I have stayed at the Guy Fawkes Hotel many times over the past couple of years and always thoroughly enjoyed my stay there. However, when I stayed recently it was the first time I have stayed since the new owners took over. Before, the hotel used to have a warm, friendly feel and as it was a family run hotel I used to feel very welcome. The hotel now in comparison just seems very disorganised, with lots of people/builders milling around the place and I didn't get the usual chat at breakfast with the lovely waitresses that I am used to.
On the note of breakfast the selection has been more than halved so not much to choose from! The cooked breakfasts were not as good either, and as the person mentioned before, no beans which is vital to a full english!
The rooms were fine, although I did find some things missing - some basic stuff like toilet roll and soap.
Overall, I am very dissappointed with what has happened to Guy Fawkes, I used to love staying there and would always book again when I left. However after my latest stay I did not book another stay and will not be in the future. A real shame.

The hotel website was "under reconstruction" and so, it would appear, was the hotel. We booked by phone with no problem. In fact we appear to have been staying there at the same time as "sashabluebradford" so it is interesting to compare our experiences- which do seem broadly similar.
The location of the hotel is absolutely excellent. It is less than 50 metres from the west nave of York Minster. But I'm glad we didn't arrive by car because I'm not sure where we would ever have been able to park. I shudder to think. We came by train, and the taxi fare is only 3 pounds from the station. If you were fit ( and it wasn't raining) you could walk it easily in a few minutes.

Like I said, the place was a bit chaotic because they "had the builders in" I also got the impression that this hotel had recently changed ownership. The staff were very friendly indeed. There were a couple of annoying little things like running out of coffee and toilet paper, and the place did seem generally disorganised. But really the staff couldn't have been more pleasant.

When you book a room overlooking the street- especially one with single glazing- you have to expect to be disturbed by noise. On both nights we stayed there, I was wakened at various times by drunken idiots outside. I was also fascinated to learn that the noisy binmen visit the front of this hotel- right outside the window- at 06.28 am. So there you are, lying in bed, less than 6 feet away from a bin lorry.

We stayed in one of the "four poster " rooms. It was called "King James the First". This room had quite a nice bathroom suite buitl into it, with a good quality shower.


The restaurant was closed, they do not provide evening meals at present. And there were builders working in the hallway. There was timber and sawdust all over the place. As I ate breakfast I was able to watch two builders walk past carrying a refridgerator. Perhaps they should really have closed the hotel during all this work.

But when I look back I did enjoy my stay at this hotel. The staff are extremely nice, and the location is superb. The place has loads of character. I quite liked the uneven floors, ceilings etc. I'd want a room at the back if I ever stayed there again though. I also normally expect a hotel to have a functioning restaurant.

After reading the reviews on Trip Advisor we thought we would give the Guy Fawkes Inn a try. Easier said than done. The first problem was just booking a room. We booked direct. The first time we phoned we couldnt book because their computer systems were down. We phoned again a week later but again they couldnt take the booking so said theyd phone back. They didnt. We phoned again for the third time and once again they couldnt take the booking so said theyd phone us back. Did they? Nope, we had to phone them again. We had to phone them four times to book the room!

After reading on TA that there were problems with noise on rooms over looking the street we specifically asked for a quieter room as we would be taking our 9 month old daughter. We also booked parking at the same time.

When we arrived we found that we couldnt get the car down to the hotel because of bollards blocking the road. Not a major problem , I just lugged the cases and bags down the street but a biut irritating considering we had been told we could park right outside the hotel.

Turns out that the parking we had booked wasnt actually available. We had to park the car a good 10-15 minute walk away in a council car park by the river. It was raining hard so we were soaked by the time we had walked back to the hotel.

We were shown to our room which was looking straight out onto the street, despite us specifically saying we wanted a quiet room. The room had a four poster bed that had recently been rammed in, it didnt fit to the point where the top of the bed was pushing the roof light fitting so it sat at an angle! The room had evidently just had new curtains fitted in a Scottish tartan theme to match the fabric on the four poster. Nothing but a ploy to squeeze extra money out of punters by trying to charge £30 more because the room had a four poster.

The TV was so badly supported and sat at such an angle on its wall mount that I had to take it down for fear of it falling off. No remote meant you had to keep getting up and prodding buttons on the set to change channels, turn it on and off etc. Each time you touched it the tv threatened to fall forward straight off its stand.

The room was small and the ensuite had no toiletries bar a couple of little bars of soap and a squeezy bottle of shower gel in the shower itself.

No chance of a meal in the hotel as the restaurant was shut so we went out for a meal that night and got back early because of our daughter. The noise of the street was irritating (single pane windows that might as well have not been there for the noise deadening effect they had) but we thought wed see how it went.

At 5.45am my partner, my baby and my self were all woken up at the same time by an almighty crash. Turned out to be binmen emptying a bin full of bottles right out side our window. Nicely woken up we had insult added to injury by a street cleaner droaning past just for it to turn round for a repeat run 5 mins later.

We complained and moved to a room towards the back of the hotel. Much larger and nicer suite but no shower gel at all this time.

Breakfast was ok, far from the full continental as suggested earlier, just the usual cereals, toast, fruit and full English. No beans on the full English though, depsite what was offered on the menu. Breakfast was ok, Ive had better, Ive had worse.

We asked for a high chair for our daughter but the hotel didnt have one so we had to sit her on our knee whilst trying to eat.

The location of the hotel was superb.

The staff were very inefficnet and made making the booking a real chore. Youd think theyd want your money, apparently not, you have to work hard to be able to give them it. For a hotel charging so much money for a room its pretty disgusting that the restaurant wasnt open and they didnt have such basic facities as a high chair.

The rooms over looking the street are a joke, how anyone can get a restful nights rest in any of them is beyond me.

The whole theamed thing bugs me, its just there so they can charge you more but its tacky and unecessary.

All in all, pretty damm poor really. I cant, however, not stress enough how superb the location is. Within walking distance of a wide range of excellent restaurants, shops and directly outside the York Minster.

I stayed at the Guy Fawkes for two nights. I arrived very late on a Friday and was traveling alone. I was met at the hotel by Graham, the night porter and was welcomed and made to feel right at home. I loved my room, and the hotel was so central to all I wanted to see. Was in York to see the city and York University as that is part of my job ....Graham gave me a map and directions to the University and tips on all to enjoy in York. I could not have had a better stay anywhere else! The Minster was so close I could reach my hand out the door of the hotel and touch it! York is charming and the Guy Fawkes and it's staff made it easy and enjoyable! My bath with the claw foot tub was fab, in #12, a four poster room! Did not get the names of all the staff, but everyone was friendly and helpful! Would absolutely stay again!