Pluses- the staff tried hard to be helpful and put right things when they could. The hotel has been done up quite recently, and fairly tastefully. I didn't meet Valentine, or if I did he was on his best behaviour. It was clean. The room was mainly ok and had a trouser press and coffee making and a hairdryer.
Minuses, the place is still a rabbit warren and could, I think, be quite noisy if it was full. Given that there is no lift and everybody has to walk up the main stairs, why not replace the carpet when it goes into holes? I couldn't get consistently reliable wi fi on the 2nd floor, even though I had checked this before arrival because it was important to me. They did offer to change my room, but I was too tired by then to move. Being greeted by a room on a cold day with the heating off and a light bulb not working is a bit dismal, although the light bulb was changed quickly when I complained. There is a nice table to work at, but the chair is too low to work comfortably. The toilet seat would not stay up. Most of the dining room has little natural light. A request to sit by one of the two windows for breakfast was denied because "the manager has set out the tables for a funeral". There is not much choice if you do not want a cooked breakfast, although a member of staff did offer to go out and get me a yogurt from the shop. There was no written information in the room about the services offered by the hotel and it took me two trips downstairs before I saw the tiny writing on the phone that said you could dial 0 for reception.
This things may be petty, but for 65 quid for one person out of season I want a place where I can unwind, do a bit of work and feel at home for the night. Its the little things that make the differenc
- New England Hotel