Ely Guest House

The room needed work: wallpaper was peeling, the bed was small and uncomfortable, and the curtains let in enough light to make the room bright at 6am. On the plus side, the main guy was friendly when I arrived, the location was excellent, and it’s an interesting building. The price was already high, with everything else charged as an extra.

The shower was hot and had good pressure, though even at full height I couldn’t angle it down enough, at 5'8". Someone larger might have trouble getting around the shower and toilet, including through the door, though I’m 13st and you’d have to be quite big for it to be a real problem. Just a heads up for anyone more generously built. The room had a kettle and tea and coffee sachets, but nowhere to fill it, so bring your own water if you visit. There was toilet roll, two towels that looked clean, a rough, worn bath mat, and a bag in the bin by the toilet. The shower cubicle had only a wall mounted Fairy Liquid dispenser. The light above the workout mirror didn’t work, and there was a loose bare wire above its shelf. In this twin room, storage was basically half a shower curtain rail fixed insecurely behind the door. I wouldn’t trust it with more than two suits, in my opinion, and there was just one bedside cabinet for other clothes. Lighting was poor too, with one central bulb and two dim uplighters, one broken. One mattress was so thin and soft it sank to the bed frame when I sat down. The other was a bit firmer and deeper. The bedding was unbelievably cheap quality, worse than even the cheapest Asda stuff I’ve seen. Parking was free at the nearest car park on Sundays and from 6pm to 8am, otherwise limited to two hours.

Customer service was argumentative and unhelpful, and there was no breakfast. They only accept cash, not cards or bank transfers. There’s a £20 charge for checking in after 9pm and even Wi-Fi costs £3. Booking.com prices are twice what you’d pay directly through their website, and I wouldn’t pay even that. I book lots of rooms, and this was my worst experience.

The beds weren’t very comfortable, and our family room smelled of Thai food from the restaurant downstairs. The decor wasn’t great either. The guest house itself is a nice building, right in the centre of Ely, which is a good location.