This is a review of the good, the bad and the ugly. I have waited 3 weeks before doing this review as a card was left on our bed saying how much they valued feedback. I thus completed the email feedback request and waited for some kind of reply. Nothing. So now I am putting up this review. We paid a lot of money to stay in a suite at the Townhouse for a special occasion but were sorely disappointed.
First the good - all staff were friendly, the hotel was clean and when we asked for a taxi to get to our concert, they were very quick and efficient in getting one for us. The hotel is situated in a lovely little courtyard area, very quiet and picturesque.
Now the bad - check-in is unsatisfactory. You have to check in in the bar and there was only one person doing check-ins, and he was busy with someone else. So we had to stand around the bar like spare parts, getting in everyone's way until he was free. Could they not have a small corner somewhere specifically allocated to check-in and out? We were then taken to our suite and immediately could feel that it was cold. There were no heating controls at all in the (separate) lounge, just two huge vintage radiators that are clearly just for show because they remained stone cold and could not be turned on or off. We turned the heating control in the bedroom up to high and assumed the room would be warm by the time we returned from the concert we were attending. Wrong. Unfortunately the heated towel rail in the bathroom only comes on when your key fob is inserted into the slot, ie when you are in the room, so this room, too, remained very very cold as there is no other heating here either. When we returned from our concert, the suite was extremely cold. We phoned reception who said that they would turn our heating up centrally but it did not get any warmer all night. In the end we got into bed to keep warm. The next morning it was still very cold, stupidly cold in fact, miserable getting out of the bath and getting dressed under your robe type of cold. On check-out I did mention that and they did take our breakfast off the bill, to be fair. But I would much prefer them to have fixed the heating!
There did not seem to be any wifi in the room. When I consulted the room directory, it said that we should have been given a ticket on check-on with a password etc on it. By this time I was losing the will to live and could not be bothered to contact reception again so we lived without wifi during our stay. But at well over £400 for one night, little things like that should be done. I would have to also say that the rooms are very dark, I'm sure they mean this to be atmospheric but it is a bit too dark for reading or doing make-up.
We had cocktails in the bar, which were good, but they only have a list of house cocktails. There is a price for non-house cocktails but when we asked for a list, I was told that they do not have a list, you have to ask for what you want. But for me, half the pleasure of cocktails is reading a list and trying new ones.
BUT............. now the ugly. We went over to the restaurant at the hotel part for breakfast, which was not included in our room price. As soon as we entered, we were not greeted with a 'Good morning' but 'Have you got a reservation?' Having never had to reserve a table for breakfast at a hotel where I am staying, I found this rather offputting and unwelcoming. But the worst was yet to come. Our table was facing the counter behind which staff were making coffee. And all the waiting staff do is pile up all the dirty breakfast crockery, glasses, carafes etc on this counter. There is so much that they continually have to move it around to make room for more dirty stuff. Nobody seems capable of taking it to be washed up in the kitchen. And then I saw one of the staff take a dirty plate from the top of one of the piles, give it a quick wipe with a white cloth and send something out on it!!! Disgusting. I had to send back my tea cup as it was dirty and again, the staff member just wiped it with this white cloth and sent it back to me. I was absolutely disgusted at this, surely it is breaching hygiene regulations?
At over £400 for one night, I have had better stays at Premier Inns. I would definitely not return here and would tell anyone eating at the restaurant to be very wary of their hygiene standards.