Budget Lodge

The bed was fine and the location is good, but that's about all I can say in its favour. The shower was a joke: the base was mouldy and leaking, the controls were loose and heavily covered in sealant, and the water never got beyond tepid. There was no customer service when I called. It went straight to voicemail, and I couldn't leave a message because the box was full. The online listing still says there's on-site parking, even though there hasn't been a car park for at least two years. I can't see how this place earns any star rating. Pay more and stay somewhere else.

The location was handy for local amenities, and we were out late, so it was manageable for one night. The staff seemed friendly and chatty when we saw them, and tea, coffee, and WiFi were available. The room itself had problems. The wall-mounted TV was crooked, with a lot of dust on its back and the lights, which made my asthma horrendous the next morning. Two single beds had been pushed together, and I kept waking up as I started sliding into the gap. The towels and bedding are stored in a room on the floor. Also, the locked door opened with barely any force, so I wouldn't leave valuables in the room.

The bed was clean, but I had the worst stay I've ever had. This isn't really a hotel: there's no reception and no owner or manager living there. I found a phone number hidden on the back entrance, and the cleaner came to show me the room. I later found there was no parking on site, despite what was advertised, and no WiFi. I texted and got a reply saying sorry. When I tried to open the window, it wouldn't budge, and there was no air in the room. The reply was that it doesn't open. The window was cracked, there were cobwebs on the ceiling, and the radiator was rusty and leaking, with a bowl underneath. You had to run the sink tap to get the shower going. The whole place felt run down and uncared for. The door to the property was left open all the time, so there was no security. Don't stay here.

We needed somewhere central in Alnwick and couldn't find another place, otherwise we would have left straight away. The room was described as deluxe, but this was the strangest and worst place we've stayed. Don't put yourself through it. The bathroom needed a lot of attention. There was mould around the leaking shower, and using the basin made waste water bubble up into the shower tray. We made a quick trip to buy anti-bac wipes. The electrics were a safety hazard too: an overloaded socket gave a blue flash when I plugged in the kettle, and a light was hanging by its wiring. The towel rail came off the wall when I hung a hand towel on it. The blind was broken, paint was flaking, the chair was dirty and stained with an item placed over it, and one leg of the bedside table was broken. Getting past the towel rail radiator by the bed meant shuffling through the narrow gap by the door. The car park was filthy waste ground with a sign warning it was unstable and to park at your own risk. At the entrance, the intercom was the only way to communicate, and I was cut off mid-conversation. The flimsy door had no lock and was open 24/7; the room key was left in the door. The only guest information was a notice saying payment was cash only, to be collected by Miora the cleaner, even though the full amount had already been taken from our bank account four days before arrival. After a long call to the bank, with Moira present, we had to give her the authorisation code. She said the earlier payment was just to secure the booking. We have paid less for an immaculate room in a Premier Inn. Horrible experience.