TripAdvisor suspend reviews of The Grand Hotel Scarborough

The three-star Victorian hotel has been heavily criticised in recent months by guests who have complained about the poor condition of the building and dirty rooms.

But a number of TripAdvisor reviewers have made insulting comments about Afghan refugees who have been housed there, with one describing the establishment as an "overrun refugee camp".

A TripAdvisor spokeswoman said: “We have applied what we call a lockdown notice to the Tripadvisor listing page of Grand Hotel Scarborough, which temporarily suspends any new review submissions from being posted to that listing.

“We apply lockdown notices whenever a property receives an influx of review submissions that do not describe a first-hand customer experience.

“We will continue to monitor incoming review submissions in order to determine the most appropriate time to end the temporary suspension.

“We encourage customers who have had a first-hand experience at the hotel to check back and submit their review when the suspension has lifted. The purpose of the lockdown notice is simply to prevent other reviews that are not first-hand accounts from appearing on the listing.”

Earlier this month, Scarborough Borough Council said it had written to the owners to request a meeting to discuss the "recent reported problems".

On Monday, October 4, the seaside hotel was evacuated after someone phoned and said that a bomb had been planted.

North Yorkshire Police said specialist officers conducted a thorough search of the building and “found no evidence of any threat to public safety” as the telephone call was “proven to be a bomb hoax”.

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