I booked a single room for two nights as I was attending a show in the area.
On arrival I struggled to get anyone to answer the reception call where a notice asks you to ring the number, which then rings two feet away from you. A pleasant Canadian chap arrived, and carried my case upstairs, something I was grateful for as it involved several up and down steps, various fire doors and corridors. The room on first impression looked very cramped but clean, something I was later to discover was not the case.
As single rooms go probably the smallest I have ever stayed in but it had a tiny en suite, single bed and tv plus dressing table and a built in wardrobe.
Good things: lovely and warm with rads in both rooms .
Soap and shower gel supplied and clean towels and good bed linen. The bathroom was clean but the basin had a huge crack right through it. The tv worked easily and there was an alarm clock radio provided and a hairdrier.
Bad things: I leaned over to adjust the alarm clock and was shocked to see the area between the bed and the tv table. As a former accommodation provider I knew it had been months not weeks since anyone had cleaned this area. Thick with dust, hairs and bits of rubbish it extended right behind the tv, and it was obvious the room only ever got the bits you see cleaned..
Only one of the room keys worked which by the second day had annoyed me, as holding various items it was a pain having to keep juggling to find the right key.
My friends and I ate in the hotel and all the food was excellent, really good breakfasts, lots of choice etc, and the public rooms gave a choice of quiet bars with gas fires or noisier bars.
There was also a tv room in one area.
The waitresses were lovely, smiling and always doing their utmost to ensure everything was what you wanted, they were a credit to the place. Not so the miserable sod behind the bar, someone needs to explain to him it's the norm to at least smile at the odd customer buying a drink!
The worst thing of my stay for me were the paper thin walls in the rooms. I heard every single word of conversations clearly on both sides and a snorer in another room.
This place could be so good with such a little effort, and a bit of soundproofing, or even making the singles into twins and charging a bit more. My single bed had three great ridges on the mattress too, a memory foam topper would have been much better.. I would happily pay more if these were done.
The location is excellent, we had thick snow and sitting by a glowing fire with a hot drink was wonderful, a Sunday market appeared the next morning sadly I had no time to enjoy it. I'd read some of the bad reviews before booking but thought often it's best to make your own mind up; I'm afraid the problems others encountered turned out to be true, so probabably wouldn't stay here next year.