I was booked in to the Red Lion by my employers hotel booking service as we working in the area that eveing and morning (8th/9th). Having checked the internet for information and finding very little I was slightly concerned.
We arrived just after 11:00pm and found the member of bar staff to be very friendly. The inside of the pub itself seemed to be quite nice, although we were cold and tired from working outside for the evening. All I wanted was a hot shower and bed.....unfortunately I was to find out later that this wasn't going to be an option.
We were given the keys to our rooms on the top floor, which we were glad about as the music in the bar was quite loud. Unfortunately to our horror (and probably the poor bloke already asleep), we were given keys to rooms already occupied!! My colleague very carefully checked her room too and found it also to be occupied. Not a good start.
Anyway, we eventually got keys for rooms that were empty on the first floor. Neither of the rooms were en suite although I believe that some of the rooms are. I don't know how much they charge to stay there direct but we were paying £55 for just the room and no breakfast (I don't think they provide it but as we were out the door at 6:30am we couldn't be sure). My room (2) was clean and tidy, had a single bed, some rather dated and somewhat dilapidated furniture and facilities to make a hot drink. It also had a sink unit but wasn't much use as the cold water came out virtually the same temperature as the hot. The bed was fine, the bedding was clean and looked new, as did the curtains and the bedside lamp and clean towels were left on the bed. However the rest of the room was extremely old and in need of attention. It is an old building and I don't know how long the new owners have been in and understand refurbishment can take a while but perhaps this should be reflected in their price until standard improve.
One other problem with the room seemed to be that the heating was permenantly on, with no way of controlling it. As the windows were both quite old sash windows neither of them would stay up on their own so I ended up using one of my trainers and the obligatory hotel room Gideons Bible to prop it open! The hotel is on quite a busy road junction but it was a necessary compromise.
There was a bathroom directly opposite my room but this was worse than the bedroom. The toilet looked clean and worked and there were cleaning products and an air freshener present but the rest of the bathroom was pretty dire. There was no shower, just a very old bath and wash basin both of which looked in need of a proper clean (or the tip), unfortunately the floor was carpeted and didn't look like it had been hoovered. I could see quite a lot of hair stuck to the carpet. So no hot shower for me. There may have been other bathrooms with a shower but as it was now midnight and I was going to be working outside the next day I wasn't particularly bothered.
I can say that I did have a good nights sleep as the bed was quite comfortable.
In summary I would say that an effort to improve standards is apparent but cleanliness could be improved. I think that if your in the area for work it's probably ok for one night but no more.
The new owners, from what I saw, have a mamoth task to refurbish this place and hopefully it will eventually be a nice place to stay.
