Olympia Hotel

The place was vile, and I wouldn't recommend staying here. The rooms were disgusting and dusty, and the whole hotel seemed to be falling apart. Service was unbelievably rude. The shower didn't work, and after being told it would be sorted that day, I asked the landlady when it would be fixed. She said, "won't be today use the shower down the hall." When I challenged that, she replied, "have a refund then!" There was no valid excuse. My partner and I were woken at 8am by a yappy little dog belonging to the landlady.

The noise from the pub downstairs was the worst part. We heard shouting, swearing and what sounded like a fight, so I definitely wouldn’t bring children here. The shower had no hot water in the morning, and the extra pillow in the cupboard looked like an old rag. The room was very old and musty, apart from the en-suite, which had been fitted in early 2017 but still seemed unfinished. There was nowhere to put towels or shampoo, no toilet roll holder, and the door and frame hadn’t even been painted. Breakfast was advertised as included, but it was just bread for toast, cereal and orange juice in a shared kitchenette where guests could make their own. We didn’t bother and just wanted to leave. You pay when you arrive, before seeing the room, and nobody asked about our stay when we left. We only stayed one night, thankfully, on a Saturday. It was cheap compared with most places at £60, but that still felt like too much. I wouldn’t stay again even if it were free.

The staff I met were lovely, and I slept well. The room itself was spacious for a single, with a shower in the room and the loo down the corridor, up five steps. It was quiet despite the lively pub bar, and the price was cheap. There was a kettle and small TV, plus a well-stocked shared kitchen with extra tea and coffee, orange juice, cereal, bread and jam for breakfast. It also had a toaster, iron, dishwasher and sink. But the floor clearly hadn’t been vacuumed. Only one of the two ceiling lights worked, and their switches were across the room from the bed. The strip light over the basin and mirror was out too. A wall light by the bed worked, but dangled from its wires, so the wardrobe had been pushed close to it. The top half of the window opened, though I had to stand on the upholstered chair to reach it. Getting in meant walking through smokers by the front door of the Olympia Hotel. Can’t say fairer than that.

The hotel on site is good value, and Selby train station is only a five-minute walk away, with good connections. This is an excellent brew pub too, with six of its own beers on.