HotelChatter

was really hoping to like the hotel, but I can safely say that it was one of the worst experiences I have ever had (this is coming from someone who has backpacked around Africa - I'm not a demanding guest!).

Before we booked, I asked Hector, the manager, what the parking situation was like as we were debating catching the train. The reply was "we've got a large car park opposite the hotel". When we arrived we were told that the car park was in fact an NCP car park and that we would have to buy a ticket by 8am every morning - not what you want on Valentines weekend! The very sweet girl working at the bar offered to top it up for us on the Saturday morning, but we had to park in a housing estate across town after that.

We carried our own bags up to the room, on the top floor. The decor was nice, but there was no enclosed storage for underwear etc. The bathroom was so small that only one person could fit in at a time - it had clearly previously been a large cupboard judging from the roller style door catch. There was no blind on the bathroom window so people in the properties to the rear could see in.

Neither the heating nor the water (hot or cold) worked in the room, which we were not told about before we arrived, so we could not wash in the morning. We were offered a free breakfast to compensate, and told that it would be working by the time we got back on the Saturday evening. When we returned on the Saturday evening the water and the heating were not fixed. When my girlfriend interjected when the manager was explaining about the boiler, he cut her off mid-sentence saying "are you going to let me finish or what?" There was no apology for the lack of water or heating.

That night (Saturday) there was load music thumping through the walls from the next-door nightclub (which probably explains why there was vomit all over the pavement the following morning).

By the Sunday morning (still with no water/heating) we were so angry about the manager's attitude that we decided to check out early. When I explained that I was only willing to pay for 1 out of 2 nights (which I thought was generous), the manager answered "this isn't a 5 star hotel you know" and then said "well you only booked a standard room (£115 a night) anyway". He eventually accepted my arguments. The previous day an older gentleman had checked out early and only paid for one night, so I can only assume that he thought he could bully us into paying more as we are a young couple (23). He also tried to charge us for the free breakfast he had offered us.

As it was the opening week we were prepared for there to be a few niggles, but I have never been treated so rudely in any hotel/hostel I have stayed in. I know there were other guests who felt the same.

For Valentines night we checked into the Queensberry which was fantastic - the staff couldn't have been more helpful fitting us in at late notice and it was a pleasure to stay there.