Camelot Castle Hotel’s use as a Scientology recruitment and training center sparks growing online reputation crisis
Jun 13th 2010
Before today, I didn’t know Camelot Castle Hotel in Tintagel, Cornwall existed. It probably would have stayed that way had not a family member and their partner returned from a stay there, full of horror stories about the place.
These weren’t your run-of-the-mill ‘what a dreadful dump’ kind of comments. Oh, no. These were of the ‘this place literally scared the shit out of us’ kind. Say what?? That’s quite a reaction. You’ve got my full attention now.
A quick visit to TripAdvisor (have your pinch of salt ready) reveals 182 ‘excellent’ reviews and 124 ‘terrible’ reviews. Such extreme polarisation of opinion is unusual and a good sign that something odd is going on and the problem is that Joe Public suddenly wants to know “what?”.
Read the reviews yourself and make up your own mind which are credible and which are not. Would you stay there?
The negative reviews are extraordinarily critical of the owners and of a peculiar – and less than transparent – agenda. You would be forgiven for thinking that the hotel’s purpose might be to ensure your satisfaction as a paying customer. It isn’t – as this page quickly demonstrates. It seems they’re out to make a better world through art and creativity. According to this press release, if you’re an artist (or just think you are) then you’re welcome to stay at the hotel as long as you like for free.
By the time you’ve read the hotel’s own disconcerting copy on its website and the TripAdvisor and Holiday Watchdog reviews it’s hard not to start to feel uneasy about the connection between the owners of this hotel and the ‘Church of Scientology’.
A quick standard Google search for “Camelot Castle Hotel” reveals (as you’d expect) a P1 of Google stuffed full of neutral references (apart from this lone article now). These include the hotel’s own website plus a range of other tourism directory listings. Nothing unusual there. In fact, almost nothing on the first 5 or 6 pages cause concern. Except this one listing on P2 beginning: “It takes a lot to freak me…” [update: this has since changed considerably]
But search for “Camelot Castle Hotel scientology” or “camelot castle scientology” and things will get much more interesting. Very quickly, you’ll find yourself encountering owner John Mappin, his Khazakh wife Irina and artist Ted Stourton. A little more research on all three gets even more interesting – not least Mappin’s short career as ‘porn film’ actor and his defeat in the High Court in a sordid fraud case. But these things are really only the beginning.
What does this odd threesome have to do with scientology? [They have since gone public about their 20+ years as dedicated Scientologists]. I recommend you read some of the comments and check out some of the links on this site here and this site here and read this press release before you make up your own mind. Pretty soon, you’ll find yourself looking at a ‘religion’ that appears to have more bad things said about it than good things than any other you can think of.
Having read all this, you hope that these reviews and commentators are joking. I mean, c’mon – a cult centre masquerading as a hotel in the heart of sleepy Cornwall? Puh-lease. That’s what I thought when my family members texted me from inside their locked hotel room. But what they told me is confirmed by the all the research I’ve done since.
If you’re still not decided, then you could read Camelot Castle’s creepy ‘Westminster Independent’ newspaper, published by John Mappin who has declared that he will never again publish anything but positive news – particularly pseudo-news like articles such as ‘The Truth About Drugs’ which quickly leads you first to the ‘Foundation for a drug free world‘, and from there to Narconon - a Scientology front organisation.
If you get as far as the serious allegations that staff are forced to study Scientology materials disguised as ‘business training’ (get your Google translator out) then you’d be forgiven for being worried.
Mappin and Stourton are fully-documented, fee-paying Scientologists, there’s no doubt about that but the fact that they have been less than upfront about their agenda no doubt fuels many of the harshest online hotel reviews.
I don’t know about you but the one thing I want from a hotel is that it’s clean, in every sense of the word – above and below the surface. And that it exists first and foremost to accommodate me and satisfy my needs. What I wouldn’t want is dingy rooms, mouldy walls, Port-a-loo sanitation, hard sells of bad paintings, connections with Scientology or creepy personalities with sleazy pasts. But hey, that’s just me.
The moral of the story? It’s one that so many businesses get wrong. Hotel guests (like any business’s customers) expect you to serve them, not your own pet ideologies. Mix those two up and they won’t just feel dissatisfied, they’ll feel swindled.
When all’s said and done, an online reputation rabbit hole as deep and as bad as this one is the product of some very poor decisions. No matter how unpleasant it is to accept, the fact is that you simply can’t blame everyone else for the disconcerting impression that you’ve created through your own actions.
Update: 08/07/10 – today I got a threatening phone call from someone claiming to be a Church of Scientology minister in the USA (he withheld his number of course).
He demanded to know what I had against John Mappin and Scientology.
From the outset, he did that Scientology ‘handling‘ thing I’ve since learned about. According to L. Ron Hubbard, anyone who disagreed with Scientology is a criminal. They’re trained to assault you with accusations about you, your past, your CRIMES rather than answer the question you asked them or address the issue you raised about their ‘church’.
Watch this very revealing video of scientologists ‘handling’ a critic and you’ll get a very good idea of the experience.
A couple of minutes into the call, I couldn’t resist saying to him “I’m sorry, Minister Jeffries, that is by far the worst fake American accent I’ve ever heard. Now if you’ll do me the honour of dropping it, perhaps we can talk?” He took great offense – but amusingly (and entirely unsurprisingly) by the end of the call, he had just about forgotten he was supposed to be doing it.
Sadly, he didn’t answer my question: are anonymous and threatening calls to anyone who disagrees with you a central tenet of Scientology? When you’ve done a little research, you’ll find the answer to that question is a resounding ‘yes’. Anyone who disagrees with them is branded as a member of a ‘hate group’ and targeted for legal, professional and personal attack.
Take the recent attacks on Welsh councillor John Dixon for example. Or, if you want something a little more sinister – how about the story of how Scientology bankrupted then took over the Cult Awareness Network, so that today, worried parents looking for advice on how to get their kids out of dangerous cults get advised by… yes, you’ve got it – Scientologists.
Those are examples of what L.Ron called his ‘Fair Game’ policy which states that any critic of Scientology should be destroyed by any and all methods available – legal or otherwise.
It’s now been a couple of months since I posted about this hotel and in that time, I’ve observed the reputation crisis around this hotel growing deeper by them moment. There is now a 45+ page long thread on the WhyWeProtest forum which has exposed fully the extend of these peoples’ activities and their plans for Scientology in this region. It goes beyond the quirky and into the downright sinister.
There is also another site about Camelot Castle Hotel and Scientology that has appeared in the last few months. The people behind that site (like those in the WhyWeProtest forum) believe that this hotel is fast becoming a problem for TripAdvisor because they believe it is faking its own positive reviews. It seems that TripAdvisor has now become aware of this problem and taken steps to remove a small number of suspect reviews but it will be interesting to watch to see what develops.
My original post was a response to the personal experience of a family member who stayed at the hotel and was – to put it frankly – freaked out by the state of the accommodation and the owners. I did some research in Google and was amazed at what I found – a very interesting situation from an online reputation management point of view. What I’ve discovered since is that Scientology is its own very worst enemy from a PR perspective. You’d be hard-pushed to think of how to do it worse – which is the gist of the post (below).
Scientologists seem to believe that everybody else has got it wrong and that people should go to the Scientology website to find out about the church and its founder. That’s a bit like a hotel saying ‘don’t read the 1 star reviews on TripAdvisor, go to our website to find out what it’s really like here’. That approach, in today’s context, it’s practically deluded. Whether you like it or not, people take more notice of what other people are saying about you than they do of your propaganda.
Unlike the person who called to ‘handle’ me, I’m a believer in free speech. ‘Minister Jeffries’ you are welcome to comment here using your real, verifiable name [I'm still waiting].
By the way, for your information, I did report your call and threat to the police.
This Hotel is just a front for much greater wrongness. There are tales of the Polish staff being forced to sit Scientology courses and having the cost directly docked from their pay. Also members of staff dissapearing in the night. The staff are also fed “vitamins” so beloved of Scientology
Thanks for your comment, Kernowanon. I can’t vouch for your claims but I do know that the thread you’re active on at forums.whyweprotest.net makes for interesting reading.
I think this hotel needs to do something either to rebut the serious allegations that a considerable number of people appear to be making across a range of sites or – alternatively – come clean and say “yes, this IS what we’re about” so that people have the option to take that into consideration when (and if) they book to stay there. Mind you, I’d be put off by the hotel’s own website, so you could argue they’re already doing that
All hotels have some bad comments and what’s more, nothing you read online can be taken as truth. But, as I’ve always said on this site, people make up their minds from the bigger picture of the things they find about a hotel or a business, and not just from the content of any single comment. They look for patterns in the overall picture. And the patterns for this hotel don’t look so good.
My view would be if you want to run a new age (Scientology, even) centre, then go ahead but do it openly and good luck to you. If you want to run a hotel, on the other hand, then make providing a decent experience to your guests your number 1 priority.
Judging by all the comments I’ve read about this hotel, the problem starts when you try to mix the two.
Sorry to here of your telephonic assault! Terrible accent cannot have been John Mappin he’s been an actor you know! http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0544630/
Also perhaps if he didn’t “donate” $100000 to scientology perhaps his hotel rooms would be in a better state. http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?t=16197
Love the fact the donation is listed as “Irina & John Mappin & Ted Stourton” quiet a little threesome they make!
Will look forward to seeing if you have any more “calls” please feel free to join us on the thread at WhyWeProtest to keep us up to date!
Thanks
Kernowanon
Thanks for your comment, Kernowanon. I also had quite a few other comments from people who were equally unhappy with the connection between this hotel and Scientology. I’m not going to publish those for the moment because their contents would just add fuel to the fire! (Thanks particularly imominous & NCG). The reason I’m not publishing them is also because forums like WhyWeProtest are the place for that kind of information, not here.
It’s my impression (from research and from my own immediate experience) that Scientology is a group that attacks those who criticise it. This impression is shared by a large number of other people. The fact that someone claiming to be from the CoS attacked me for posting what I did is either proof that CoS attacks its critics or that someone trying to protect the interests of the hotel is pretending to be from the CoS. Either way it doesn’t look good – either for the hotel or CoS.
The only logic that can brush that aside is a warped logic.
I posted the original post, the account of the call (and anything else that happens next) because I do not think it is acceptable for a hotel to carry on that way. I also do not think it acceptable that any group (call them a ‘cult’ or ‘religion’ – whichever suits you) can consider itself above criticism from the public. When you resort to threat to stifle your opposition, you place yourself on the totalitarian scale – along with Hitler, Stalin and a long list of brutal, power-corrupted regimes throughout our history.
Trust me, evil dangerous and scary people. Do not trust them and do not try and fight them. See the following link to understand what they are really all about.
http://www.lisamcpherson.org/
Thanks for your warning, Stuart. Don’t worry, I’ve done my research – and I have no intention of fighting scientology or anyone else for that matter – irrespective of the provocation.
My post is an opinion about an aspect of online reputation. The hotel and the ‘religion’ are both in the public domain and as such, people are entitled to give their opinion.
In the UK, truth is an absolute defense against an accusation of libel and opinion is considered a strong defense also. I was careful to ensure that my post is a mixture of truth and opinion. The truth is that the owners of this hotel are scientologists and that they promote scientology via their newsletter and other activities – both easily proven. The personal opinions are about the hotel’s online reputation (as a result of its connection with scientology), about the reputation of scientology (in particular its reputation for attempting to silence anyone who criticises it) and about my family members’ experience of staying there.
A basic principle of online reputation is always this: it’s what you DO that matters (not what you say) – and what you do NEXT matters most of all.
The simplest way to create a good online reputation is to behave impeccably in the real world.
LOL at the fake American “minister”
Thank you for posting this!
The cult may give you no option but to fight them. Although you obviously know your stuff regarding the information and opinion in your post, the cult often use other less straightforward attacks. I wish you all the best and I hope I’m wrong.
You may also start to see “I’m not a scientologist but…” type comments. Yeah, and this is not a Scientology hotel.
Hi Cal, thanks for your comment.
The connections I made in my post are the connections that anyone Googling that hotel can – and will – make. I didn’t create the bad news out there, they did and are still creating it on a daily basis.
That fact alone is the hardest thing for someone in a bad reputation situation to come to terms with. I see it all the time. People will scream, attack, dig dirt, undermine, create fights – anything but face the simplest fact: that THEY are responsible for doing the things in the REAL WORLD that create a bad reputation online, not the people they’re attacking.
Like I said, I didn’t post to create a fight. I posted because it’s my professional interest and I have a right to express an opinion about the reputation of any body in the public domain. If someone there feels so angry they want to fight, that’s their choice. I believe the world would be a lot better place if they used some of that energy on taking responsibility for their own actions, though.
And I’m happy for any genuine comments to be posted here. Maybe John Mappin would like to offer his view on why the hotel and scientology both have increasingly bad press. Writing off everyone who disagrees with you as a ‘hate monger’ doesn’t help your online reputation in today’s social media.
Those folks don’t have to believe me; it’s just happens to be the way it is – and it would have played out the same with or without my contribution because people who behave badly get bad reputations in social media full stop, period. Why? Because the internet has an infinite memory and it’s outside of our control.
It’s the new Universal Law of t’Internet and there’s nothing you, they or I can do about it.
wow sorry about the call. i was working there and i know how it is over there
My daughter and I had the pleasure of meeting Ted Stourton when we stayed at Camelot Castle in September 2007. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the hotel. On our day of departure we each purchased a Ted Stourton Friendship Painting. Since our visit in 2007 we have purchased a further 4 paintings. In each instance it was our choice – we were not forced to do so.
When I read negative nonsense on the different sites, I actually feel sympathy for some ‘stupid’ human beings.
In each case I would like to say : It is your choice to stay / not to stay at Camelot Castle. It is your choice what faith / religion you wish to follow and it is your choice whether you purchase a painting or not. I have not encountered one ‘brainwashing’ session to purchase a painting – whether for 40 pounds or 1,000 pounds.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We all have likes and dislikes and what appeals to me might not appeal to you. You either like a painting or not. You have the choice and I don’t believe that Ted Stourton has ever brainwashed anyone to purchase one of his paintings. It’s just not in his personality or interest to do so – what would he gain anyway ?
There are so many ‘real’ problems on this earth (human trafficking, poverty, AIDS, AIDS orphans, abused woman and children, corrupt governments, solders dying in futile wars to name a few). Why do ‘humans’ not rather concentrate their energy on positive upliftment where it is needed ? Why do ‘humans’ constantly criticize, demoralize and humiliate rather than spread hope,happiness, love and encouragement where it is needed ? Those that are consumed with negativity are usually self centered, self absorbed selfish individuals contributing to the ‘downward spiral’ of humankind. What a miserable legacy they will be leaving for their children and their grand children.
So ‘humans’ before you bombard the internet sites with pathetic negative ‘theories’ about Ted Stourton, the artist at Camelot Castle, take a look at yourselves. What are you ‘doing or contributing positive’ towards those around you ? IT’S YOUR CHOICE !!!!!!
Hello Vanessa, thank you for your comment.
I’m glad you had a nice time and enjoyed your visit with Ted Stourton. A quick look at the reviews for this hotel show that a large number of people don’t agree with you.
Yes, of course there are lots of things in the world that need putting right but that fact doesn’t disappear the choices that the owners of this hotel have made or the impact those choices in turn have on their reputation.
The problem here is that you want to make me responsible for that bad reputation, rather than them for doing the things they do.
Reality says that hundreds of former guests think that what the owners of this hotel are doing is wrong – for all kinds of reasons ranging from the condition of the hotel to the unwelcome attentions of the Scientologist owners and flooding the surrounding area with Scientology propaganda. All I did was comment on things that those people have chosen to do.
You sound like you think you’re from another planet when you refer to me as “you ‘humans’”. I suspect you’re a Scientologist sent here to change reality by shouting it down?
I hope you saw the Panorama show on Scientology this week. My sources tell me more than one Tintagel household was tuned in!
This is relevant in that the locals have been bombarded with Scientology DVDs about the evils of psychiatry and drugs, as well as a paper featuring a long diatribe against the internet, published by one of Mappin’s associates. For some reason, the Scientologists of Camelot Castle Hotel have decided to take responsibility to educate their sector. It is vital for every single human in Tintagel be brought up the Tone Scale kicking, screaming, and hurling junk mail.
I did! And I wasn’t surprised either. Everything John Sweeney reported fitted with what I’ve learned about Scientology. The ‘handling’ technique that you saw Tommy Davis do and that the ex-Scientologists talked about was very familiar from my phone call
Heh,
John Mappin made the Daily Mail, with an article bawwing that negative reviews are all because he’s a Scientologist.
Therefore, CCH has hired a firm to “improve” reviews.
They ought to spend the money on clearing up the mold, patching the holes in the wall, new carpet, furnishings, and heating.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1325617/TripAdvisor-bad-reviews-prompt-Camelot-Castle-owner-hire-online-reputation-management-company.html
Hi Imominous – thanks for the comment and the link! It doesn’t surprise me that John Mappin has done that. I get quite regular requests from people who suddenly find themselves in deep shit reputation-wise and want a ‘fix’ – urgently. Only a tiny percentage of those are ever willing to acknowledge the part they played in creating the problem. Why would John Mappin be any different?
People get into the worst reputation problems because they lack the skills to take feedback, learn, admit they’re wrong etc. Repairing that problem is going to require the ability to learn from feedback, admit their mistakes, make amends… ah. But if you didn’t have those skills in the first place… where are you suddenly going to get them from? That’s where most people keep on going wrong because they simply can’t get their head around the fact that they need some new information, a new approach to be able to put right the damage they’ve done.
Hi Sam
I loved your comment above “make amends” since the owners of Clam-a-lot
will understand that term so differently to how I’m sure you intended
it. To them “Making Amends” means pushing Scientology some more and
“deal an effective blow to an enemy of the Church”. I fear you have
become such an enemy for merely telling the truth.
As Scientologists, the owners (who are no doubt watching your blog) KNOW
“in the fullest sense of the word” that their mission to push that
religion is the right thing to do, and spending money spamming the
locality with promotional DVD material is a much better use of the money
than merely improving conditions at the hotel.
Apparently on Camelot/Scientology spam days, the local postman in
Tintagel has to use his car, imagine that, when each DVD costs Mr Mappin
over £10 each!
All the best
David
You’re probably right about the ‘making amends’ thing. In my experience of life and business, people who are 100% certain they’re right always tend to be destructive (no matter what good things they’re trying to achieve) and even more so when they belong to groups where that ‘rightness’ is the central tenet of the group.
I’m sure Scientologists are watching this site. It was apparent from the first 10 seconds of the angry phone call I had earlier this year from the ‘Church Of Scientology Minister’ that they were very, very angry. The caller had no interest discussing my professional observations about the hotel’s poor reputation. From a position of being 100% right, his intention was simply to shout me down and threaten me. I’ve always said (ad neauseum) that in online reputation, how you respond to criticism is what makes or breaks your reputation – not what anyone says about you. This proved my point pretty well.
I can concur with every criticism made about the Camelot Castle (Hotel?)
Two years ago I was misguided enough to book a three day break based on their description on their website.
I can believe every negative comment about the place. The only problem is finding adequate words without appearing to exaggarate. What I cannot believe are ANY positive reviews unless left by cavedwellers.
I no longer have any faith in the reviews on Trip Adviser. I was so incensed by my experience with this (hotel?), that for the first time in my life I submitted a review to TA with the benevolent intention of saving others from my experience. They did not publish my review for several days, and surprise surprise, before my review there were two posters praising the (hotel?). Suspicious or what?. Apart from two other couples, who from their attitudes I am quite sure were not the posters, the hotel was empty, except for a coach party. Well there was a coach parked outside which stayed there for all three days and looked as if it had come straight from A St Trinians outing. No identifying markings whatever. More evidence of Scientology? ( the club for the weak minded). By the way where exactly does the ‘Scient” come from thouldn’t the prefix be Fant. I see that they now claim that most of the negative comments come from competitors. Well I live 200 miles away and am retired. If anyone wants to contact me they can at m-swift @virginmedia.com for the real truth! (no scientologists please (they wouldn’t recognise the truth. Topically today I received a Christmas card from “my friends” at Tintagel Castle Hotel (sic). Truly nates clenching.
Hi Mike, thanks for your comment – made me laugh because you now qualify as being an ‘enemy of scientology’ for having dared to be critical of it. Expect to be ‘handled’ over the phone by angry people who will accuse you of having closets full of skeletons, being a criminal, being in the pay of the pharmaceutical companies and not listen to anything you have to say about your stay at the hotel
It’ll be interesting to watch to see what happens to Tripadvisor if/when it has to face a class action by hundreds of angry hoteliers. I don’t have faith in anything to do with ‘user-generated’ reviews that are effectively anonymous – especially when there’s money involved (i.e. everything online).
I got word today that BBC’s Inside Out Southwest is featuring this hotel this coming Monday evening http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0071mt5/episodes/upcoming – I won’t be able to see it, but looking forward to seeing it on iPlayer in the not to distant future.
I was on the inside out programme!
I am now awaiting my phonecall……….
Uh, oh
I didn’t see it (yet) but I hope you don’t get any hassle. Make sure to make it public if you do, though! Bullying is vile and needs outing (which is why I posted what I did following my phone call from Camelot Castle Hotel).
Hi there Sharon. I couldn’t watch the prog as I’m not in the coverage area. Can you give a synopsis
Sharon, ignore last message, just managed to find it on iplayer. Feared here might be diluted job done in the interest of legality. But no, brilliant job by the good old Beeb. Straight talk and well researched. They showed it just how it is, was. On they go with their lies, and damn lies.(I refer of course to Walter rM. and Toad (aka) Glitter and Moll, Wonder where they got all that sand from.
Tell everyone to watch it.
Incidentally since my initial post I have read through every single post on Trip Adviser since 1995. The best laugh I have read for years – highly recommended, they should produce it as a book. Even the numerous planted reviews are entertaining, including the one from a couple from Texas who are planning to spend many more weekends there.
Spread the word – save travellers from misery, and leave scientologists to the fantasyologists.
There is a rumour than Ron is back and living in the basement at Camelot
Sam you can delete the last para if you prefer.
Mike Swift
Anonymous delivers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfgXVewoHW0
Enjoy! (I know I did!)
Imoninous – thanks for the link.
Now that’s what I call an ongoing reputation disaster. Cracked me up at the end when they accused their critics of being a hate group ‘in the pay of the pharmaceuticals’! (see my earlier comment)
I’m sorry to see its gone this way – but I’m not really surprised. You can’t put out as much dodgy self-promotion and Scientology propaganda as they have without attracting attention. There’s not a lot they can do to improve the reputation of this place other than to stop doing what they’re doing and create a higher quality hotel experience. Judging by the way they responded to my observations back in June and some of the things I’ve seen from them since, I can’t see them doing this to be honest.
A quick scan of Google tonight shows that John Mappin and Ted Stourton have gone to some lengths to fill the Google search results with recently bought-up domains that are variants of ‘camelotcastle’ to try to cover up this bad news. It’s an understandable reaction under the circumstances, but I’ve always warned clients that when you do this, you run the risk of giving the impression you’re trying to hide something.
When all’s said and done, it’s also reassuring to see that I’m not the only person who thinks a hotel that tries to sell Scientology and dodgy paintings to guests (not to mention all the other things the programme mentioned!) isn’t really acceptable
Well done for having the courage to say what you did, Sharon, and go on camera. If you get threatened or harrassed by these people for speaking your mind (as I did) then don’t hesitate to get in touch. If that happens, then I also recommend you report it to the police and publish it here so people can see how this ‘religion’ treats anyone who disagrees with it.
I stumbled into this story whilst surfing youtube for Scientology related madness.
I ran a few google searches about the Ted Stourton character and I can say this: I think this a great glimpse in the inner workings of Scientology, and why people would join it.
Regardless of the terrible hotel experiences shared by most guests (all of the actual ones, it would seem), let’s focus on this supposed luminary of modern art.
If you know anything about art, you immediately will see that these paintings are worthless crusts made by a mildly skilled, largely untalented, unimaginative and culturally irrelevant amateur. A simple web search will reveal that he is all but non-existent from the actual art world: this is not a matter of opinion, he simply is not in any real publication, museum, gallery or critical review.
From the stories I read on the internet, naive people are lured into the place, then shown this “lightbox”, some bizarre act by Mr. Stourton during which he proposes you buy a piece worth thousands for a “lovely guy” discount, just £90. £90, for a piece of art history. What a cheap scam artist, no? But in a way at least he is not robbing people of thousands a pop.
Anyway, that’s how the scam itself is consumed.
What I think is interesting and revealing is how if you google “Ted Stourton” you will get approximately 20k results, and very many of them are these ridiculous blog posts, fake news about the artist representing Britain around the world, pieces from inexistent publications. However a person who is not informed about modern art, and perhaps doesn’t particularly care about it, might be fooled. But trust me, closer inspection reveals clear fabrication, and wait! Is that the Camelot Hotel? That’s right, more often than not, these posts are promoting both the artist and the hotel. Strange behaviour for a world famous genius.
So I think we are seeing something emblematic, which becomes clear only because of how poorly it has been carried out. Had the hotel actually been remodeled luxuriously and were the artist any decent it would probably raise less suspicion, maybe even stand on all fours.
There is some significant effort and muscle behind such a large scale fabricated reputation. I have only gone through the first 5 or 6 pages on google, but I can see that domains have been bought, articles written, hell, somehow they even got Nicholas Cage to nip down the hovel and pose with the “artist”, with the sole purpose of creating a relatively credible basis for these people’s questionable business.
In that perspective, I think that the hundreds of “excellent” ratings of the place on tripadvisor.com fall into place, don’t you?
As interesting as it is frightening.
Thanks for the comment JB. It all seems just…so…grubby to me. Doing what I do, it always catches my attention when an organisation or an individual wrecks their own reputation like this. It’s so unnecessary and overblown. That hotel is in a great location and could – ought to – be fantastic. Pick any number of half-decent artists from the region and you could have a luxury place with great art.
It’s strangely compelling to watch people doing things so very badly
Hi there,
I was trying to find a website where I could express what I have been through, working at Camelot Castle. But the review pages wont exploit my review for some reason.
I’ll try and keep it short but tell my story.
I came from abroad to work at camelot castle…
[edited]
…I wished somebody would have put this on the net so I would have known! So therefore I am doing it here.
Thanks
Hi
Thanks for your story about your experience of working at Camelot Castle Hotel. It was very interesting and disturbing to read.
You might have read in my post that I was harassed over the phone by one of these people (I think Ted Stourton himself) for publishing my post about the hotel and its various links to Scientology. Since your comment contains serious allegations against these people, I prefer not to publish it on my site because I’m too easy a target for angry Scientologists
However, there is an anti-Scientology forum called ‘why we protest’ where this hotel and its owners have been discussed at some length. It’s probably a much better place for people to discuss your experiences than my site. If you want to share your experience of working at Camelot Castle Hotel, I strongly recommend posting your story there. The link is:
http://forums.whyweprotest.net/threads/camelot-castle-hotel-tintagel-and-scientologists-john-irina-mappin-and-ted-stourton.61785/page-1
Cheers
Sam
Thanks Sam. I will do that
Soon I will write what really happens inside the foolish hotel, bit for a bit. See U tomorrow.
Neo, you are obviously The One. Are you someone who worked there?
Everybody remembers me there in Tintagel, because my look and feel. I was going to the town in long black stylish Matrix like robe I liked very much, but the owners didn’t obviously and they fired me thanks to it. I worked there 6 months and loved the town (not the castle). Especially King’s Arms in Tintagel. I will try to write more soon after i prepare details and type it here Online. And of course, my name is Bartek Smykowski. I hope John and Marc Wojciechowski will see it and that makes them angry, because i played with them all the time like cat with mouse
I’m very glad I’ve got free from Camelot “Castle?” Hotel. As for Tripadvisor, they denied me access to give extra stars for those “stars” at Camelot again .. Hotel? 
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Neo, I’m not going to do any Matrix quotes ‘cos I can’t remember any lols.. I’m sure that lots of people have worked there, and left too. No different from any other hotel in that respect.
Thank you for your comment – but I’m not sure if this site is the best place for going into detail about your experience. You could try the ‘anonymous’ group at the ‘WhyWeProtest’ forum – they would probably be very interested.
You can find them at:
http://forums.whyweprotest.net/threads/camelot-castle-hotel-tintagel-and-scientologists-john-irina-mappin-and-ted-stourton.61785/
Best of luck!
I will go there. They all know me very well and miss me too. I know because i miss them too
Your help is greatly appreciated and noted ;D
Not a problem. From everything I found out when I researched that place being on the outside is the best place to be. Good luck.