The Mountford hotel (Room 29) (8/10)
The Good
“Spacious room and comfortable bed”.
“Generous tea supplies”.
“Great value and well-humoured staff”.
The Bad
” Lack of milk, tea bag or sweetener options”.
” Stern staff and technologically basic setting”.
” Why is the WIFI password not in the room manual?”.
“Slippery bathroom floor with no bathmat”.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere felt clean and pleasant, if a little routine and technologically dated. The staff made the atmosphere nice if a little serious and could have benefitted from being s little more relaxed. Some did have a great sense of humour though. With good weather the downstairs seated area alongside the pool table felt like a real holiday utopia.
There was a good view set back from the road of an upmarket street. Hotel location wasn’t perfect but you can walk to town quickly in about 30 minutes.
Tea provisions
There was a kettle in the lower area of my room down some steps but I had to disturb my room mate to make a cup of tea which wasn’t great. That said the tea supply layout was good. Well organised in a tray and provided were 6 sachets of Demerara sugar as well as white. If I was being picky I could state that the sachets were of different shape, but the main thing lacking for me was selection of tea bag types, sweeteners provided or milk. There were no extras such as tea biscuits to make up for this.
There was no tea bags except PG tips although at least 4 were provided which seemed reasonable between 2 guests. The selection of milk could have been broadened beyond just full fat type however.
The kettle capacity was just 1 litre which was a little disappointing and there was only a scale to identify this inside the vessel which wasn’t typical although I suppose sufficient while filling.
Community areas
Public community areas at first glance were good. The bar downstairs was cosy, if a little compact, and it was a perfectly comfortable space to relax. The pool room with additional dining seating was very luxurious although a comfy sofa would have been nice. That said the bar had a good selection of most drinks except cider. drink price was also not ridiculous at £3.50 for a bottle of cider.
The pool room opposite was of good size. Whilst considerate, it was a shame not to be allowed a game of pool after 11pm due to disturbance of guests with rooms nearby.
Price
With typical room price at£40, with a great downstairs community pool room, good humoured staff and a great sized room it seemed very good value. Some do have pools and fitness suites in other hotels at this price although many lack the homely atmosphere found here. Overall great value.
Washing and cleaning
For washing, 2 300ml bottles of “Out of Eden” were provided and placed on the sink opposite the shower/bath. One was a hand wash and the other a combined shampoo and shower gel product. It was nice to have 2 separate products on either side of the sink as it felt uniform and organised. It also meant nothing was in my way on entry into the shower which had the potential to fall down.
In the toilet, there was a plastic banner across the surface stating “sanitised for your protection”. This got in the way and felt tacky which was clearly a negative.
The shower had one hot and one cold tap which both controlled pressure and the temperature of the water. This wasn’t as practical as having a twist knob for temperature and another for pressure however in my opinion and felt a little dated and tricky to adjust. That said, the water pressure was great.
There was also a nice size of mirror in the bathroom which managed to accommodate my entire frame making it useful following showering. The top half mirror above the bathroom sink was also of adequate size.
The shower worked well with good pressure and a hairdryer was provided in the top drawer beside my bed which was nice. The bottle of shampoo however was difficult to dispense without removal of the cap which was a little inconvenient.
Removing litter was not ideal as there was only 1 small bin in the bathroom meaning I could not dispose of food wrappers and tea provisions without a walk from my bed. Obviously this was only a minor inconvenience however. The small litterbin size ,although similar to most hotels, was a little small.
Chilling in your room
The charging facilities for my top shelf of the penthouse suite were adequate since there were 3 plug sockets provided in that area.
Television viewing would have been difficult however since the TV was situated in a different room compartment down a staircase meaning you would have to disturb another guest significantly by invading their sleep space to watch TV. The communal area downstairs in the pool room however could be used instead, although this would mean potentially a shared channel choice which could be tough to agree.
The bed was highly comfortable if a little creaky and the duvet was quite thick for the time of year. I slept well, if a little warm though …
The room was clearly not from a chain of hotels which made things characterful. I cannot complain about the ample space which was provided. It felt like more of an apartment than a room due to the adjoining large bedroom and decently portioned bathroom.
This character was accompanied however with a lack of posters or labels stating useful information such as check-in/out time, WIFI password and a breakfast menu or time. This limited practicality for the stay since this information (excluding the WIFI password) was supplied in one manual beside the double bed. For my part of the room this was not supplied. Posters near the door would have resolved this.
On the top level by the door, a wardrobe with the capacity for 6 hangers was provided. These seemed a little plasticy and budget yet the number was reasonable compared to many other hotels I have stayed at, between 2 guests.
The decor felt a little dated with a slightly lairy red carpet, not that this really had any significant impact on the enjoyment of my stay.
Customer service
On check-in the staff seemed polite if somewhat regimented. It was nice to have ID checks though as it made things feel secure and the system worked okay without too much of a wait or stress from the manager. This was refreshing to not have a member of staff get stressed or flustered from a queue of guests.
At the bar a member of staff had a great quirky sense of humour which lightened the mood after work at the weekend.
The room keycard was provided in an envelope labelled with room number. This was a nice touch as it prevented the keycard from wearing out and guests forgetting room numbers.
Summary
A slightly dated luxury hotel with a sophisticated downstairs seating area situated in a games room. The room was spacious and comfortable and staff were well-humoured and professional. The hotel was great value and I would thoroughly recommend with a few minor tweaks.
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