Best Western The Grand Hotel Hartlepool

The building must have been beautiful in its day, but now it feels tired and needs refurbishing. My room was a good size, clean, and had decent furniture, though it was very warm and I couldn’t adjust the heating from the standard radiator. The bathroom was spotless. Breakfast was a poor start to the day: the cooked food was swimming in fat and seemed deep fried, there was no fruit, and I was told poached eggs weren’t available. The bread was basic, thin Aldi bread, and the pastries looked like they’d been there a week. I ended up making do with yoghurt and toast.

The service at the bar was beyond belief, and they had night events too. I came for a couple of nights a while ago, and Sandra checked me in. She was really helpful in showing me to my room, a sweet young lass. The rooms are tidy as owt, and the beds are really comfortable.

The location is great, right in central Hartlepool, near the town, marina, beach and train station. The area seems decently safe, though it looks run down with the ongoing work on the opposite building. I’ve stayed many times over four years to visit family. Parking can be annoying because spots are limited and it’s in front of the job centre, but I never felt my car was unsafe and I did get a space. The rooms are big, though some are dated. Painting white bathroom grout grey fools nobody, especially with paint all over the tiles, but it did make me laugh. The rooms were warm, and I couldn’t hear the other rooms, so my sleep wasn’t disturbed. The Grand Hotel is a good shout if you want somewhere central.

The room had a faint cigarette smell, and service was very slow because reception and the bar were never staffed. Breakfast and parking were limited too. I hadn’t stayed here for a couple of years, and it’s gone downhill.