Following comments re. refurbishments my husband and I were expecting a relatively decent standard of accomodation, however our stay here in August 07 was far from meeting a good standard.
The entrance to the hotel is lovely, and reception staff friendly and accomodating, however, once past reception things take a turn for the worse.
The lift is tiny, barely big enough for two people and one suitcase, added to which, the buttons for the lift are loose and require a lot of pressure to work. The lift judders, shakes and makes some horrific bangs as it passes each floor and when it reaches it's destination. Numerous times over our three night stay my husband and I had to wait in the lift for a good few minutes before it moved - if even the slightest bit claustrophobic the lift is a nightmare!
Our room (391) was very clean however the wallpaper was peeling on both the walls and the ceiling. While clean, the bedlinen had numerous holes, evidently through use and general wear. In the bathroom, where the wallpaper was peeling, the paint underneath was flaking off and everytime the bathroom door shut there was a flurry of paint flakes falling on the floor! The bedroom window had a large crack running across one corner.
Breakfast was reasonable, however, I would agree with previous reviews that staff seem a little rushed and other guests (the bus parties) receive a higher level of service. Every morning over the length of our stay things like the orange juice/milk failed to be replenished within the 20-30 mins we were at breakfast. Cooked breakfasts at the weekend were cooked to order, although we were advised that items such as tomatoes were unavailable as the hotel had run out!?! Similarly, where tables were used and re-set, side plates, new cups, teaspoons and some pieces of cutlery were continually missed.
We were also required to pay up-front on arrival and as we were aware the hotel was busy and we would not be able to be moved we did not indicate our complaints at the time, however, we will be notifying the hotel separately.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC