#15 Roundhouse Bournemouth Hotel review (Room 320) 7/10

“Great value and space with the potential to develop staff service and room equipment”

 

 

The atmosphere felt a little dry since the hosts did not exude any real enthusiasm or passion and appeared there to execute job obligations rather than to provide a fully fulfilling and satisfying service. The slowness and lack of welcome on arrival with a tedious articulated check-in dampened the atmosphere for the initial stay portion.

 

They were helpful however, with my request to change my worn key-card to assist room access and resolved the issue quickly and efficiently.

 

 

 

The room unfortunately from entry smelt damp. Clearly there may have been an extractor fan issue or similar problem. Room ventilation therefore should be investigated.

The room was very spacious with ample drawers for storage. 10 hangers seemed like a generous number which was good.

 

The tea selection was non existent. 2 teabags were provided but unlike Swansea no choice was present. Whether the coffee was decaf or not was unspecified yet there was plenty of sugar sachets and milk tubs stocked. These included white and Demerara sugar which was good yet there were no semi skimmed milk tubs available on day 1 which would have been a good touch.

 

To relax, the bed mattress was comfortable if a little firm and there was a TV present. Despite a generous room size, the TV was very small and has been placed on a coffee table in the corner of the room meaning viewing from the more distant twin bed could have been more entertaining. I also experienced intermittent service on multiple occasions which also reduced viewing enjoyment significantly. The bed covers provided were too thin and left me feeling fairly chilly throughout the night. Perhaps the heating wasn’t quite sufficient either making the issue seem worse.

 

It was also difficult to locate the wifi password despite the room being provided with a very helpful booklet of facilities with breakfast time details. It turns out this was on a small poster beside reception but why not put one in the rooms or booklet aswell ? …

 

 

There were some comfortable sofas and a generously sized reception area which meant that i could relax. Also there was a nicely proportioned bar which I am sure is very accommodating.

 

 

The bathroom was en-suite with plenty of white towels

Provided. It did not seem to feature an extractor fan which probably explains why the damp smell was evident. It also did not have a working lock meaning privacy was limited. In an attempt to compensate for this, some labels were provided with ” do not disturb” or ” room needs a service” which was a nice touch. They did poses a slight budget feel however though and would be obsolete if room service was at a set time and a working lock was provided for the bathroom.

 

The shower worked well with good pressure although was difficult to direct away from the rear of the bathtub. This meant it was very difficult to wash without bending my back which felt as awkward as a game of limbo.

 

The room service whilst helpful, was far more effective for bed and towel replacements than providing a consistent tea and coffee replenishment. This was because sugar and milk replacements were changed inconsistently day by day. For example, on one day, semi-skimmed milk was provided yet for the other days only full fat or a choice was provided. Plenty of tea sachets were supplied with a perhaps, slightly too generous helping of various sugars featuring Demerara and white. Again these varied in number and ratio.

 

 

At around 30 pounds per night the roundhouse for a 3 star hotel appears very cheap. Whilst certain aspects of the stay reflected this, the hotel still appeared to be very good value for money so I would thoroughly recommend a stay for value reasons. This was not only far cheaper than Swansea, but also the twin room provided was far more spacious.

 

 

Having checked that Check-in was 24-hour, arriving at midnight was not expected to cause an issue. Unfortunately however, 2 bells were provided to which I pressed one followed by the other and was accused straight away of pressing too many times. This was not a very positive welcome and made me feel a little guilty and uncomfortable.

 

After stating my name, the staff spent ages struggling to find it in spite of having a rebooked room. Perhaps it took them by surprise, me not knowing my room number from the group booking but still. I was quite disappointed with the pace of work and how helpful the staff were. They certainly did not seem very enthusiastic which didn’t help.

At least their dress code was professional however keeping things a little more positive.

 

 

Overall then the stay was a little disorganised. The staff were a little dry in personality and helpful at certain times. The room didn’t smell or feel great due to the thin covers and lack of a sofa actually facing the TV. The stay benefitted from ample space but the details within that space suffered through lack of refinement.

 

“The place is great value and a good space but needs better management of staff and stock to bring up the rating.”