...
But that tells you nothing about this Best Western hotel.
Located on the outskirts of Kendal, around 9 miles from junction 36 of the M6, the hotel is set in large grounds with a mixture of traditional and modern looking buildings. The reception area is, peculiarly, set to the rear ... Read review
40 feet up a vertical tower and no bath afterwards
A review by daveops on Best Western Hotels April 3rd, 2003
Author's product rating:
Value for Money
Quality of Rooms
Standard of Service
Family Friendly
Advantages:
Food
Disadvantages:
Lack of apparent service
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
Castle Green Hotel Kendal
Well more teambuilding going on at work. This time they carted us off to Cumbria to see how far we could push back those personal mental barriers while at the same time relying on the support of our colleagues in achieving our personal goals.
Quite how climbing 40 feet up a vertical wooden wall achieves this, I am yet to work out. That said, I did climb it and then had the fun of abseiling down it too. As possibly the least fit member of the team I feel quite chuffed.
But that tells you nothing about this Best Western hotel.
Located on the outskirts of Kendal, around 9 miles from junction 36 of the M6, the hotel is set in large grounds with a mixture of traditional and modern looking buildings. The reception area is, peculiarly, set to the rear of the building but is large and welcoming with lounge, bar and restaurant openly attached.
Checking in proved simple, even though I was not offered the obligatory wake up call or newspaper. Still, I was unlikely to have time to read the paper and the telly in the room was capable of being programmed to wake me up.
Now, as my company has a Scot in charge, I found myself sharing a room with a male colleague. Not usually a problem. Until we found a 4ft double bed as the only sleeping facility in the room. Now, I am a big chap. My wife would not wish to share a double bed of this size with me. I certainly would not wish it on another bloke. And that is before all the macho stuff crosses the mind! While I am irritated at my company for not ensuring twin rooms, I am LIVID at the hotel for accepting the booking without pointing out that twin rooms were not available.
I was even more livid when the receptionist told me that the inn was full and they had no stable or manger available for overflow. Fortunately, my room mate has obviously got a more assertive style. He managed to find another double room where a few minutes earlier there was none. Problem solved. But not by the hotel!
The room itself had a temperature controlled shower that actually controlled the heat and power of the water! This I congratulate these people on. I have stayed in many hotels over the years and few seem able to provide shower facilities that do any more than freeze your gonads off or give you third degree burns. One criticism of the mat is that it covered the plughole so the water overflowed until I made an adjustment.
Regretably, there was no bath. After a day that identified muscles I did not know still existed, a bath would have been wonderful. Nonetheless, a shower sufficed.
Hotels in the UK nearly always offer tea and coffee making facilities in the room. Typically, most provide 2 cups, 12 tea bags, 12 coffees, sugar and sweetner. Oh, and 4 long life milks that on their own are not enough for a single cup. In other words, unless you want to hassle reception, you can only make 2 brews in your room! Congratulations Castle Green. You provided 8 milky things. This is a major achievement and I thank you for it. Ironically, the purpose of my visit did not give me enough time to enjoy this facility. But retain it!
I mentioned the telly. Well, time did not allow me an in depth look. While I did find the telly controls a little cumbersome, I had access to all the channels I needed and set the alarm too.
Right. What about the food? Well, the evening meal was excellent. Pork, roasties and veg followed by some sort of fruity dessert. Oh, and an excellent if expensive choice of wines too. Brekkie was full English and while I prefer my bacon a little better done than this, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had to do without toast as none of the restaurant staff offered it and we were also pushed for time.
Any other things leap to mind? Well, there is a leisure club which guests can use free of charge. I failed to find it due to time pressures but I am assured it is excellent.
The hotel provides excellent conference facilities and also works with other local organisations in providing services for the corporate market. A company called Vertical Air provided our outdoor work. Set in woodland yards from the hotel you feel as if you are in the most remote corner of Britain. A range of challenges are put in front of you and you can amaze yourself with what you can achieve! Our group renamed the climbing tower as THE WALL OF DEATH. It certainly felt like that when I got stuck halfway up! A dramatic recovery saw me reach the top! Quite how I will now make better management decisions remains to be seen. It was tiring. It was fun.
In Summary, Castle Green Hotel was adequate. The location is fabulous. The food was pretty good. The service was adequate. While typical room rates are £99 for 2 including brekkie, a range of offers are available that can half this. Oh, and I did not mention the pub in the grounds! Very handy! www.castlegreen.co.uk 01539 734000 reception@castlegreen.co.uk www.verticalair.co.uk
Advantages: Airconditioned hotel with all the comforts of home. Balcony overlooking a wonderful marina. All facilities within easy reach. Disadvantages: I found no disadvantages in our stay.
...hotel. We chose the Best Western Hotel of Les Lapins.
SAGA gave a very full description of this hotel and we decided to try it. Les LAPINS (at Ta'XbieX ((Say, tashbeesh)), as you will know, if you understand French, means "The Rabbits", which are very prolific and popular on the Maltese Islands and form a great part of the local culinary delights. We opted for a balcony (slight supplement) overlooking the Marina which is situated just behind Valetta ... ...Best tip - take a case full of ironing on holiday!! The rooms all had television but, don't get exited, most of the stations were in European languages other than English, except BBC World News 24/7. Chance to brush up on a foreign language. The Marina was across a quiet road with a bus stop right outside the Hotel and the quaint or antiquated buses were along every 10 minutes or so. Very cheap and interesting way to travel, together with the local ...
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Advantages: Independently Owned & operated Good Quality Disadvantages: Very Few
Best Western Hotels are among the world’s largest hotel brands but is actually somewhat unusual. This international hotel chain is made-up of individually owned and operated hotels and inns around the globe. However, reputedly it is not easy to qualify for membership of Best Western – prospective members must meet some very exacting standards and each hotel in UK is independently inspected on an annual basis by the AA.
Globally there ... ...country manor houses.
Among Best Western hotels in London are the Delmere Hotel, Hyde Park, the John Howard Hotel, Kensington, the Mornington Hotel, Lancester Gate, Raglan Hall, Highgate and Bryanston Court, Marble Arch.
There are a number of hotels in Scotland in locations such as Dumfries, Edinburgh, Fort William, Glasgow, Kinross, Pilochry and the hallowed home of golf at St. Andrews.
Best Western hotels in Wales are to be found at places such ...
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Advantages: good location with ample free parking Disadvantages: a bit spartan and threadbare
...quick-fix urban monstrosity.
The Best Western Hotel in Kiel rose up out of an existing office block and despite some attempts to disguise the fact, it shows. In terms of four star status it doesn't deserve it if you compare what you get in most four star hotels in the rest of Europe.
I stayed there for four days in the middle of January 2009. It was comfortable. No frills, no pretty soaps or shampoos - no "night-night chocolates" - Plain but functional. ... ...across the road from the Best Western there was a Kurdish cafe selling half a roast chicken with salad and yoghurt for 3.40€ - what else can I say!!
The Best Western isn't cheap but it is convenient - the Main Railway Station and the city centre that surrounds it, is a 10 minute walk down from the hotel. All car parking for clients is free, which is not the case in many of the other hotels in Kiel that I had checked out on the internet.
So all ...
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Advantages: 3* Hotel in a 5* location Disadvantages: Noisy rooms.
...This BestWesternhotel is one of about six BestWesternHotels all in this old part of Istanbul known as Sultanahmet.
It really is in a very convenient location and the LOCATION is its greatest asset. It is a three star hotel in an area containing five star holiday attractions.
The hotel advertises its roof terrace as the sort of restaurant under the stars of everyone's dreams. I thought it was jaded and thus overrated with a distant view of the sea which was hardly on the waterfront.
The rooms are OK. I had a de-luxe room which had been reduced on-line from an advertised price of Euros 134 to Euros 75.The TV had CNN and BBC World and the bed was very comfortable. I found the decor a bit drab. A buffet breakfast on the roof was fine but the service was non-existent. Didn't really matter though - the stuff was all there, I...
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Advantages: Very comfortable beds Disadvantages: Location, Poor room service
...etc. I wished I had booked the Una Palace in Via Etnea, which looked brilliant. It is in the main shopping street with loads of cafes, bars, shops etc. and has a roof terrace which would give brilliant views of the volcano. I thought about moving hotels, but couldn't afford to pay again.
My hotel room was very comfortable and clean with a modern bathroom with the usual toiletries. A reasonable buffet breakfast is included in the price. Room service seemed very restricted ? although the bar did toasted sandwiches.
If you are on a tight budget, advance internet booking on BestWestern's website gives good value for money for the Hotel Mediterraneo. However, I don?t think this hotel would suit everyone. It certainly wouldn't impress the girlfriend and I wouldn?t want my mother walking round there on her own at night. The streets were...
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Advantages: Easy access to all major routes in and out of London Disadvantages: Directly under Heathrow Airport flight path
...I recently had to travel to London for a training course and chose to drive up from Christchurch to the outskirts of London from where I could catch the tube in to my training centre each day.
I had previously stayed in BestWesternhotels at various locations in Europe so I felt confident in choosing this hotel to stay in.
I also ascertained that the nearest tube station (Osterley, Picadilly line) was only a short 10-15 minute walk away and the journey time into Holborn (the station nearest to my training centre) was only 50 minutes and cost £6 for a day return.
I found the hotel very easily, having travelled up the M3 and then onto the M25 I took the exit for the M4 towards London leaving the M4 at junction 3 from where it was only 10 minutes along the A312/A4 to the hotel.
The hotel itself was pleasantly presented...
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09.07.2007
