking forward to a free stay at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Fieldhouse Lane on February 10 after successfully bidding for a voucher at a charity silent auction back in September.

However, on the day Mrs Hutt and her husband Brian were due to leave for their one-night bed and breakfast stay, which they booked in December, she got a voicemail from the hotel telling her they would not honour the voucher, despite receiving written confirmation of the stay on January 11.

The 54-year-old said: “My husband and I went to the hotel and spoke to the general manager who said his hands were tied.

“He said they could offer a discounted rate for the night. I really didn’t want to take it but I did because my husband had taken leave especially for this, we had spa treatments booked and we had arranged for someone to look after the kids.

“It was supposed to be a special weekend. When I made my booking they should have known about this but they didn’t come back to us until we were ready to go and had our bags packed.”

After deciding to take up the 50 per cent discount, Mrs Hutt said the hotel staff were “excellent.”

She said: “This has obviously come from above. The staff do the best they can but the poor manager was unfortunately left impotent – there was nothing he could do.  

“I've spoken to other people that this has happened to, it’s obviously not an isolated incident. This has got quite a few people angry.

“I was so annoyed. I had been really looking forward to it. This has obviously come from Meridian Leisure, but it is damaging the Crowne Plaza’s brand.”

Darren Chapman, who booked his stay at the hotel on January 6 was also told his voucher would not be accepted.

He said: “We had a voucher for a free night with breakfast and I book to stay for this Saturday just gone. I got a call on the Thursday to say that all vouchers are not valid any more. I think this is shocking - how the new owners think this is ok?”

The Marlow Free Press announced last month that the luxury hotel had been taken over by Meridian Leisure Hotels, which owns four Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels in the UK and in Bulgaria.

Christina Broulidakis, group operations director at Meridian Leisure Hotels, said that when the company acquired the hotel, they did not have “knowledge of any vouchers that may have been issued by members of staff.”

She said: “Anybody in possession of an authentic voucher that can be validated by the hotel, will certainly be able to use it. 

“Unfortunately we discovered that a number of staff members prior to our acquisition, and who opted not to transfer on the sale of the hotel, were regrettably instrumental in having issued a significant number of vouchers to persons that were known to them and to whom they had enjoyed some close personal friendships. It was this that has complicated matters for us. 

“We will obviously endeavour to ensure that any vouchers issued to any legitimate organisations be they corporate or charitable, will be fully honoured. Where the issuances have been on a non-arm’s length basis, then we will look at each particular voucher and assess each voucher on its particular merits. 

“Suffice it to say that it is our full intention to be very fair and proper in assuming what were responsibilities of the previous ownership.”