Reading by Charles Hope

We were staying for work, so a broken shower was a serious inconvenience. There was a leak and a large visible gap between the shower and floor, with water gushing out as soon as it was turned on. We asked to move rooms and sent video evidence to the customer services email, but got no useful reply. We were told maintenance would inspect it, but nobody came. Instead, a housekeeper arrived and said we were checking out the next morning and the room needed cleaning, even though our booking had five more days. I explained the work situation and that the unnecessary housekeeping visits were also a problem. Our email went unanswered and the shower was never looked at. Later, halfway through the stay, I got a call saying we could move. I asked when, so I could work around the day, but heard nothing until a half-hearted apology arrived on our last day, along with another offer to move. There was a £200 deposit and all sorts of hoops to jump through before check-in. Afterward, it was radio silence. I never saw a staff member at reception, and emails clearly weren’t being answered. I wish I’d listened to the other one-star review and stayed elsewhere. Staying here felt like being treated as an afterthought.

The bed wasn’t especially comfortable, and there was only one coffee pod and no tea bags. The apartments are quiet, clean, and spacious, with good facilities in the rooms. It’s about a 15-minute walk to the main centre, with a pub and supermarket within five minutes, and there’s a bus route nearby.

The sofa was so stained and smelly that I wouldn’t sit on it. Both the waterfall shower and the other shower nozzle were clogged with limescale, and the couplings didn’t seal properly, so water sprayed everywhere. Some blinds were broken enough to let people outside see in. I paid £85 per night for an eight-night stay. On the sixth night, the cleaner replaced my bedsheet with one that was visibly stained, as shown in the pictures. I contacted Charles Hope and got an apology and a promise they’d speak to the cleaning staff, but nothing else was done. They didn’t change the sheets or offer a refund, so I slept on top of the bedding for the remaining nights. Honestly, only stay here if you absolutely have nowhere else to go.

After I’d paid and booked, they changed the terms and conditions and asked me for more money. Extremely poor. Avoid at all costs.