Berwick Manor Hotel

The location worked well for me, just a few minutes from where I needed to be in the morning. The price was good, supposedly because the restaurant was closed for refurbishment, but I wouldn't stay again. From outside it looks good, though the actual experience was very different. My sheets and towels were clean, but the bed had no mattress protector, just a thin sheet, and the pillows were so flimsy I needed all four. There was no bedside lamp, only an on or off lighting option. The room looked tired, with a bent nail on the floor near the bed, a bad stain on the curtain lining and a broken sash cord on the window. Despite the warning signs, there was no hot water. After running the shower for about five minutes, it was only tepid and still too cold to use. There was black mould in the shower sealant as well. The bathroom was off-putting. The TV didn't work at first and there were no instructions, just tangled wires and a black box perched on the wall heater. A staff member eventually got it going but couldn't explain how. After switching it off for bed, I couldn't get it working again to cover the noise from outside. There was also no information in the room about reception hours. The intermittent banging and thudding, which sounded like a skip or van being loaded, went on until 12:20 a.m. In the morning, the receptionist denied that any work had been going on and blamed the wind. It was still windy, but the noise had stopped. I'd been told there were only two guests that night, so it wasn't as if there'd been a wild party. Breakfast was so poor they might as well not have bothered. There was milk, orange juice, tea bags, instant coffee, cheap jam, cereal dispensers, an open packet of Weetabix-like biscuits and yoghurts on a plate. Hot water was brought when I asked for tea. The only other choice was two slices of supermarket white bread, already thickly spread with a yellow spread they said was butter. I think it was margarine. Either way it made me feel nauseous, and I couldn't eat it. I've never had a hotel bring toast already buttered like that. I would at least expect a choice. I only saw the same gentleman on staff during my stay. He was polite, but not especially friendly and didn't seem keen to help. He was more helpful with the TV, though couldn't say how he'd fixed it.