No.64 at the Joiners

The bed was comfy, which mattered most to me, and I was really happy with the boutique-style room. The landlord was extremely friendly, and the place is right on the charming high street. I loved my stay.

The room itself was a snug, lovely little gem. It had a beautiful tub that was relaxing to use, a comfy bed, a coffee machine, and a great fan in the wardrobe. Peter was delightful when we checked in. We were there for a friend's wedding nearby, though the stay was a real disappointment because of what happened later. After we got back at the end of the night, we had to get past three drunk men who were trying to take the orchids I was carrying. We dealt with that, then went upstairs. We knew it was a pub and expected noise, and there was plenty, but we still fell asleep. Just after midnight a fire alarm siren in the room woke us abruptly. We got dressed and joined the other guests in the hall, where two drunk men were fiddling with the control box at the bottom of the stairs and shouting at guests that they were smoking in their rooms. Nobody was smoking in any of the rooms; we'd all been woken by this nonsense. I tried calling Peter on the number he'd given us, but there was no answer. Eventually the alarm stopped. I believe one of the men had set it off near the fire door or at the control unit, but it definitely wasn't any of the guests upstairs. As the pub emptied, a fight broke out outside, with several guys arguing and a girl shrieking. The staff were out there but did nothing about it. It went on for over an hour. After that, two guys out front talked loudly about Egypt and aliens until about 1:30. Such a shame the lovely room is attached to such an awful pub.

I wouldn't recommend staying here, especially on a Saturday. The room was small and the decor gaudy. This isn't really a four-star hotel, or even a hotel, it's a pub, and probably a decent pub. I stayed for two nights. On Saturday the music downstairs was so loud my room's floor vibrated. I couldn't read, sleep, or even hear the TV until after midnight. Sunday night was much better, but when I returned to the pub the back gate, which is supposed to be left open, was locked. I had to eat my takeaway outside and ring the landlord. He was next door and came to open up, without an apology or explanation. Then he went across the road to the Indian restaurant, where I could see him pointing me out to the staff as they stared. I shouldn't have had to eat outside at all.

We came to No 64 for two nights from Friday, ahead of our daughter's wedding on Saturday. We were in Olivia. The room is called 'superior' and described as shabby chic, but that only partly fit. The curtains were ripped, the wardrobe door wouldn't stay shut, and one bedside light switch was taped over. The dresser, supposedly a 'French antique', had a large piece of marble missing and a crack right through it. The coffee machine only had Americano pods, with no decaf. The cleaner confirmed they don't stock any. Our room faced the high street, but there was no frosted glass in the shower room or blinds in the bedroom, so we had to keep the shutters closed while getting ready. The noise was awful. Beer was delivered to the pub at 6am on the wedding day, then a Tesco van delivered across the street at 7am. We got back shattered at 12:30 that night and the pub music kept us awake until 1:30 Sunday morning. Another Tesco delivery woke us at 7am. The website doesn't mention that No 64 is on a busy, noisy street. Even Travelodges at £50 a night warn about possible disturbance. There was no secondary or double glazing to reduce the sound, and pub music that late would have been unacceptable regardless. On Saturday we told the male manager about the lamp, dresser and coffee. At first he said customers had taped up the light, though he knew nothing about it. When we pointed out it was proper electrical tape, he changed his story to say cleaners had done it. We would have expected people to report a fault to the manager. He also said customers had broken the marble. Later, his wife Sharon said the dresser had been bought that way on purpose as, in her words, a 'perfectly imperfect' part of the decor. Funny that the website has no mention or pictures of it, and that her account conflicts with her husband's. The coffee and switch were fixed during the day while we were out, but the room still wasn't what we'd expected for £140 a night, and the disrupted sleep made it worse. Expect to pay over the odds for a substandard room, get very little sleep and, when you ask for some compensation, deal with a very rude pair of people. They are clearly publicans who don't know how to run a quality boutique hotel.