The Gillygate

The room was clean, but the traffic and people outside made it very loud, and the hotel itself was quiet. The bed wasn’t comfortable, and the pillows were very flat and soft. There was only enough milk for one coffee at night, so none for the morning. The owner was waiting for us when we arrived late, nearly 11pm, which was appreciated. The location is great if you want to be in the town centre, with a pub and Tesco Express just opposite.

The location was good, but the mould and general cleanliness in the room were far below what we expected. The upstairs guests argued through the night. We didn’t report it then because there was no staff on site, and waking someone around midnight didn’t seem appropriate. We checked out at about 9 a.m., which seems like a normal time, despite the owners’ claim that we left early. We originally gave three stars, noting the location and staff as positives alongside the mould and overnight noise. After the owners’ disappointing and unprofessional reply, we felt we needed to update the review. They suggested the upstairs guests had influenced what we wrote and said they’d found damage and spent three hours fixing it, which was supposedly why we left early. The only damage was a curtain rail that came loose as soon as we tried to draw the curtains. The attached photos suggest poor fittings rather than misuse. The owners’ response questioned our honesty instead of acknowledging the problems or simply apologising, and left us very unhappy with the stay.

Breakfast was excellent. They first asked what we wanted, and it came with tea or coffee. The room looked out onto the main road and was very good. It’s well located for the Minster and inner city walls. I did find the stairs difficult because there was only one banister.

Room 1 had traffic noise, though it was at an acceptable level. The room itself was spacious and clean, and the host was friendly and helpful. It’s in a great location, but on a main road. Contact Mark if you’re a forces veteran, as a discount is available.