Holiday express hotel review (Room 144) (7.5/10)
The Good
” Great atmosphere and facilities”
” Room was modern and spacious”
The Bad
” Staff were a little slow and disorganised on checkin”
” The value was good yet the price a little high”
” The room lacked a few finer details”
Atmosphere
The hotels’ reception was light and spacious with a pleasantly lit bar nearby. The reception desk was pristine. The corridor carpets were uniform and modern and the lady at reception was very nice and polite.
Whilst her English wasn’t perfect she did create a good first impression. There were plenty of people in the bar area suggesting that the hotel was indeed regularly used and at least reasonably well respected.
First impressions were therefore good.
Chilling in your room
The room was light and spacious which impressed on entry.
The TV was close to the beds since the room was orientated with a narrow midsection and a large desk space. This made the TV close to the end of the beds which improved viewing. The screen size was good with the TV perched on the desk space. This would also be highly useful for work with ample space for a laptop and books to sit alongside the TV. The TV was a little tricky to operate and not very sensitive to channel change unless the remote was aimed precisely in the correct direction which was a shame. TV graphics appeared mediocre, yet for the close seating position picture clarity was clearly under greater scrutiny. This can therefore be forgiven. The TV service was not intermittent as was the case at the roundhouse Bournemouth which was clearly a positive.
The presence of an iron on the top shelf of a set of desk drawers was useful, meaning adequate ironing facilities with the included board. The area beside this desk was sufficient to fit the ironing board also thus accommodating it tidily.
Space in general was a real strength. Wether it is the overall room size or storage.
Tea provisions
In terms of tea provisions, 5 tea bags were provided with Tetley as the sole variety. Whilst more variety would be nice, the presence of both Demerara sugar, white sugar and sweeteners more than compensated for this lack of choice. The mugs were a good size although the 1 litre kettle was a bit diminutive. It was on a sticky tray however set back secretly in an alcove so drew in my attention unfortunately. Pleasant mats to seat tea-stained spoons were supplied which was a nice touch. The provision of tea biscuits would have been nice but you can’t have everything …
The presence of multiple good size mirrors by the desk and door and the presence of 4 plugs was very practical . Ample charging facilities therefore were available for at least 2 guests.
Wall soundproofing seemed good with limited noise heard from other rooms throughout my stay and 4 towels were provided for cleaning which was plenty. A keycard was provided for the room rather than a key which gave the whole place a modern touch.
Community areas
The community areas included a swimming pool, gym space and relaxing bar area. These all appeared spacious, light and clean. Plenty of people were using the bar probably due to these positives.
Washing and cleaning
Whilst 4 towels were present the lack of an extractor fan seemed disappointing. That said the smell of damp was not apparent suggesting good general ventilation. Whilst a hairdryer was supplied it was within a black bag in a cupboard so easily missed at first glance. A list detailing additional products available from reception on a bathroom poster was a pleasant touch. The bathroom was of adequate size of a little compact and was nice and clean.
The shower possessed 2 nozzles; One of them for pressure and the other for temperature. This was a positive since a single dual control option makes things more difficult in my opinion. Thankfully I have long arms however since these controls were located at the opposite end of the shower to the shower head meaning a considerable stretch was permitted. The temperature did not seem to change very much if at all on adjustment which made things tricky.
Price
At 60 pounds a night this seems pretty dear for a 3 star hotel although the positive impression created a great value appearance which was good. Overall due to the light spacious nature of the room. Generous amenities and facilities this hotel is certainly good value for money and has good standards of room service and cleanliness. The modern feel is refreshing and lacks a current need for updating.
Customer service
Polite and considerate staff who could not manage to identify the room I had booked even after sharing my details. They spent probably about half an hour trying to figure out which room I had booked and even then were not sure if the room had been paid for by the company or if they needed a contact for payment. In the end I was provided with a keycard and able to access my room. This was disappointing. That said, staff were happy to provide extra teas and were polite on checkout. On checkin the staff were friendly and apologetic which made things seem a little better and the quality of the room made up for this considerably.
Overall
Overall the service was good if a little hesitant with thorough attention paid to cleanliness, facilities and space to relax. Great value due to a positive product yet a little pricey. The room provisions were detailed and mostly sufficient.
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