"My wife and I booked a overnight stay at a budget price having chosen to stay because of the location. This is great, only a few minutes walk from the Albert Dock and Pier Head attractions, and literally round the corner from the Liverpool One shopping area. Duke street itself a pretty trendy area with bars, food hall, restaurants, designer shops, all housed in converted industrial buildings, so well worth exploring.
The hotel itself is housed in a converted Victorian building and has a quite small street frontage with four our five steep steps and a wrought iron gateway. We were welcomed by Luke the receptionist who was very pleasant and professional, explained that breakfast was not available at the hotel but the best nearby options, and showed us to our room 104 on the ground floor.
At first glance the room seemed fine, a little dated in decor the ceiling light fitting was not fitted correctly and had just a bulb with no shade. Kingsize bed close to the window with bedside cabinet on one side and a TV fitted on the facing wall. The shower room was bright and fitted with a small hand basin. A good selection of towels. Initially we were satisfied with the room and went out to eat at the Food Market just up the road which was very good.
It was when we can back that the problems started to gather. My wife had thought the room was quite cold before the meal and had tried to turn up the heating, however the room was colder when we got back. As it cooled down in the evening the drafts through the window frames became far more noticeable, and they just flowed past the blinds even though I tried to block them with our coats. It was also not possible to fill the kettle directly from the tap as the hand basin was too small, so it was a matter of filling and refilling the water glass to prime the kettle. It was obvious the room was not suitable so I requested a change of rooms.
Luke had finished his shift and the young lady on reception was very apologetic and again helpful. Unfortunately the only other room available was on the 4th floor attic level, but we accepted it. This room was larger, but poorly designed. The bed was sited against a wall so could only be accessed from one side. There was a small roof window and only one small lamp in the corner of the room beside the main lighting so it was difficult to read. The shower room was large but cold, as was the whole room, and the heating was not efficient but very slowly did eventually raise the temperature. Also one of the chairs had a broken leg which would have been an issue if we had sat in it!
Overall not a good experience, and having reported our issues I would hope that the owners will carry out the remedial work to improve what could be and excellent guest house, and to finish on a positive not, again the reception staff were excellent and very helpful."
