Willen Lodge

Beautiful location, lovely view if you get a lake view room, and the staff are friendly. The place is shabby and unkept, with very dusty floors that need a proper carpet clean, not just hoovering. The walls are tired and would come alive with a lick of paint. The shower pressure is as the reviews say: you can end up standing there soapy while you wait for it to stabilise, and several times the water takes a few minutes to flow again.

If I could give zero stars, I would. The place was utterly disgusting and stank throughout. There were hairs all over the bath and shower, and even an empty sex toy box had been left in the room. It was just filthy. I sent several emails with a lengthy formal complaint, but a week later there was still no response. They clearly don’t care about customers. My advice is, don’t spend your money or stay here. It’s grim!

I was in the area for work and needed somewhere basic, which was fine, but a few essentials caused real problems. The WiFi didn’t reach room 30, so I had to go elsewhere to get any work done. Neither the outside door nor my room door would shut unless forced, which felt like a security issue. Most of the sockets had been blocked off, with none near the bed. Since I have sleep apnoea, I couldn’t plug in my CPAP machine, making the stay much harder, and this hadn’t been mentioned beforehand. The room itself was shabby but acceptable. Over my five days there, it also wasn’t checked or restocked. It’ll do if all you need is a cheap bed nearby. Don’t count on much beyond that.

The lake view at Willen Lodge sounded appealing for a one-night stay, but the room was a mess. Fleas were on the duvet, the walls looked filthy, and the air had a wet-dog smell. The veranda was covered in pigeon droppings. When I raised it with staff, I got a shrug and no help. If you fancy being itchy around bird mess, go ahead. Otherwise, there are plenty of other hotels nearby.