"⭐☆☆☆☆ 1/5
This stay cost over £1,000 at what is marketed as a 5-star hotel, yet the experience fell well below the standard that should reasonably be expected at this price point.
I booked two rooms for my family, including four children aged 13, 10, 7 and 2. At the time of booking, I specifically requested that the rooms be located close together due to travelling with young children. Upon arrival shortly before 1:00am, we were informed that the rooms had been allocated on separate floors. Reception initially insisted that no such request had been made, only to change their position after I produced my Booking.com confirmation clearly showing the request.
Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of a series of issues throughout the stay.
My wife and our two youngest children were allocated a room where the air conditioning was not functioning properly. Rather than cooling the room, it was effectively circulating warm air. Staff attended, acknowledged there appeared to be a fault, and confirmed there was little they could do overnight. As a result, my wife and children endured an extremely uncomfortable and largely sleepless night during very hot weather.
For a hotel charging premium rates and advertising itself as a 5-star property, this is simply unacceptable.
The following morning, we were promised a room move to an adjoining room next to mine. Acting in good faith, we packed all of our belongings and spent most of the day waiting. Throughout the day we were repeatedly told the room was being prepared, yet no move materialised until late in the evening after multiple follow-ups.
When we finally gained access to the replacement room, the air conditioning worked perfectly. This strongly suggests the issue was specific to the original room rather than any general limitation affecting the building.
What made this even more frustrating was that I personally witnessed several other guests raising similar complaints regarding ineffective air conditioning. Staff explained that some rooms are affected by the age of the building and the challenges of integrating modern systems. While I appreciate the difficulties associated with maintaining older properties, this does not justify charging 5-star prices for rooms that fail to meet basic comfort standards.
The maintenance issues did not end there.
One room had a toilet cistern that ran continuously throughout the night, creating constant noise. The lift serving the pool area also malfunctioned after we were instructed to return to our room to collect towels. The lift doors failed to open, and when the issue was reported, the staff member appeared unsurprised and advised that maintenance would need to attend.
Most concerningly, I later discovered a significant puddle of water around the toilet area in the bathroom, creating an obvious slip hazard, particularly with children present. After contacting guest services, I was informed that maintenance would not be available until 8:00am.
The leisure facilities were also disappointing. While the swimming pool itself was a good size, it appeared dated and in need of investment. More concerning was the standard of cleanliness in the surrounding areas. The poolside environment was well below what I would expect from a hotel of this rating, and the changing rooms were particularly unpleasant, appearing neglected and lacking basic cleanliness standards. For a property marketed as a 5-star hotel, the condition of these facilities was extremely disappointing and did not reflect the premium rates being charged.
In the interests of fairness, there were some positive aspects to the stay. The rooms themselves were spacious and comfortably accommodated our family, which was appreciated given we were travelling with four children. The housekeeping standard within the rooms was also good, and the rooms were generally clean and well-presented. Unfortunately, these positives were ultimately outweighed by the numerous maintenance issues, operational shortcomings, and delays in resolving problems that significantly impacted the overall experience.
To be fair, most members of staff were polite, professional and apologetic throughout. The issue was not the attitude of individual employees but the apparent inability of the hotel to resolve or adequately mitigate recurring maintenance and operational problems.
At one stage I was advised that the hotel does not offer refunds and that I was welcome to leave a review if dissatisfied. Therefore, I am doing exactly that.
For a stay costing in excess of £1,000, this represented extremely poor value for money. Between the faulty air conditioning, room allocation issues, plumbing problems, lift malfunction, poor leisure facilities, and repeated delays in resolving basic concerns, a significant portion of the stay was spent dealing with avoidable problems rather than enjoying the facilities.
This hotel may present itself as luxury accommodation, but based on my experience it failed to deliver the comfort, reliability and standard of maintenance that guests should expect from a genuine 5-star property.
I would not return, and I would not recommend it to anyone expecting a true luxury hotel experience."
