Novotel York, York

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	practically perfect in almost every way
Disadvantages:	room not quite as depicted on the website

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I returned from a short weekend break with my mum and little brother on Sunday, after spending a couple of nights in Novotel York Centre. I was very very impressed and want to share my experiences with you.

FINDING IT
The hotel is quite difficult to find and not very well sign posted, however is just off of Fewster way in the centre of York. It is just on the edge of the canal and also very close to the river. As said, it was not easy to find however was in a good central location, I'd just recommend getting a map before going to help you out.
Going by trains probably would make it easier to find however would add a considerably long walk to your journey. There is however a park and ride near with a bus that passes the hotel on the way in, so that would probably be worth considering. The only problem is I am unsure of the location of the park and ride. The hotel is on the number 4 and practically on the number 7 bus routes if that helps though.

LOCATION
The Location was perfect. It is located an easy 10 minute walk from the main part of the city centre and only around 5 minutes walk from the York Castle Museum and even better still, at least for me, only a 10 second (well, virtually) walk from the York wall, which is great for a bit of exercise walking and good for seeing various parts of the city. It is located only a few steps from a bus stop that is on a major York City Sight Seeing route as well as a standard public transport route with buses around every 20 minutes. All in all, the location couldn't have been better.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Upon entering the reception we were wowed by everything the hotel clearly had to offer. In front of us there was a very nice bar, much comfortable seating, a Nintendo Wii, free for the guests to play on-you just had to sign for the Wiimotes in case you damaged them. There was a window which looked from the bar over to the pool. The entrance to the restaurant was in the far left corner and the check in and reception desk were on the right. Check in didn't start until two and we arrived early, however the staff were happy to allow us to have a quick look at the facilities and leave our car parked in the car park whilst we wandered into the City Centre for a couple of hours. When we returned check-in was fast and efficient and all went well.

THE ROOM
We went to our room straight after checking in and admittedly the room was a little disappointing. It was very clean and very comfortable however the walls could have done with a little uplifting and there was an unnecessary extra corridor between the main door and bedroom which had a door to a separate toilet in it. This little room was a little dull and dingy and merging this with the main bedroom may have made the whole room much nicer. The separate corridor did come in useful though as my little brother can't tolerate mine and my mum's snoring and he took refuge in the corridor. In the room was a flat screen TV with a great entertainment system, for £9.99 for 24 hours allowing internet access, viewing of films and various other little treats. We didn't use this but did use the normal TV channels which were free. There was a large king size bed and a sofa bed which folded down into two separate and very comfortable single beds. Now, just a warning, if you visit the Novotel website you will see two different room pictures, one with blue cushions, one with orange cushions. The ones with the blue cushions are the standard rooms and the ones with orange are presumably premier rooms. Do not expect the standards of the orange rooms in your room if you have booked standard-that is the mistake we made. Still, the room was comfortable and reasonable and did what it had to do. We also had a river view room which was very nice indeed. If it was not for the room, I would have been giving the hotel a 5* rating.

POOL
The pool was something we used every day and a major reason we booked the hotel, as we were considering the Travelodge only two minutes away, however the pool, in case of bad weather and the free parking tempted us to spend the little bit extra, and it was well worth it. The pool was very small and you had to sign a sheet agreeing to certain criteria before being allowed to use it. Although small, the pool area and pool itself was generally clean and well maintained and a pleasure to use. Only one complaint-no toilets in the pool area, only two small changing cubicles. Also, towels were complimentary in the pool area, so no need to take your own. Just use one of the many on the rack and throw it in a basket for washing after use-great. The depth of the pool varied from 1.1m to 1.8m so was ok for swimming in but unsuitable for diving. The shallow end would also have been fine for most non-competent swimmers. Generally the pool was very good.

THE BAR
The bar area was very nice, however prices were high, but then I geuss in honesty you would expect that in a place like Novotel. Seats were comfortable and there were plenty of them, and the atmosphere was very welcoming and relaxed.

THE RESTAURANT
We had breakfast included in our room price however this is normally £12.50 per person. The breakfasts were just the jewel in the crown. There was such a wonderful selection of traditional fry up items, Belgian waffles, fruit, juices, yoghurts, cereals, pastries. There was so much to chose from it was unreal. The only one thing I will say is, whatever you do, if you're on a diet stay well clear of the breakfast table, you will have all the fat and calories for the day before you've begun, now, I'm pretty health conscious, and try not to eat too much but I definitely went OTT on the breakfasts in the hotel and ate much more than I normally would, but then, why do I care, I was on a short holiday!!! Not only that but walking around York and on the York wall soon fixed all the extra calories. Seriously though, they were amazing and would be well worth paying the money for. Not only that but breakfast wasn't served for a few hours like most places. It was served from 6am until 12 noon. I would say to get there before 10.30 though as after 11 they start plating up and the buffet is cleared, so you have more of a menu that a buffet.

STAFF
The staff were amazing and seriously could not do enough to help you. They were always smiling and happy and very very helpful. They were friendly and made you feel very welcome. All in all, the staff were second to none.

CHECKING OUT
On Sunday there is a late checkout of 5pm for families, unknown to us however, this was only on request so we had to check out at 12 as we hadn't requested this. Just make sure you request this if you need it. The staff were keen to check that you had enjoyed your stay when checking out and of course, we had so that was fine. As when we arrived the staff were more than happy to allow us to leave our car parked a few hours after we checked out while we ventured into York for the final time for a nice meal before heading off back home.

PRICE
We managed to get our room for only £81 per night by booking in advance, and that included breakfast for the three of us. A very reasonable price for what was included and the standard of the hotel. The bad part is if we had have turned up on the day we would have been charged £169 per night without breakfast. Whatever you do, book in advance to make sure you get the best deal and you will not be disappointed.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion the hotel was practically perfect, only the room was a let down. If it hadn't been for the room I would be rating the hotel as 5*, however the room means it will be 4* according to my rating. For those of you reading this though, I would like to say, it is more like a 4*+, so that's good. I could easily and happily recommend the hotel as I am sure you would enjoy staying there as much as we did. A very fine hotel indeed.

Thanks for reading, I hope you have found this review helpful, and if you have any questions please leave me a comment.