Having considered the Travel Inn in Chichester and the Travelodge in Arundel, we found that Chichester Park Hotel worked out much better value for us and was in a nicer location with better facilities, including a pool. We made the booking at the last minute and got a special rate of £70 for the night inc. breakfast. For the Travel Inn we were quoted £60 plus £7.50 each for breakfast.

We visited the location of the Travel Inn whilst staying in the area and found that it was on a leisure park, with cinema, restaurants etc. A good location if you want these facilities, but not for us. When we visited the leisure park, the Travel Inn car park and the main car park were full and it was very busy and noisy as it was a Saturday night. We decided we had made the right decision.

From the moment I rung the hotel to make the booking the receptionist was very helpful and polite. On arrival, again the gentleman on Reception was very nice.

First impressions were good. The decor in the communal rooms is a little unusual - if you are expecting a cosy, traditional English hotel, you will be disappointed. The communal area decor is a more 1970/80s modern style, with bare red brick walls and large modern pine ceilings and pine beams. It reminded me, for some reason, of a leisure centre! However don't let this put you off. It is clean and perfectably acceptable. I should add that the rooms are not decorated in this style.

Our room was clean, very similar to a Travel Inn/Travelodge style room, but with some extras. Bed was comfortable, with nice soft pillows. The room was quiet, despite being on the side with the road.

The swimming pool, although not large, was clean. It was all one depth and didn't have a deep end. There was a smaller pool for children. The attendant was very nice and explained the facilities to us. We got there at 6.30pm and had the pool to ourselves. Only one small issue here - although split into male and female rooms, there were no individual cubicles in the changing rooms, but there was a loo in each changing room so I got changed in that.

Breakfast was good, with some extras that we didn't really expect for the price, not just a cooked breakfast and cornflakes, but dried fruit, nuts, yoghurt etc. It was self-service, with the staff bringing toast and drinks. Once again the staff were superb, very helpful, efficient and attentive. They cleared used plates away immediately.

I was particularly impressed with one of the kitchen staff, who was refilling the buffet. He saw I was confused and helpfully explained to me, without me asking, what yoghurts were on offer. In my experience kitchen staff usually appear and disappear without saying a word and don't help you.

So, would thoroughly recommend this hotel as an ideal stopover, but not perhaps for those of you wanting a romantic weekend in luxurious or traditional English surroundings.

I'd stopped here once before, and found it a little bit depressing, not dirty or particularly bad, just a bit DULL. The food was dull, the pool shut, various re-furbs going on etc.

Needing to book last minute, I went again last week, expecting much of the same. What a pleasant surprise. Dinner was excellent, with a perfectly cooked and well presented steak. The room was spacious and warm, the shower is fantastic and pins you against the back wall - always a bonus!

I didn' t have chance to use the pool, but it looked very clean and well attended. The bar is smart and prices reasonable, but like all UK bars will benefit greatly when the smoking ban comes in because it was very smoky.

Breakfast was a bit limited, but very well cooked again.

Overall, this place offers tremendous VALUE.

This hotel is very clean and is an improving hotel. They are putting alot of investment into it. All the staff are well mannered and helpful.The rooms are clean and have comfy beds.The bathrooms are good too.It did good English breakfasts. I was disappointed their was no cake, I like that when on holiday! The swimming pool is superb clean and warm. The bar was good for our night caps.The hotel is in a busy area but was convenient to get into the town. I really enjoyed my stay. Would stay again.

We booked at very short notice to stay at the hotel. The manager and staff on the telephone were very helpful as we asked for a suite for 2 adults and 2 young children. They were able to accomodate us at a very reasonable price.

After booking we read the reviews and started to worry that the hotel would not be up to standard. HOWEVER on arrival we were pleasantly surprised. The staff, hotel and room was far better than we expected.

Rooms were clean, bathroom and decor were great. We felt at home, we usually stay in 4 or 5* hotels but this one was good enough for us. It just proves that you should not believe every thing you read.

Only down side was that room service did not cover the food when it was delivered to the room and this was a little off putting. But this can be easily rectified. It did not stop us from eating in the restaurant every night as the menu was good and varied.

Thank you to all those at Jarvis for a great stay and we will be coming back again in future.