Half Travelodge and half faded-glory old-world Man...

Half Travelodge and half faded-glory old-world Manor House. A bit of a confused mess, really. A building that could be the base for a 4-5* hotel, but is providing 3* service and 2* rooms. This place doesn't know what it wants to be.

The building has great character and potential, and while the 2016 renovation made strides in affording the building a base-level of cleanliness, it serves only to highlight the shabbiness of carpets and furniture in common areas (the chairs and tables in the lobby/bar would be rejected by even the roughest of pubs). It all appears a bit cheap (lots of notices on A4 printer paper blu-tacked to walls and cheap conference stand advertising a plethora of discounts).

The rooms have benefitted from a refit, and are now solidly 3* quality. The quality of bathroom towels deserves commendation, as does the fact that windows open fully (the rooms are fantastically hot and have no air conditioning), however while the hotel provides fans these are feeble. It begs the question why ceiling fans weren't considered in the redesign of the rooms?

The layout of the hotel would benefit from an ambitious revision. Reception, for instance, is hidden behind pillars not conducive to queuing. A cluttered and messy staff room opens out into the lobby (the door is rarely closed). One has to go in search of the terrace (one of the hotel's great assets), the door to which is hidden in a corridor behind the bar - this should be a grand feature with the layout filtering people naturally towards it.

The staff are either dismissive and far too casual (reception), lacking in confidence (restaurant and bar), or incompetent (as the disgruntled guest I encountered being woken by a breakfast delivery at 7:30am he hadn't ordered; it was for the room next door). Where service worked, it still lacked a culture of customer service - this is the 21st century and a 1970s approach cannot prevail.

How an English hotel bar operates without cask ales on hand-pump is astonishing. Staff don't know how to pour Guinness, and a glass of tap water came without ice and in a hot glass. Things like this matter: pouring Guinness properly may not be noticed, but not doing so certainly will. A glass of tap water with ice in a tall glass might not be noticed, but warm water and a warm glass certainly will. No drinks at the bar come with coasters or beer mats. Two pints of Guinness were served in different and non-Guinness glasses. Doing these things properly is easy and not doing so lends the place a slap-dash and uncaring atmosphere. Again, if the hotel decides it's to be 2* then don't worry, but it is clear it has auspices of grander things and this doesn't wash at the moment.



Competition is strong in this locale. There is a Hilton Doubletree nearby, and a superb gastropub less than 10 minutes walk away. This hotel needs to decide what it wants to be, and up its game accordingly if it's going to get repeat guests. Maybe it doesn't care - there's plenty of students and cruise passengers looking for a cheap night when in transit.