Thistle, Stevenage

I stayed at this hotel for a period of 6 weeks last summer as I was on a course with work down south.

The hotel is situated in a small village setback from the road in a secluded position. It is about a five minute drive into Stevenage which makes it a convienient place to commute from.

Reception
On entering the hotel the reception desk is straight ahead of you and is manned continually 24 hours a day with very ...
...attractions and time tables for the local buses/trains. The hotel also offers a free mini bus service so if you fancy going to a local bar or restaurant you can do at no expense.

Room
The bedroom was quite small but you did have enough room to walk about without banging your legs on everything! The room contained a trouser press, table and chairs, telephone, a television featuring sky channels, a hairdryer, a double bed, a wardrobe ... more

I stayed at this hotel for a period of 6 weeks last summer as I was on a course with work down south.

The hotel is situated in a small village setback from the road in a secluded position. It is about a five minute drive into Stevenage which makes it a convienient place to commute from.

Reception
On entering the hotel the reception desk is straight ahead of you and is manned continually 24 hours a day with very friendly polite staff. Numerous leaflets are available for local tourist attractions and time tables for the local buses/trains. The hotel also offers a free mini bus service so if you fancy going to a local bar or restaurant you can do at no expense.

Room
The bedroom was quite small but you did have enough room to walk about without banging your legs on everything! The room contained a trouser press, table and chairs, telephone, a television featuring sky channels, a hairdryer, a double bed, a wardrobe and a dresser with a large mirror. It was tastefully decorated in navy and dark red with a large window which you could open fully to let the fresh air in. The bathroom was also quite small but did contain a bath with a shower in, a toilet and basin. There were three rubber ducks present (dread to think how old they were!) The rooms were cleaned on a daily basis but not the bedding.

Bar
The bar is situated just by the reception of the hotel and was open all day until the last person left at night so you were guaranteed a drink pretty much anytime. Bar snacks are served until about ten at night including sandwiches and chips but note that these are very expensive. The staff on the bar were always very friendly and you could relax in the lounge area next to the bar with your drinks. This is where the hotel guests congregated a night to talk and watch tv.

Restaurant
I found the food very nice at the hotel - breakfast was a buffet and you could choose from cereals, fruit, yoghurts and bread or hlp yourself to a full cooked breakfast.
Dinner at night was a three course meal with a choice from about five dishes. Most of the time you helped yourself to dinner as it a buffet but the overall quality was very good.
They also do themed nights i.e curry nights etc.

Entertainment
There was very limited entertainment at the hotel - none on a daily basis. There was a 'special event' every other sunday but this usually consisted of a singles night in the conference room. Not very entertaining but at least you could have a dance!
There is no gym/swimming pool.

Grounds
There was not really any grounds to walk about - at the front of the hotel was a large area of grass with some picnic tables where people sometimes had a drink. The rest of the grounds consisted of a large carpark.

Hotel rooms can cost anything up to £100 per night.

Overall I feel the hotel is just an ideal stopover i.e for Luton airport which is only 10 miles away and Stevenage is a small car journey away. The hotel tends to cater more for business people rather than families and tends to hold a lot of business conferences.  

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