The Samuel Ryder Hotel St Albans, Tapestry Collection Hilton

Hotel was well located , opposite the Cathedral and in easy reach of shops and restaurants . Room was clean and in good order. Breakfast was good but I would have appreciated more fresh fruit in the buffet ( I know red fruits could be ordered from the main menu though ) and muesli rather than sweet cereals.

It would have been good to have bottled water provided in the room , rather than have to go and ask at reception . Coffee mugs were too large for the coffee machine !

Location

View was a block wall

Some staff were helpful - others not.

Booked the suite, as a special occasion. Took 2 members of staff to get the A/C working - in a room that was already over 33 degrees Celsius. (Why had no one thought of putting the A/C on, on what was a heatwave?) Bathroom was even hotter and no way of reducing the temperature - staff said no A/C in the bathroom - so was like walking into a sauna. Not good when one needs a shower to get ready for a wedding! Breakfast - very average

There is a lot positive to be said about this hotel. It's the old offices of Samuel Ryder, and has been mostly redecorated and turned into a hotel with plenty of character. The room was a good size, with a fair amount of storage room, and good beds. The bathroom was also large and the shower was spacious. The breakfast room was pleasant and there was a good choice of food, which was very tasty. The staff we encountered were all very pleasant and helpful. Given that the hotel is pretty much in the centre of St Albans and we were there on a Saturday night, it was very quiet indoors. It's about a fifteen minute walk from the station, so if you're coming in to Luton Airport it's easily accessible and the journey then in to London is not very long.

A couple of things need to be mentioned here. The most glaring problem was that there is a fan in the bathroom that cannot be turned off, according to reception for safety reasons. Given that the primary reason for most people staying in a hotel for a night is to have somewhere to sleep, a noisy fan that prevents sleep would seem to be a bad idea. This was one of a number of "almost but not quite" features of the hotel. The breakfast room is mostly nicely decorated, in a kind of nineteenth century style, but then there were mid-century style chairs, good in themselves, but really not in keeping with the rest of the room. The bedroom had rails for hanging clothes and for overnight it was fine, but very few hangers for a longer stay. The lighting by the bed semi-worked in a rather illogical way. As it was quite expensive, I would not stay there again if I could avoid it, but to be fair it wasn't terrible and the good bits certainly deserve appreciation.

Fabulous location, beautiful building and decor, and it smelt amazing! The beds were very comfortable and there was room for two bags to be unpacked in the dressing area of our room. We were attending a rugby final at Wembley and decided to stop here and nip into Wembley from StAlbans on the train and we were so glad we did rather than stay in London. All in all a lovely place to stay.

It’s my own little niggle - but I do like a little fridge in a room to keep guests own water/drinks in. So I’m always a little disappointed when there isn’t one

Breakfast was adequate although the fruit was not replenished and only a few melon slices were available. The location is excellent with many restaurants and bars within easy walking distance.

I was not told that my room would be below ground level with the view from the window a brick wall. I would expect better for the price paid.

It was a central location

Not a great atmosphere, staff not very friendly. Long walk to car park and staff didn’t suggest leaving our bags. Would have been much easier if we had known the distance