Swallow Bower Hotel, Oldham, England

...satisfactory experience at the Preston Swallow hotel, the Bower is also owned by the Swallow group.

When doing business in the Manchester area we usually stay at the Innkeepers Lodge in Stockport, which we rate highly. The Bower however, as a "proper" hotel, offers a rather broader range of facilities and also turned out to be, on this occasion - in late November - a cheaper option too.

TWO YEARS LATER....
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.../> I think that the Swallow group would forgive me for saying that their website makes the 90 room Bower appear unashamedly old fashioned, with references to being built in the Victorian era by one of the areas foremost families, it actually started its life as a manor house. Apparently 28 of the rooms available - at a higher rate - are classified as "Club" or Executive rooms, depending on which site you read and book them on. The pictures ... more

(Two years later and......)......IT'S NOT ONLY THE VIEW THAT WE ARE NOT LIKING!

Sometimes one feels that returning to favoured places, hotels in this case, may prove to be a mistake - but if, in having published a glowing review, I am urging you to stay there, then the very least I can do is to follow my own advice and use it......

......use it at least until I can no longer recommend it and no longer choose to use it myself, as, sadly, has become the case here.

2009 has been a year of some considerable hardship to the majority of us, both in business, and as a result, personally too more often than not. Many industries are having a very tough time of it and in the very specific case of the formerly more than acceptable Bower Hotel, it appears that every cost has been cut in order to survive; the trouble is that you can cut costs to the point where your business will fail anyway, in the case of a hotel, customers will simply stop coming.

WHY DID WE BOOK THE BOWER HOTEL - CHADDERTON?

As is usually the case, there were a combination of reasons for this, ranging from price - an internet bargain, through a very convenient location, to our recent entirely satisfactory experience at the Preston Swallow hotel, the Bower is also owned by the Swallow group.

When doing business in the Manchester area we usually stay at the Innkeepers Lodge in Stockport, which we rate highly. The Bower however, as a "proper" hotel, offers a rather broader range of facilities and also turned out to be, on this occasion - in late November - a cheaper option too.

TWO YEARS LATER....

In 2009 all those reasons remained entirely valid, especially the price - which for the Sunday of our three night stay had been slashed to £19.00.

Now I am not usually one to look a gift-horse in the mouth, but on the other hand, one does expect certain standards of a three star hotel.

HOTEL DESCRIPTION / OUR PERCEPTION FROM HOTEL PUBLICITY

Whatever the publicity material may tell you, knowing the area as well as I do, it would have been surprising to find anything other than a "business" hotel in this location.

I think that the Swallow group would forgive me for saying that their website makes the 90 room Bower appear unashamedly old fashioned, with references to being built in the Victorian era by one of the areas foremost families, it actually started its life as a manor house. Apparently 28 of the rooms available - at a higher rate - are classified as "Club" or Executive rooms, depending on which site you read and book them on. The pictures shown actually rather more put me in mind of the 1970's and 80's, the décor looking rather familiar from some of the old hotels in Lytham or Blackpool.

My pre-conceived perceptions of this being a business hotel are reinforced by the advertised conference facilities, up to 200 delegates can be catered for. Apparently this is also a popular local venue for wedding receptions; a professional event organiser is on hand to assist in the organisation of either business or leisure functions at the Bower.

HAVE WE STAYED THERE PREVIOUSLY?

At the time of originally writing this, no, this review was published following our first experience of the Bower Hotel in Chadderton.

My update here is now in the light of two subsequent stays - in all covering a three year period, during which not a penny appears to have been invested in this once quite grand hotel.

BOOKING PROCESS 8 / 10

We booked through Swallow's own website, their special offers actually beating those offered through the usual hotel booking agents.

Whilst this is a fast loading and easy enough site to use, you have to keep your wits about you when booking as the array of offers can be a little bewildering and it would be possible to pay more than you actually need to.

The best offers of all at Swallow - from experience now with two of their hotels - are on the Dinner, Bed and Breakfast rates, which save you handsomely on dining in the evening. Due to our busy schedule (even in the evening when on business) we are unable to book dinner on three nights, so for our booking it was a straight £52.00 a night, per room for three nights, including breakfast.

THREE YEARS LATER.....

.....and with that £19.00 Sunday night offer, the average nightly rate on our bill was £31, plus the non-returnable £4 booking fee and £2.50 credit card transaction fee, that is 50p less than £100 for three nights' hotel accommodation, the price has fallen substantially, but then the standards have fallen even further.

LOCATION 9 / 10

Obviously the rating here is for the location in relation to our booking i.e. as a business base in the east Manchester / Oldham area. From this point of view, the Bower at Chadderton is actually superbly located, only a minute from either junction 21 or 22 on the M60 to the north east of Manchester. The centre of Oldham is around seven minutes away by car; the Pennine towns of Blackburn and Accrington are little more than thirty minutes away.

You may well not think of this as a holiday, or short break destination. There is a lot in this area to see, whatever your interests and staying at the Bower, especially if you are travelling by car, is going to be a lot more convenient, and a good deal less expensive, than at a hotel in Manchester city centre.

Impressively, whilst located right at the heart of the main road and motorway network locally, the Bower is set mostly below road level; traffic noise and congestion have very little impact upon it.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS 6 / 10

A wet, dark, early December evening is not going to enhance any first impressions as you arrive at an unknown hotel. However the Bower has a large, well lit car park, which, comfortingly, is surveyed by CCTV. The site itself is not all that impressive, with a Morrisons supermarket right next door, a busy dual carriageway to the font and a middle class residential area to the right of and behind it.

The front reception area of the Bower Hotel is indeed of Victorian origin, with later additions, although the majority of the rooms are contained in much more modern blocks, probably dating from the 1960's and 70's which have been built on to the original structure.

The general appearance outside of the hotel by day or night is not really very impressive, even by three star standards, but this is a down to earth, honest, industrial part of the country.

In December 2009 fallen leaves, obviously left on the ground for some weeks, had turned unto a very slippery slimy film on the car park, making the un-loading of luggage particularly hazardous - and that was right outside the front door.

CHECKING IN 7 / 10

You enter the building through a wonderful old (and in 2009 rather shabby) revolving door, so much more ecologically friendly than the electric glass opening doors so much more common nowadays. The reception area is not the most attractive area of this hotel, being business like rather than plush.

Not really wishing to criticise the heavily pregnant, lone, receptionist, check in was carried out swiftly and efficiently, but was totally devoid of any feeling of welcome or a smile.

ON THE WAY TO THE ROOM i.e. how easy is it to find your way around? How accessible is if for less able persons? What condition are the public rooms and passageways in? 4 / 10 (previously 8 / 10)

The general impression gained during our walk from the reception to our first floor room was of a cosy and well kept hotel, housekeeping staff appear to take a genuine pride in the overall appearance of the Bower. We had no difficulty in locating our room.

Whilst the hotel does not specifically advertise rooms for disabled occupants, there are many ground floor rooms available and the ground floor is entirely level, from the lounge bar to the left of reception, through past the impressive dining room out to the room blocks beyond.

A special mention should be made here of the beautiful plasterwork ceiling frieze along the corridor from the reception area past the restaurant to the bottom of the stairwell. Obviously part of the original manor house here - the restaurant as it is now - must have formed a large and impressive grand hall.

The general impression is one of informality, warmth and comfort which sets the tone of the downstairs public areas. This made the Bower a relaxing place to be after either a hard day on the road (as in our case), or indeed as a residential conference delegate.

In 2009 those impressions have changed somewhat due to the extremely tired decor and almost threadbare and dirty carpets in places.

A proliferation of stern warning notices to guests stuck to the walls of the commonways does absolutely nothing to improve your sense of welcome here - indeed I personally felt insulted by the one adjacent to the front door about having any alcohol that I may attempt to "smuggle" into the hotel "conviscated".....

......mind you when you discover the bar prices you may well be sorely tempted to try it!

THE ROOM 3 / 10 (Formerly 8 / 10)

In 2007, this was, by three star hotel standards, a very acceptable room. Obviously not newly decorated, but clean, very well maintained and spacious enough, it immediately made us warm more to the Bower than first impressions had lead us to expect to.

The décor was light - white walls and ceiling with beige carpet and pale wood furniture, this was made much more homely by the red and gold bead-spread and curtains. The white bed linen was immaculately laundered, it genuinely felt as though you were the first person to step foot in the bed. Oddly two non-matching wardrobes had been placed in the room, one obviously newer than the other.

The facilities in the room were actually extensive. The left hand side wardrobe contained not only the usual tea and coffee making facilities, but also an iron and ironing board - items that usually you would have to ring down to reception for. Just in case you should wish to use it - I never have - a Corby Trouser Press was also provided. Another nice touch was that a box of tissues was provided in the room as well as the en-suite - a little thing, but thoughtful nonetheless.

A double bed with bedside tables either side, both wall lights and a bedside lamp were provided. A telephone was located on one of the bedside tables. Opposite the end of the bed was a desk doubling as a dressing table, unfortunately the usefulness of this was seriously compromised by the positioning of a full size CRT television which took up more than half of the surface space. Incidentally the TV had to be un-plugged in order to boil the kettle, which had to be done on the floor as there was nowhere to stand it on the surface top.

On entering the room, my wife went straight to the window exclaiming that "oh dear, you're not going to like the view!" The "view", if it could be so called, was of a scruffy corner of the garden, which had been used for piling up torn and stained old mattresses - at least the one on our bed was new! Beyond the garden were the residential back streets of Chadderton, lined with red brick semi-detached houses.

Incidentally in view of my recent criticisms of over heated and under-ventilated hotel bedrooms, I am pleased to say that the large radiator under the window here was easily controllable. The large double-glazed window, having used the key to open the safety locks, swung open from the bottom. This was one hotel bedroom that you could have as warm or as cool as you wanted it to be, top marks for that!

In 2009 almost everything had changed - the only thing for the good being that the matresses had been removed, improving the view!

Our room was old, extremely tired, housekeeping at the Bower is obviously doing the best they can with what is a thoroughly worn out hotel. The beds, new three years ago, are now lumpy, the side tables and dressing table extremely stained, and with the digital switchover on 2nd December the very old TV became incapable of picking up any ITV stations.

Upon arrival the room was over-heated to an unbearable degree, even with the single glazed (in this room at least) window propped open all night and the radiator turned off since our 5.00pm arrival, the room remained far too hot to sleep comfortably in, although thanks to the toilet, that became of secondary importance.

THE EN-SUITE 1 / 10 (Formerly 9 / 10!)

Oh dear oh dear........

I can imagine many turning their noses up at the idea of a carpeted hotel en-suite bathroom floor! It was indeed the first time that we have come across such a thing during our travels. Strangely, putting any hygiene considerations aside, I found this a curiously luxurious touch, it made the bathroom feel much warmer in character and was much quieter than hotel bathrooms are apt to be too.

Whilst the décor in the bathroom was undeniably old fashioned with coffee coloured tiles on the walls and very 1970's acoustic ceiling tiles, the functionality was extremely good. A large well lit mirror over the basin was ideal for shaving or make-up, a shaver point was conveniently positioned here too. The bath was a full size one with an efficient shower unit over it.

On the wall opposite the bath was a heated towel rail. A good range of soft white towels were provided, with spares in one of the wardrobes should the need occur.

Above all, including the carpet, the en-suite was spotlessly clean.

Well I guess the carpet had gone! The, barely functional, en-suite was to its credit acceptably clean, but that may have been down to the fact that there was little you could or wanted to do in it!

We lay awake virtually all night long, hysterically thinking of appropriate words to sum-up this particular en-suite. Knackered, clapped-out, shot, worn out, broken, disfunctional........and many more that I do not care, for decency's sake, to repeat here.

The toilet required a new diaphragm valve fitted - a component worth surely no more than a £1, without which it dripped water from the cistern into the pan all night long, that is not what kept us awake though, it was the loud hissing as the toilet constantly re-filled......all night long.

Yes I did complain, insisting on a different room unless it was fixed, someone visited the room on Monday and merely reduced the incoming pressure - leaving the water running down the pan 24 / 7. By Wednesday morning when we checked out the hiss was back with a vengeance.

A feeble shower that was either red hot or freezing cold, a horribly noisy extractor fan and a soap dispenser that dribbled all over the floor added to the total decreptitude here.

DID WE GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP? 5 / 10 (Formerly 10 / 10)

Ultimately this is what a good hotel room is all about, business or leisure, after a long and tiring day you deserve - and are paying - for a good nights sleep. In room 378 at the Bower that is exactly what we got, three nights on the trot.

Usually in my experience there is something, or a range of things that will disturb my sleep when away from home. Here that simply was not the case. The bed was very comfortable, the room temperature just right, even the door to the corridor was out of sight of the bed head which eliminated the usual complaint of too much light entering the room from under, or around, the door.

Unusually this room was also free of any plumbing noises, thanks to wall to wall carpeting throughout you could not hear footsteps above or below either. I know several people who live in flats less well sound insulated than this hotel room.

Indeed, in this section, I would go so far to say that many far grander establishments could look at this modest three star hotel room and take note. Obviously we had no means of knowing if all of the rooms had been designed so thoughtfully or if we had just hit lucky with this one, it will be interesting to try a different room here in the near future in order to find out.

Room 372, just along the corridor, in 2009 could not, by any standards rate as good. Even after the toilet had been partially silenced this was still for reasons already listed not a place in which to get an acceptable night's sleep.

FACILITIES ON OFFER - No score here, different grades / prices of hotel understandably have different facilities.

In truth the facilities here were somewhat limited when compared to the Swallow at Preston. We however did not use those facilities so were not disappointed here in Chadderton by the lack of a swimming pool, gymnasium or any other form of leisure activities.

Good, basic hotel facilities, such as room service, were available and at a reasonable price.

BREAKFAST / OTHER MEALS, FOOD & DRINKS 5 / 10 (Formerly 8 / 10)

Rather than calling it a dining room, the Bower titles their large restaurant Sheridans and actively promote it to non-guests and locals. The ambiance is very good, large as it is. We were fortunate in visiting less than a month before Christmas and were surrounded by very tasteful and discreet Christmas decorations.

One wall of the restaurant is a series of picture windows overlooking the garden, in the summer French doors would be open out into the garden. The wall through which you enter from the reception corridor is unusual in that it contains glass cabinets in which the wine is stored, a novel and attractive feature which lets light through from the front windows. Sheridans is also air conditioned - the only part of the hotel that appeared to be so.

You would need to be a very picky eater indeed not to appreciate the food and service on offer here. We had breakfast each morning and on the middle night (Tuesday) of our stay enjoyed a three course dinner.

Breakfast consisted of a large continental buffet spread, plus a full English breakfast, if desired, ordered from the menu. The continental option included a good choice of fresh fruit and fruit juices and cocktails, as well as the obligatory cereals, yoghurts breads and even a small range of pastries. Our one and only criticism here was that the breads tasted somewhat synthetic and mass produced rather than freshly home baked.

The breakfast menu was probably the most extensive that I have seen in the North West, and any items that we chose from it were of the best quality, although we did not manage to get, in three days, anywhere near all the way through it!

Whatever your choice of main breakfast items from the kitchen, waiters serve tea or coffee along with white and brown toast to the table.

The dinner experience very much echoed that at breakfast. Good service, well prepared and cooked food from an extensive menu and surprisingly good value for money. Indeed the two of us had a very good three course dinner, with a glass of red wine and bottled water from the bar, I did not calculate the price sitting there and was surprised upon checking out that the dinner had only cost £41.90. Upon our inevitable return to the Bower I would be inclined to write a separate "Sheridans Restaurant review" which is why I am not going into great detail about the food here.

Incidentally, if you do not wish to dine in the formal restaurant, or you only feel the need for a light meal or snack, then food is served all day in the lounge bar, or indeed can be delivered to you by room service. A lounge bar menu can be found in the room.

Generally in hotels at this price level it is unusual to receive so much service - especially at breakfast. That the service was provided both professionally and with a smile was much appreciated.

On our second two visits we did not take dinner in the dining room. Last year we had no evening meal at the Bower, this time we had a bar meal there, the food was acceptable for the price we paid, the drinks bordered on the extortionate.

That is not, however, my reason for reducing what was a very good score. Breakfast revealed big money saving cuts, the formerly very attractive breakfast menu had gone to be replaced by a DIY toaster and the offer of the very simplest of cooked "English Breakfast". The all-pervading smell of burnt toast from early in the morning was a useful money-saving trick as it certainly put me off my appetite.

OVERALL VALUE FOR MONEY 5 / 10 (Formerly 10)

As I often discuss with my own customers, there is cheap and then there is value for money - not necessarily mutually exclusive, but rarely are they actually the same thing. The Bower Hotel in 2009, compared to 2007, is the most outstanding example of this that I have ever seen. Three years on our bill, for the same period of accommodation was about 30% less. Our satisfaction rating here had fallen so much more than that, to the extent that personally I would not stay there again - nor would I expect you, the reader, to.

Our three night stay, for the two of us, without the evening dinner, came to £156.00.

A larger Club room will cost approximately £20 more per night. Ignoring the view from room 378, I can hardly see any justification for that extra expense, considering that our standard room was of such a high quality anyway.

That this comfortable, and in some respects charming, three star hotel could actually offer better value for money accommodation than our usual Innkeeper's Lodge in this area was a real surprise.

All in all, for our purposes the Bower proved ideal - we paid for nothing more than we actually used in the way of facilities. Obviously should you be looking for a hotel with on-site leisure facilities you would look elsewhere, paying more, anyway.

HOW LIKELY AM I / ARE WE, TO USE THIS HOTEL AGAIN?

"I am absolutely sure that we will use the Swallow Bower Hotel again. It offers all of what I personally regard as essential ingredients in a hotel - at a bargain price.

In a sense I suppose it could be said that the Bower is "my kind of place". Unprepossessing on the outside, but within offering a genuinely honest, warm and comfortable welcome, we felt completely at ease there.

On this occasion, thanks to the fact that this was a business trip, it was my company credit card that settled the bill. Were we to spend our "own" time (and therefore money!) in the Manchester area, and there is plenty that we would like to see and do there, we would look no further than to the Bower Hotel for accommodation. That, in itself, I think, is recommendation enough."

That said I back in 2007. Well, two visits later and as you will by now have gathered, what was a thoroughly decent hotel at the time has degenerated to such an extent that I could not possibly recommend it now.

Not so far mentioned is the incredibly wasteful approach of the whole place, thoroughly over-heated and not an energy saving bulb in site either. Add to that the water running into the toilet 24 / 7 fror the three days that we were there and you can only wonder at how much longer they can continue to operate the Bower in this way.

In 2007 that possibly would not have crossed my mind, in 2009 the Bower simply struck us as an environmentalists worst nightmare. It appears to be run along the classic lines of spend a pound to save a penny, unfortunately without a major re-furbishment and a whole heap of pounds being spent here, the Bower is now beyond saving.

RICHADA'S HOTEL RATING 53 / 100 (Formerly 83 / 100 - a drop of 30 points in two years - how the mighty have fallen!)

In order to put that score into some kind of perspective, here are my current hotel rankings - all reviewed and scored using identical criteria:

Ringhotel Friederikenhof - Lubeck - Germany - 92%

Swallow Bower Hotel - Chadderton - 53%

Grand Hotel, Torquay - 83%
Innkeeper's Lodge, Chester Northeast - 83%
Innkeeper's Lodge, Stockport - 83 %
Innkeeper's Lodge, Hull - 81%
Preston Swallow Hotel - Samlesbury, Lancashire - 74%
Hotel Drei Schwanen - Hohenstein-Ernstthal - Germany - 72%
Hotel Viktoria, Cologne - 70%
Hotel Piast, Boleslawiec (Poland) - 64%
Chadwick Hotel, St Annes - 63 %
Innkeeper's Lodge, Lichfield - 39%

CONTACT DETAILS:

Swallow Bower Hotel
Hollinwood Avenue,
Chadderton,
Oldham,
OL9 8DE

Telephone: 0161 682 7254 

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