Harbour Hotel

We waited outside for an hour with no communication, then gave up and headed home. It ruined our night away. The card swipe lock meant we couldn’t even get through the main door to find anyone, and nobody answered the reception door. The hotel has three phone numbers listed, but two belong to other hotels and the other doesn’t go through. The room was cheap, but that doesn’t excuse treating guests this way. Don’t book unless you want to waste your time and chase a refund from your bank.

The location by the seafront is good, but the maintenance and management were seriously below standard. I paid £245 for the “deluxe” Harbour Flats apartment from Dec 23-27, 2025. We had two power failures, including a one-hour wait when we arrived, only two radiators for a large apartment, no bathroom heating, and no hot water on the final night. The tap, shower door and balcony handle were broken. The kitchen and fridge were dirty when we arrived, the coffee maker was missing, and the prepay electricity needed constant monitoring. There were no staff on site. Management were polite but disorganized, and the property didn’t feel suitable for a winter stay. I also received a scam WhatsApp after booking that had my exact booking details and asked me to verify payment. These issues are documented patterns in TripAdvisor and Booking.com reviews. I wouldn’t recommend it.

For £60 a night, we had a two-bed apartment that sleeps five, which is excellent value. It could use some work here and there, but for that price it’s a no-brainer. I’ve since checked the school holiday prices, and those are around £1000.

The location is perfect, but that’s the only good thing I can say about this hotel. I’ve never stayed somewhere worse, and the list of complaints is endless. Our access code was wrong, nobody was at reception, and nobody answered the phone. We spent at least 10-15 minutes outside before banging on the door, then got an abrupt greeting as if we shouldn’t have been there. After check-in, we were shown two rooms, both appalling. One was a tiny, dark, dingy red room with a bed and toilet, like a prison cell. The other was only a little brighter. Once inside, there was hardly room to move, and the bathroom had no proper door, just a thin sliding piece of plastic. I complained that the rooms didn’t match the photos and were filthy, but was told, “the photos on the website are out of date.” At £76 a night, I wanted a refund or a better room. They showed us a slightly bigger version of the same horrible room, and we accepted it for one night. It still wasn’t hygienic. There was paint on the carpet, only one bar of soap, used tissues in the bin, and the shower door was hanging by one hinge. The shower looked unclean and the water came out so slowly I could have washed better in a puddle. The quilt was ripped and coming out of its cover, and the carpet felt dusty and dirty, as though they didn’t know what a vacc is. We’d have been more comfortable sleeping in the car. At night, we could hear every noise and footsteps from all directions, and the smell of weed in the hotel topped off the experience. We’re not picky and didn’t expect the Ritz in Skegness, but this felt like a breach of humanity. Something needs to happen about this hotel. I’d never recommend anyone stay there.