Isle of Wight seafront hotel improvement plan after bad food hygiene

Hotel Maria, on Culver Parade, was inspected by Isle of Wight Council environmental health officers in May, with the results being made public earlier this week.

Inspectors found a number of failings, which resulted in a 'Major Improvement Necessary' rating for the hotel's kitchen.

Among the inspector's concerns were whether effective monitoring was taking place when it came to stock control — an issue officers also raised in 2017.

This time, a container of tuna mayonnaise had been used to make packed lunches for a school staying at the hotel.

Upon inspection, the tuna was dated eight days prior to the inspector's visit, although officials were told it could have been an old label on the container.

The inspector said the school needed to be made aware of the situation, so attempts were made by both the hotel staff and council officer.

One member of staff, the inspector said, appeared to 'make light' of the situation by 'shouting across the kitchen "isn't it all just down to a sniff test now."'

Inspectors also found there were no records to say if checks had been completed when the kitchen was closed at the end of each day.

An issue raised at two previous inspections, in 2017 and 2018, remained a problem in the latest check. Inspectors said there was guesswork when it came to diluting cleaning fluid to the correct levels.

There was no conveniently positioned sink for washing hands in the kitchen and the inspector had to move sandwich ingredients and clean cutlery out of it to wash their hands on their arrival.

Inspectors also found fault with surfaces in the kitchen — there was a gap in the wall above the handwashing sink, which did not allow for effective cleaning. They feared it may be an access point for pests.

There were also flaking coverings on shelves.

A Hotel Maria spokesperson said, since the report was published, two bookings had been cancelled.

They confirmed work was being done to address the issues raised by inspectors, including new monitoring procedures to ensure food was in date.

The comments made by the staff member 'were unfortunate and not done in a malicious manner'.

They also said the proper dilution of cleaning agents was noted on the products they use but was unfortunately not communicated at the time.

In the coming weeks, the spokesperson said hotel staff would be carrying out refresher training courses in food hygiene, health and safety, fire evacuations and first aid.

After that, a re-inspection will be booked and the spokesperson said they were confident the rating would improve.