The Alverbank Hotel

Let us be clear here ….. I know the hotel well having been guest to many weddings and dinners over last 20 years. It’s handy for when I visit my family ( daughters and mum and gran kids) however even when I deliberately booked best ( costliest) room I was shocked at what I discovered on arrival. Greeted to locked door with signage saying hotel not open Tuesdays and zero restaurant/ bar same period yet my booking web site told me nothing about this. Seems the hotel is closed ( more or less) Mondays and Tuesdays yet they do accept 365 a day bookings. The restaurant and bar is NOT open Tuesdays. And Bar closes at 2130 Weds. all in all pretty disappointing stay for 2 nights. I had booked best room in hotel expecting a mini break holiday with evening dinner and bar facilities and all this was denied Yet NO E OF THIS. Was displayed at time of booking - FACT The hotel has prime location and yet on my stay I was denied the expected and reasonably anticipated hotel facilities

See above. It would have been good to se3 hotel web site say. -reduced or zero facilities xyz etc

Room was lovely and very clean with a comfortable bed. The staff were attentive and extremely helpful and polite. The breakfast menu was expansive and the food was delicious, it was also included in the price of the room which we felt was very reasonable. We would definitely recommend.

Nothing - everything was good.

The staff member who checked me in could not have been nicer. The room was a little more expensive than I normally pay, but was seriously better in quality - although the shower was very difficult to control, freezing cold to scalding hot seemed to be a degree of turn on the controls.

When I went down for breakfast at 10am (checkout at 11), there were quite a few people (with large dogs) in the lobby; some left, the remaining couple gestured for me to go through to the reception desk, where, when I said I was just looking for breakfast, a member of staff said 'just go through and take any seat', which I did. There was only one other table occupied, a family who appeared to be finishing. Then the couple (with dogs) were shown in, given a menu, drinks order taken (which seemed reasonable as they had been in the lobby waiting before me), then another member of staff came in and cleared the table beside me, then another couple were shown in, menu given, drinks order taken, and another member of staff cleared the table of the family who had now left. So, after 25 mins of being ignored, I went back to reception and asked (the on duty manager judging by their different clothing) and asked for a menu, and a coffee to start. She gave me the menu, and said someone would bring the coffee, which they did. But 10 minutes later, despite constant staff comings and goings, no one took my order, so I went back to reception, to the same 'duty manager' (?), and explained that I was going to have difficulty checking out on time due to the delay in serving me breakfast. She said "The problem is you seemed to have slipped in with nobody noticing". Including her when she gave me the menu and the person who brought me the coffee, apparently. Breakfast, when it arrived, was exceptional (and the person who served it was polite and friendly), I rarely eat sausages or black pudding in hotels, both were fine here. The bread was a let down, sliced white (and not the 'bloomer' promised on the menu, but overall, it was excellent. At this point I was thinking 4 star review, but as I came down to check out the greeting I got no eye contact, and a very terse ‘Thank you for staying’. No ‘sorry about the mix up at breakfast’. No niceness at all.

Fantastic

I was disappointed that the Internet connection was very poor. Which meant the t.v kand my phone kept pausing/ buffering which spoilt my enjoyment. Also there was only one coffee sachet in the room which was not good as no staff to get some from.

Breakfast delicious. Great location

Excellent location and lovely hotel. Great breakfast

Staff were lovely and friendly, they were attentive and made you feel welcome. I had friends visiting for an evening meal. The service was excellent, the food delicious and great value for money. It’s an old house so the bedrooms aren’t what you’d find in a modern hotel but they were clean and comfortable with nice en-suite. The breakfast choice was excellent too. I would recommend this hotel, not only for the service but its location by the sea.

Nothing springs to mind

A fantastic hotel , we paid a little extra for a view of the Solent, worth every penny. We ate in the hotel restaurant in the evening great food great staff great service. Breakfast , full English Michelin star quality.

Nothing.