Donington Manor Hotel

quirky, convenient but now feeling and looking tired

As always the service was pleasant, helpful and friendly.

Was a lovely old style hotel, the staff were very helpful and nice to chat with. Easy location to Donnington Race track, and walkable to pubs in the village.

My husband and I went for Sunday lunch using a Groupon offer - the food was delicious, from starter through to dessert. The main we chose was beef which was excellent, the accompanying vegetables were al dente not mushy, fantastic. Staff were attentive, we would highly recommend and we will visit again for lunch. Thank you.

Worn furnishings, broken tiles in bathroom and black grout, cold - neither the central heating nor extra wall heater worked, uncomfortable bed

James Blick is the owner manager of this carbuncle on the face of Derby. He is a hotelier, entrepreneur with over 35 years experience...blah blah and is a man of overwhelming self importance. Paying for a superior room, we received room 26 in the courtyard which I described to him as 'no better than a flop house'. He took umbridge and I had to hang up after listening to him whining about himself. Received refund from Hotels.com 30 minutes later. I enclose photos of this 'recently decorated room' (I will allow the reader to be the judge of the validity of this statement) but cannot include the foisty aroma that would have shamed a rugby team. We were informed more biscuits and shower gel could have been provided upon request, just a shame they couldn't provide the bath they advertised. Will also follow up with all the appropriate authorities. Sad that this individual could not listen to genuine concerns and respond professionally.

Donington Manor Hotel could do with modernisation and renovation work. It is a quirky place with character. Parking + check-in were fine. Went to dinner across from the hotel at Castle Inn which was lovely. Was booked into room 11 (twin) and my room was not clean at all - not talking about a little dust. There were many cobwebs, spent about 10 minutes removing spiders in the main room and the bathroom. Bathtub had black bits in it, 1st bed had markings on the bedding, 2nd bed had markings in the bed. Bedside drawer handle was broken. Even with the instructions to lock the door, I couldn't tell from the inside whether the door was locked. I was travelling solo so made me feel unsafe and uneasy. Charging points nowhere near the bed/accessible, even with a long charging cable. I spoke with staff at reception to ask for my money back as I wished to leave the hotel due to these conditions, they offered to show me other rooms first. First few were just as unclean as my room and the next couple were OK but didn't have any charging points near the bed so wasn't suitable for me. The last room they showed me did have charging points by the bedside and was, for the most part, clean enough that I felt like I could sleep there - there were still bits around the room that had built up dust but the room was a lot cleaner than my initial room and had a much better locking mechanism on the door. I agreed to move to that room but I will not be returning. I do NOT recommend!

The location was close to where we wanted to be.

Booked an accessible room and couldn't get the wheelchair through the door,it was extremely tight and hadn't got a big enough turning circle to get the chair Into the room and the bed was in the way, as well as the door not opening fully because of the radiator.The floor was not flat due to the raised lip on the floor and the whole room was small. There was no toilet roll in the room and asked twice for some and waited 2 hours for it.The carpet was filthy and needed a good Hoover we found several nail clippings and the bathroom floor needed a good sweep. We were booked for 3 nights and only stayed 1 and will not be recommending to any of our disabled friends.

My room was very clean and comfortable. The food at dinner and lunch was excellent. The owner and all the staff were very friendly and extremely attentive, catering to all the needs of everyone in our party. We all had a fabulous time. I would certainly consider staying here again.

The hotel was a little tired in places but, speaking with the hotel owner he said that he is now concentrating on working hard to bring the hotel up to a much better standard and I believe that he will be true to his word.