I booked the hotel as a last minute bank holiday getaway. I read some reviews on another site (only once I had booked - oops!), but it was only for a night. I booked a Premier room (worth the extra - see points below).
Staff: Reception staff were not very knowledgable and we got the same 'I don't really know' response from the same girl more than 10 times in 2 minutes! Restaurant staff were hit-and-miss. I asked about the Premier carvery and was told something completely wrong by the receptionist. The same receptionist also did not know how to open the door on the wheelchair ramp - or even if it was available (I had a look myself as there were infirm guests looking to use it - simple push bar!)
Rooms: Wait for it.......Our room was absolutely superb - 2 singles and a double, room for a travel-cot, seating area, twin balcony, sea view - downside of a Premier room though is no shower cubicle. On checking out of the hotel I like to have a quick nosey in rooms where the maid is cleaning (as I do in a lot of hotels) and was shocked - our room was by far the exception. The five rooms next to us were so small there was hardly room for the double bed.
Food and Drink: Standard Table d'Hote menu with no variations and nothing for the kids. The Menu was soup, melon or fruit juice; Beef or Meat and Potato pie or seafood medley (read scraps);Treacle sponge or ice cream or cheese and biscuits. We dined in the Premier restaurant and the food was OK, but nothing special. Breakfast was usual cereal, toast, hot buffet. When we came down the stairs for breakfast, the queue for the standard restaurant was right round the lobby - again, thank goodness we had booked Premier - we walked straight in and sat down. Drink - reasonably priced for a hotel, but you cannot room-charge anything so be prepared to dig your wallet out to pay the drinks runner during dinner! We were able to eat at any time during the restaurant opening hours, I believe standard rooms are allocated a time for both dinner and breakfast.
Entertainment: Comical. We had a quiz, bingo, dancing, and the in-house cabaret troupe performing. It was cheesey. Get in early as seats are limited and the hotel houses 300 rooms! Downstairs is non-smoking, upstairs is smoking.
General: Hotel building itself is grand. Inside, public areas are very dated and overdue a refurb, carpets are threadbare - smoking is allowed in main lobby, which is odd as everyone has to pass through it to get anywhere (and it is very smokey). Only 2 lifts to serve 6 floors (and one was out of service while we were there). Both bar and reception areas are far too small for a hotel of this size. Ramp access is far too steep for pushchairs and wheelchairs. Parking is a pain, pay and display outside is busy and people sit waiting for spaces for ages - I used the balmoral multi-storey in the end, it was £4.50 (special hotel rate) for 24 hours and was only a 5 minute walk from the hotel.
On checkout, there were streams of people queing to complain to the Manager about various issues - some were justified, some were not.
I would recommend booking a Premier room (it is worth the extra), and never pay full published price. If you are a fussy eater, check the menu in advance as you may be disappointed (Pizza Hut is a 3-minute walk from hotel if you are stuck, and there are plenty of eateries along the front). If you are not happy with your stay, don't be afraid to complain - everyone else does!!
This could be a lovely hotel - it needs to be closed for 6 months and given a complete overhaul. At the same time the staff need re-trained (or fired), and some decent chefs put in place. The hotel is in a great location and could easily upgrade its status and charge more!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
not a place I would visit. I have found some wonderful hotels through www.holidaybreaks.co.uk for overseas try www.bookings.nl
TopReviewer69 09.05.2005 22:53
craggsy, the answer is : 'Built in 1863 as one of Europe's first purpose built hotels, The Grand Hotel boasts superb architecture with the design rumoured to be based on the theme of time. Four towers represent the seasons, 12 floors represent the months, 52 chimneys to represent the weeks and originally 365 bedrooms to represent the days of the year'
craggsy23 09.05.2005 22:08
I agree it is in need of modernisation, but that building has an amazing history to it. I will have to find out the exact details and do a review. I think it was built so that everything from windows to stairs represented something to do with days/ seasons. Watch this space, I'm off to find out more.
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May 8th, 2005
(May 11th, 2005)
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