Hotel Royal Blackburn

The room was disgusting. There were marks on the walls, smoke smell inside, and stains on the bedding. The bedroom and bathroom windows had both been left wide open to clear the smell. A shelf and a drawer handle were broken, and the bathroom was filthy. The smell of weed hit us as soon as we got inside. I wouldn’t let an animal stay there. We left within five minutes because we felt unsafe and went home. Avoid this place! We’d booked a night away with my partner for a nice weekend, but the outside looked awful when we arrived. The rotten wooden steps up to the door didn’t feel safe, and the stairs inside were very steep. There was no reception, just self check-in. They sent a WhatsApp link asking for our details and a photo of our ID on what looked like a dodgy website. We wouldn’t have got the entry code without filling it in, but no code arrived. We waited in the rain for what felt like five minutes after ringing the bell. Someone eventually came to the door, we explained we’d booked and completed the form but hadn’t received a code, and they showed us where to get the key from the lockbox.

The location was excellent, and for a short business trip or a day or two of relaxing, it wasn’t too bad. The room itself was just okay. It was clean, though not super clean. Netflix and the other channels were excellent. The bathroom smelled of damp and had plenty of mould in the shower. There were no towel hooks or mirror in there.

I only walked through the front door and left. It felt dark and dingy. The reception could do with brightening up and a few nice plants.

The room was basic and tatty but otherwise fine. The door lock was flimsy, then jammed so badly that I couldn’t lock the door when I tried to go out for dinner. As a woman travelling alone, I didn’t feel safe and left for another hotel. I also had no confidence that staff, if I could find someone, would be able to provide a decent room. This so-called hotel fell well short of what I consider acceptable. The check-in process made me uncomfortable too. I was asked to scan a QR code and put my personal details and ID photo into a random website, with no information about how they’d protect the data. I was meant to get a text with the entry details, but it came three hours too late to help. There’s no reception, nothing, just staff somewhere out of sight. It took ten minutes to get in, and only after I called the number on the door. The person who answered groaned and hung up. At least the man who eventually let me in was friendly. And then there are the death-trap steps at the entrance. They look like they were designed by someone who’s never studied construction or seen a person use stairs.