Employment barrister discovers that TripAdvisor is rather more brutal than Chambers and Partners.
Reviewers on TripAdvisor have torn into Littleton Chambers barrister Shirley Bothroyd after their experiences at the hotel which she recently took over proved not quite what they had expected.
Likening Bothroyd (pictured) to Basil Fawlty, one particularly savage review — which can be read in full below — claims that the barrister’s exuberant behaviour ruined his Valentine’s Day experience at the Bay Hotel in Teignmouth. Other reviewers claimed Bothroyd, 55, was drunk and verbally abusive.
The scathing reports are a far cry from the pages of softly-softly legal industry guide Chambers and Partners, where Bothroyd is described as “an expert on injunctions, acting in numerous High Court cases, as well as a wide range of other employment disputes”.
It should be noted, however, that overall the hotel — which Bothroyd recently bought as a project for when she retires — does pretty well, with an average TripAdvisor positive rating of 73% (25 of the 91 reviews described it as “excellent”‘, 40 as “very good”, 14 as “average”, eight as “poor” and four as “terrible”).
TripAdvisor reviewer “Michael W” takes down “Basil Fawlty”-esque Shirley Bothroyd — in full:
News the reviews has been picked up by the Mail Online and The Telegraph, with Bothroyd telling the former:
“I take is as a compliment to be compared to Basil Fawlty — he had a great sense of humour, just like me, and it seemed a fun place to stay.”
She added that the “partner” mentioned in the review above is in fact her son:
“Of course I had a few drinks — I was excited to see him and we had a great time. I can be a bit raucous, but I was not drunk.”
Bothroyd also suggested that the review “could be the work of a disgruntled former member of staff being malicious”. In January, two former members of staff at the hotel were arrested and bailed pending a police investigations into alleged fraud and identity after a complaint made by Bothroyd.