Nelsons of Bridgetown

There’s a lot to like about the look of the place, with its beautiful style, clay walls, and history on the walls. The coffee is good, and it’s close to local attractions, parks, and nature reserves. The rooms are dated and not the cleanest, though. Staff are attentive sometimes, but often don’t notice you or look up from what they’re doing, especially at reception. It’s been rowdy every time we’ve stayed, so it’s not a good choice if you want somewhere quiet. It feels more like a pub than anything. The bar food is okay, but if more places in town were open, we’d go elsewhere. There’s nothing for vegetarians or vegans unless plain pizza and fried chips appeal to you. We booked a lot of guests for our wedding and spent a lot of money, but the service didn’t improve at all, which was a shame. They could do better, especially as it’s the main hotel in town.

I had a sirloin steak for our anniversary dinner, and it was so tough it might have worked as a rubber dinghy plug to stop a leak. My meal gets a 5/10. I can cook a very fine steak myself, without bragging. Want people coming back for a meal? Hit me up for one half-price steak night. Guaranteed extra success!

We had a really lovely meal, and the parmi was excellent. The staff were lovely too. I saw an older gentleman harassing a younger waiter about being given salad when he didn’t want it, and generally being rude. I believe the waiter’s name was Justin. He stayed very polite and professional, even while the man kept going on unnecessarily. He handled it really well.

Bridgetown is a great location, but the accommodation itself is very basic. My room was massive and had four beds, but no cooking facilities, only a fridge and kettle. The restaurant was closed during my stay, so there was no food available and I had to walk to the BP servo to eat, which wasn’t great. The neighbours made a lot of noise, so privacy was limited. There was mould in the bathroom and lots of painted-over holes in the room. Room service came in every day and remade the bed, which was a pain because I had to strip everything off before I could sleep.