"Going that extra round when you don't think you can, makes all the difference in your life&quo...
"Going that extra round when you don't think you can, makes all the difference in your life" Rocky Balboa (Rocky IV)
Member since:07.07.2004
Reviews:69
Members who trust:66
** Background **
I recently went to Leeds for a weekend to visit some friends and wanted a hotel within walking distance of the city centre. On previous visits I had stayed further out and had a nightmare trying to get a taxi back to the hotel when I came out of the pub or club. From looking on the map I could see that Hotel Metropole is located near the train station and at the back of majestic nightclub. An ideal location as far as I was concerned. As the sole intention of my stay was to catch up with some friends and do some shopping I wasn’t too bothered about the facilities offered by the hotel but was interested in their car parking facilities. The website I booked the hotel through helpfully told me that the hotel has its own free car park. As I was intending driving to Leeds this was another great feature of the hotel.
** Booking **
I had left booking the hotel till the last minute and due
to the deal I got on the hotel through the website (hotels.com) I had to pay for the stay in advance. The total was about £70 for the night, which at the time of booking I thought was fairly reasonable for a 4* hotel, with a free car park, located in walking distance of the city centre.
** Facilities **
According to the site I booked the hotel through I could also expect the following facilities: Restaurant Bar Internet Access Breakfast (Not included in the cost of the room) Room Service Dry Cleaning As I was only staying for a single night and was intending to go out I did not intend to make use of any of these facilities. As it turned out the hotel bar was still open when I got back in so I did pop in there for a drink. The bar was really small and quite expensive, as you would expect in a hotel. The only other thing to mention was that there wasn’t a seating area in the bar so people were sitting around in (the very large) reception area and in one of the main conference rooms (where there was a bit of a disco or something going on).
** Look and Feel **
The whole hotel has a very old feel to it. It is a fairly old building and feels old when you are inside. The internal décor is very old and looks quite worn in places. As you can see from the list of facilities shown above, it does not have a lot of the facilities you get in a lot of other hotels of a similar rating. For example, there are no free leisure facilities (gym or swimming pool) available for guests, although I believe there are local facilities available at a suppliment.
** My Experience **
I arrived at the hotel at around 12:30 the day I was checking in. The official check in time was 14:00 so I was an hour and a half early. Having stayed in numerous hotels before I felt confident that the room would be ready earlier than the advertised check in time and I would be able to dump my bags and head off to do some shopping. When I got to the reception desk I was greeted promptly, but when I told the young lady I was there to check in I was told that check in was not until 14:00. I was a little surprised that she did not take my name to check if the room was ready or anything before dismissing me but assumed it must be hotel policy. I was slightly put out by the way I was dismissed. The young lady was rude and abrupt. Weighing up what I was going to do in the meantime I decided to park my car in the hotel car park and head off into the city for a while and return later to check in. When I inquired as to the location of the car park I was told (abruptly) that it was full. Accepting that they can’t guarantee a parking space for every guest I asked if the lady could recommend somewhere else nearby where I could park my car. The response was abrupt and uninformative. Annoyed at the service I had just received I left the hotel and went to find somewhere to leave my car. On my way out of the hotel I decided to check the hotel car park. I would estimate that there are around 20 spaces in the car park for a hotel that probably has several hundred rooms!
I found some on-road parking for my car and returned to the hotel at 14:00 to check in. The receptionist was still abrupt and rude but managed to check me in without further incident. When I got up to my room I found that, keeping in theme with the rest of the hotel, it was quite old looking and the furniture was worn in places. I also found that some areas of the room were not as clean as I would expect. The windowsills and skirting boards were covered in a layer of dust and dirt and the room generally had quite a dirty feel to it. Having said that, on first inspection the room was functional (everything worked) and acceptable.
When I got up in the morning and was picking the bedding up off the floor I noticed several stains on the bedding, which implied that it hadn’t been washed as often as it should. On finding these stains I felt quite ill at the thought of having slept in the bed and decided to complain on my way out. When I returned to reception to check out the same receptionist as the previous day greeted me and she was still rude and abrupt. Not wanting to cause I scene in reception I wrote a letter to the hotel management to inform them of my findings. I have had a letter in return saying that this was a one off occurrence and they are working to fix the points I raised.
** Conclusion **
In conclusion, it is safe to say that I will not be returning to this hotel nor will I be recommending it to anyone else. Further, having looked around I think that for the money there are better hotels available in the city centre.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
duly rerated. I hope you had a response back from the hotel management. Its unacceptable to be rude, especially at the reception where first impression is made!
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