Stay 2 nights 6b &9a both at the front of the building,rooms at the back could be better, away from the main road.Basic rooms but tea/coffee available,tv,towels,H/C water, all you need for a short stay.Breakfast is a must have at at £5.00,served by friendly staff. Not brilliant accommodation but then,you get what you pay for.
I stayed at the Alara for 5 nights from 21/10- 25/10. I was in Sheffield on a course and I found that it was exactly what I was after.
I was warmly welcomed to the B&B, there is a good amount of off road parking and my single room was of a decent size. It had a comfortable bed, TV, tea making facilites and a wash basin. The Shower rooms were clean and the toilets always stocked well with toilet paper, clean hand towels and hand soap. The Breakfast was good, full English, toast and cereal. The Cook was always very polite. I understand that the stairs are quite steep and probably arnt ideal for people with mobility issues but it's an old building, the stairs are well lit which helps though. The B&B is well located for hillsborough for the footy fans out there.
I booked the Alara at the absolute last minute as we needed a place to stay when taking our daughter to Sheffield University. Only then did I read the shocking reviews. We decided to stay anyway as we really had no choice and thought that all experiences are ultimately enriching. Upon arrival we parked at the rear of the Hotel and were greeted by a huge terrifying looking dog! Looks can be deceptive. The dog was a lovely creature and so friendly. We were taken into a very old hotel and led up the VERY steep stairs to our room. The room was small and basic, the TV didn’t work. We reported this and found that it wasn’t the TV that didn’t work it was that we had been taken to the wrong room and hence given the wrong remote. He then moved us to another room that suited the remote that we were supplied; yeah I know? He should have just changed the remote but no problem. The room was definitely clean in terms of the fact that had indisputably been cleaned. But it was kind of grubby in places; furniture very worn. The bed was lumpy and the room noisy because we were next to the road. Anyhow we stayed in our room during the evening had a drink and watched TV. All good.
The experience of walking out of the shower in the morning to find a lady walking out of her shower (we were both dressed) was odd I must say! I guess that’s the deal; with communal showers and toilets? The shower was reasonably clean and shampoo and towels supplied!
The service and the breakfast was the thing that really impressed! We were asked if we wanted a large or small breakfasts? Daft question! Large please. Two huge English breakfast were brought to our table, they even made a vegetarian version for my wife. A pot of tea and a pot of coffee plus the option of extra toast if required. Brilliant!
This Hotel isn’t great. But…All in all we had great hospitality, 8 cups of tea a pot of coffee two huge breakfasts a shower a bed for the night, free wifi etc enclosed parking and all for £50.00!!! and just to be clear the £50 was the total bill for two everything included
Honest people making an honest living with what they have got and offering great service. Will we be going again?
Yes I think we will.
The place is set on a main road next to Sheff Weds ground. The rooms are really basic and toilets and showers are at the foot of some stairs that can only be discribed as hymalayan. Spend a little more and stay at travel inn etc.
I spent a night here on my way to Scotland. I found the staff to be very friendly and welcoming and the double room and shared bathroom were both very clean. The staff were also very helpful in terms of recommending places to eat and methods of transport. This is an old, old building and so the steps leading to the bedrooms and shared bathrooms are very steep and narrow. It would not suit anyone with mobility problems and as I have bad knees I did find the steps a bit tricky. Noise was also an issue as it faces a busy road. None of this can be helped as this is the structure of the building and its location but I do have a couple of recommendations for the owners. One would be to buy blackout curtains for the windows and the other would be to put mattress toppers on the beds as mine was slightly uncomfortable due to some bulging springs.
I picked this place as it was close to work. It was reasonably clean. It could do with updating.
The staff were very friendly, breakfast was good. They have off road parking.
The bed they had for me needed the sheet changing (was stained with sweat) I moved to the other bed in the room. They have wifi which was good. I did have issues with some people tuning up at 1am they were not too noisy.
I wanted somewhere on a budget and it delivered that. It includes a cooked breakfast. Not bad.
