The Great Western Hotel

Wonderful location and the food was superb. Very impressed

Closeness to station Polite staff

Noise on the first night

Staff were very friendly and polite. The room seemed on first glance nicely decorated and the hotel clearly has a lot of history. Breakfast quality was excellent. As a 3* hotel for £100 a night it would be good. However, at £150 there was a lack of attention to detail which meant the price point was not justified. Specifically, - The foyer area could be cleaner, floor mopped, likewise the lounge area. Dirty with lots of bits and tables sticky. - The room had some quite dirty parts e.g. window frames, edges of bathroom, radiator, valance on bed very stained - The room was battered in places e.g. peeling paint, bashed skirting, peeling wallpaper and scuffed wall. New sugar lumps put on top of old conjealed sugar. - The room said it came with a bottle of wine, it had 2 mini bottles. I asked for the included bottle of wine and was given another mini bottle. Felt short changed on this. - Staff were friendly and nice but not proactive e.g. during food they could ask if it was ok, wanting any more drinks, explaining what you could order versus extra charge items etc. - Bed was lumpy - It would be nice to have more information on the history of the hotel, maybe old photos or story or rennovation. The above points are based on the price point of the hotel (actually significantly more expensive than most others in the area) which was not justifed based on the quality of the offer. Could easily be improved and at low cost with more attention to detail.

Bed was comfy. Clean room.

Although it said parking available staying guests. There was an event on, and they said a space wouldn’t be available until after 5pm, which was a big inconvenient. So had to pay another £9.80 to park in the multi story car park next door. My logic is that they should prioritise staying guests over event guests. Or just say limited parking. Breakfast was awful. I ordered a granola bowl - but it had so much lemon curd at the bottom, runny yogurt, lots of berry compote and only a sprinkle of granola at the top. It was so odd. Had to send it back. Asked for toast and a coffee toast came out. Cold. With hard butter and didn’t return with any coffee. Breakfast is included. But it felt like too much effort for them to be attentive. Such a shame.

Given 1 star only. Towels and sheets clean and staff pleasant but that's the only good points. Room was cold, Radiator obviously needs attention as only 1/4 of it worked but wasn't even on when got there. Bedroom carpet was patched and dirty. Bathroom sink was so tiny couldn't get kettle under tap to fill it. Sink also leaked water from underneath. Toilet flush handle broken. View out of window was dumped radiators and old guttering. As hallway outside rooms had no carpets footsteps could be heard all through the night by people and night watchman. Cooked breakfast was only available after 8am and Grab and Go breakfast consisted of a plain croissant, a health bar and a banana. No yoghurt as stated on website. Very poor. Wouldn't stay again. Wouldn't recommend. Certainly not worth £122.20. Should have gone Premier inn.

All my scoring is based on an admiration of the YMCA project which I have known about since Beach Hotel project. The room exceeded expectations -- except I was unable to make the shower gel dispenser work, the staff were brilliant..again one needed to appreciate the project better to more easily accept how good it was. The room was great..had all we wanted. Shame there is no lounge..but it is a railway .transit hotel. I did us the gents downstairs and there was no toilet paper there .so that routine needs further checking.

I just love the hotel ...and no major thing I didn't like. It's a gem..and I'm sure will get even better if resources allow. Great to see 12 Bedrooms booked.