Nottingham park plaza hotel review -Room 104 (6.0/10) ” Uninspiring quotes and dreary decor/customer service”.
Good
“Central location close to train station”.
” Mini bar hidden out of temptations way”.
” Your own glasses to use”.
” Godzilla sized TV”.
Bad
” Twin beds touching with limited space where positioned”.
” Gimmicky writing on mirror, beside TV”.
” Creaky shower-head adjuster knob”.
” No view from window”.
“Can’t adjust shower pressure”.
“Only 1 full size spare towel”.
Atmosphere
With just a 12-minute walk from Nottingham train station, the hotel was easy to access and the location was very central. It was also close to historical buildings such as Nottingham castle. A magnificent castle perched upon the UK’s largest man made cave system which is impressively carved out of sandstone. For practicality, the journey to the hotel was far easier than trudging miles uphill to the hostels on Mansfield road. One of which I had stayed at previously.
On approach, the hotel appeared modern on the ground floor yet above this were some traditional uniform flats resembling that of a quick development. The reception area was rather spacious however, with shabby sheik decor; Items trying to show off but clearly budget in quality. The lift was large and spacious with very bright lighting which was also slightly lairy. It was good to have 4 lifts in operation to help reduce wait time. Once the room was reached it didn’t disappoint, and was easy to locate following a scuttle past the room service trolley.
The room atmosphere was a little plain and there was not really much of a view from the window… If at all, with a building outline in a foggy translucent effect dominating the glass pane. The package that was included did compensate for this dullness considerably however.
Tea provisions
Firstly looking at the Kettle …
With a 1 litre kettle capacity and no unnecessary hospitality drawer, the tea making was nicely accessible. It was also already plugged in and turned on, with the dial tactically placed outside the vessel. The best place for it in my view. Whilst this Kettle capacity was far smaller than the 1.7 litres of the Peterborough Days inn, It was much bigger than the smallest experienced in Birmingham Holiday Inn Express, at just 0.6 litres.
With 2 sweetener sachets accompanied by 4 white and brown sugar sachets there was sufficient sweetening capability for 10 cups of tea. Since tea provisions were not replaced standardly however, this felt difficult to rely upon. With 6 teabags this sweetening count did not seem totally sufficient either. The 8 semi-skimmed milk sachets seemed rather excessive especially when the fairly small mug sizes were considered.
Whilst the 2 mugs provided were labelled Royal Doulton, this porcelain label did not increase their practicality. It did enhance the impression of quality however. Whilst it was good to have 2 mugs between the 2 of us staying there, unfortunately only 1 teaspoon was supplied which was a little unfortunate. If one guest had a preference for coffee for example, this couldn’t then be used for tea without contaminating the flavour. A slight letdown therefore, and 2 would have been preferable.
It was good to have a selection of tea flavours however, unlike the Peterborough Days Inn which just yielded Yorkshire.
There were 4 English breakfast Twining’s, 1 Cranberry and Raspberry with 1 Pure peppermint Twining’s. Whilst I didn’t try the Cranberry and Raspberry, the peppermint was rather refreshing and it was good to have this range of options available.
After this tea quickly and unfortunately got drunk, at reception, I felt slightly awkward asking for more however, on multiple occasions, since staff didn’t appear overly happy to supply extra. This was quite uncomfortable.
There were 2 decaffeinated and 2 caffeinated original sachets. This shouldn’t have been less than numbers of supplied tea sachets however.
2 packets of calorie-labelled tea biscuits were supplied on Day one, with a ” Fruit Shrewsbury” and “Ginger biscuit” packet that both contained 2 biscuits. No sharing issues were therefore encountered. The biscuits were pleasant in flavour without the excessive sweetness from Border biscuits often supplied from Days inn chain hotels.
It was a shame that these weren’t replaced by room service.
All the tea provisions were very neatly laid out, especially once the large quantity was considered.
Due to the lack of replacements, room service inconsistency appeared to be the main let down with tea provisions provided therefore. A shame, when the good variety and quantity is considered.
Washing and cleaning
4 confidently-sized Elemis products were displayed neatly including hand and body lotion, conditioner, shampoo and bath and shower gel. They were accompanied by a bar of soap. These were all far more favourable in size than Double trees’, and clearly available on a cheaper stay. This was all very positive therefore.
With 2 full-size body towels and 3 smaller hand towels, the drying facilities seemed fairly limited. The room had a hairdryer though, which was good. Situated beside an ironing board and iron… Also good. As you’d expect this was accompanied by a safe as is the case in Double trees. Again… Good.
The shower operated with 2 knobs. The upper knob was for nozzle selection control between one fixed large shower head, one smaller flexible one and a bath tap. The lower knob was for temperature adjustment. Unfortunately the top knob did creak a little. There was also a bath below to cater for all types of guests with textured floor tiles for safety. There was no knob for pressure adjustment available however. The close proximity of the larger head near the wall and lack of head height attachment for the smaller shower head meant a rather awkward and uncomfortable showering posture had to be adopted.
Quite unfortunate, especially when you can’t increase jet pressure. Not the best therefore.
While showering I also noticed that there was no storage slot for the toiletry sachets meaning a rather ungrateful stoop to pick them up while balanced on the edge of the bath. During my second shower jet pressure faded away to a trickle during the shower for no apparent reason which made everything rather pathetic.
The toilet roll provided was accessible and quilted which is always a positive, although no spare was supplied. Bathroom mirrors were of generous scale and took up much of the wall, space. This not only gave the illusion of greater space but was also highly practical. The bathroom door lock was also fully operational which was great.
Chilling in your room
Being promised 2 keycards for room access was very refreshing, following numerous issues with hotels that only provide 1 for twin rooms. I didn’t like the keycard power activation however, especially the flickering lightbulb present.
With 16 hangers between just 2 guests, the numbers could not have been more generous. They were also wooden which is the best material. With plenty of clothes hanging space including a large internal shelf and a rather extensive desk, the storage in the room seemed more than adequate. It was a slight shame this wasn’t the same close to the beds however, since only 1 had a bedside table.
The WIFI connected instantly without login information and was quick and reliable.
With 4 spread-out plug sockets, 3 of these being easily noticeable, this appeared slightly low, but was sufficient on this occasion.
The room had 2 brown coloured chairs which didn’t look the most enticing and were rather firm to sit on, confirming this. At least there were 2 of them.
Having 1 water glass and 2 wine glasses laid out neatly upon the desk this was a nice touch, encouraging relaxing in style inside the room.
2 cushions and a pillow rather than 1 pillow on the bed, did not seem like a good idea. The bed was certainly not made to my preference therefore. I feel every bed should be made with 1, and the rest stored to enable guests to customise themselves as they see fit.
Litterbin space in the room from the 2 litter bins, seemed very generous and was better than many of the places I have previously stayed. With the larger bin in the main section of the room this was also a preferable layout. The position of the large bin close to the kettle was also very practical for teabag disposal operations.
The main part of the room had one large mirror with a quote from Paul smith splattered across it. Whoever that may be … This for me detracted from not only the use of the mirror, but the look of it aswell. At least it had the word inspiration in it to help me get inspired to move on from that issue.
The TV was of amazing size and it was good to have Sky. I think this is probably the largest TV screen I have ever watched. The picture quality was also very good. No TV signal intermittency either. The good range of channels and sound quality were just technicolor flourishes on the very good, and fully functional, TV cake.
Price
Between 60 and 70 pounds for this 4-star hotel seemed slightly dearer than some of the budget establishment I had stayed at recently. This was still cheaper than the Hogs back hotel and the hotel had over 12 meeting rooms making it attractive for business meetings during stays.
Customer service
On reception from check-in, staff were quick and professional getting me checked in after just a minor delay. The room service lady knocked and was polite before setting up the in-room mini bar. I would have preferred this completed before entering my room however.
Room servicing however was quite inconsistent for tea provisions and on reception staff seemed reluctant to provide more which was a shame. Checkout was quick however if slightly abrupt. Overall this customer service could have been improved.
Summary
Spacious room with inconsistency in service and guest experience. Decor and atmosphere felt a bit tacky.
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