The Royal Oak

The room felt homely and was spacious, and you can see they’re putting money into improving what was once a beautiful building. Staff were very friendly and couldn’t do enough for us. I thought it was great for the price and would highly recommend it to anyone on a budget. Good luck for the future, guys. Michelle and Darren from Luton

The whole place had bad karma and reminded me of that film with Jack Nicholas in it, rrrrreeeedddddrrrruuuummmmmmm. I’d honestly rather stay in a basha than come back, and could go on and on, but you need to experience it yourself to believe how bad it is. The exterior looked run down, and the car park only had room for about 8 or 9 cars at most. Most spaces seemed taken by builders’ and repair vans for much of the day. The cheap, rotting decking at the entrance from the car park was a health and safety nightmare, especially when wet. Inside, the boss was arguing with his misses in front of staff and customers, which wasn’t exactly a warm welcome after a long drive. Eventually I got a key and was charged up front. The room and service were worse. The TV was ancient with few channels, though there was a DVD player for anyone bringing their own selection. Sockets and switches were loose or held on with tape, a shock hazard. Towels were small and tatty and never changed, nor was the bed linen. Bins weren’t emptied, the meager tea and coffee supply wasn’t replenished, and the room wasn’t cleaned or hovered during my stay. The beds and furniture looked like they came off a tip, and I slept badly every night. The downstairs locals bar was excessively noisy, even with my valve TV on. A bath only got lukewarm, and the shower was one of those super dribble ones that takes ages to get wet. Staff who spoke to me were happy to tell me how bad the place, pay, and conditions were, which didn’t seem like a good sign at check-in. The decorating looked as if a blind man had done it with his dog as a brush. Marks out of 10, minus figures.

We stayed for two nights in July 2017. We hadn’t been told it was overbooked, though on arrival they said we should have been contacted. They also said our debit card was declined, even though payment hadn’t been requested. A printout said to pay at Royal Oak, and I was paying cash anyway, which was just as well since they couldn’t take a card payment. We were taken to the room and made to sign a waiver on the spot to say it was okay. The pillows were thin and lumpy, and behind the headboard the dirt was so thick you could write your name in it. The TV had ITV channel 5 and all the porn channels. Street noise all night was unbelievable. There’s no food at the hotel, and I found the clientele rough. This isn’t a hotel, it’s a run down pub with rooms, dirty carpets, wobbly stair bannisters, and wonky floorboards. Don’t touch this place with a barge pole.

I paid around £34 for the room, but there was no power in the toilet and the shower had no hot water. Road traffic was quite disturbing because the room’s window faced the road. My experience was pretty bad, so I wouldn’t recommend room 8.