The Castle Hotel

Breakfast was cooked to order, so no scrambled eggs that had been sitting for three hours, and the staff were friendly and accommodating. Our room was peaceful, clean and recently decorated, in a lovely location. Getting up the hill with a suitcase was a challenge, though I'm sure there are taxis and buses. I can be pig-headed.

The staff were friendly and clearly doing their best, and breakfast was OK. The place is in a really nice spot, but the rooms need a lot of TLC: wallpaper was coming off, the shower leaked onto the floor, there were cobwebs, and the pillows were awful. The guttering outside needs sorting too.

I was in the Taupin suite for a two-day conference, and the room was freezing. The boiler had tripped, reception told me, and I was woken at 4am by the cold. Once it was fixed, the room took so long to warm up that I couldn't get back to sleep. When reception asked in the morning how the night went, I explained, and was told, "you should have phoned me". At breakfast I was told to sit anywhere, then the same receptionist said I'd sat in the wrong place, though she added not to worry. There was also a booking-agent error, but I wasn't contacted and was made to feel it was my fault. The repeated scolding and cold room made for a poor stay. Breakfast was anaemic, and the road noise wasn't ideal.

The location was fantastic, and the staff were brilliant and so helpful. Breakfast was much better than we expected, and there was a nice little bar area too. A great hotel.