Firstly, it is probably a good idea to start with the positives of the The Belmont Hotel, which are numerous, but not quite enough to allow me to confer a 4/5 or 5/5. Most importantly, the staff that work at the hotel are utterly lovely, helpful, professional and make the whole experience a great deal more enjoyable. I hope the owners of the hotel realise that their staff are a credit to the company as a whole, and that they are spared a huge amount of come-back or complaints based on their interaction with guests. Another positive is the location, sitting smack-bang in the middle of New Walk, a short distance to both Victoria Park/Queen's Rd and the centre of the city. New Walk is something of an oasis away from the hustle and bustle of Leicester, which can be quite a stressful, noisy and smelly place. Next, within the hotel you have a choice of sitting in the surroundings of either the main bar, a gastro-pub style brasserie, the main restaurant, or, weather permitting, outside at tables that sit next to New Walk. Myself and Mrs Beoirgra ate twice in the pub, thanks to a splendid offering of vegetarian food that would compete with even the most dedicated veggie cafe. The sweet potato and pimento burger is stunning, and we came back the following day to order it again! Delicious. On the subject of food, the breakfast is an excellent array of cereals and fruit, plus some useful offerings of vegetarian breakfast fare, with eggs, hash browns, toast, beans, mushrooms, etc. I try veggie breakfasts in most places I visit, and this was exceptional. There is nothing quite like being set up for the day with a healthy and substantial defecation to lighten the step, and the Belmont certainly aids in that endeavour.
Some negatives:
- We negotiated a low rate for three nights, and because of this we assumed (correctly) that we would be put in one of the hotel's more basic rooms. However, given the photos the hotel uses to promote itself, I wasn't expecting it to be quite THAT dated and basic. The room seemed quite forlorn and stale, and it is quite obvious that it is usually used by business people who smoke in there rather too much. We tried our best to prop open the windows to air the room, eventually resorting to a coat-hanger to use to keep the bathroom window open. Not very luxurious.
- A lack of air conditioning made the room unbearably warm, and we were forced to prop open the door to enable some through-air to relieve the heat. Not very good for privacy and therefore Mrs Beoirgra saw fit to deny me my marital rights.
- On the first night that we ate in the bar there was also a wedding reception. The staff were clearly very stretched, and after 45mins of our food not arriving we called reception. The duty manager came to smooth things over, and we eventually received the meal and drinks for free. Again, the staff handled the situation so well that we were quite happy to come back the following night to eat when we knew it would be quieter. However, I'm not sure everyone in the bar waiting for food were quite as satisfied with the situation, and there was a palpable sense of frustration.
- The biggest negative, and an issue that casts The Belmont in an incredibly bad light, is the lack of free Wi-Fi! Guests are given a complimentary 2-hours free (on request) but then must pay for Wi-Fi access. I was quite shocked to find that an independent hotel was employing a money-making technique that you would expect of an Ibis, or similar. Free WiFi is a basic requirement of a hotel these days, especially one that is as expensive as the Belmont. I hope that this is rectified soon, as it ended up being something of a pain not being able to check online for certain things like shop opening times.
The location and staff make this a 5/5, but the other issues are significant enough to knock a couple of stars off the score. If the more basic rooms are refurbed, including air conditioning, and free WiFi is offered, this would be a perfect hotel.