Brandon Inn

The location is good, and the staff are happy to help. I wouldn't recommend the breakfast, though.

The food felt pretty basic, especially at dinner, and breakfast was set up for the large tour groups, with assigned tables and little beyond Irish sausages, beans, overcooked bacon and canned fruit. Most staff apart from reception spoke very little English. The hotel seems to have been lovely once, but it now needs investment: the carpets are worn, the mattresses thin, and there’s hardly any ventilation. There’s no air conditioning, so in a warm month like August the rooms get hot and stuffy, especially after a shower. We asked for a fan and they brought one, which helped a little.

The hotel is very handy for the town centre, but the rooms let the stay down. We were moved from a small, musty, dated room with a bathroom needing paint to a larger one that still needed updating. The latch on our door wouldn’t turn, so we couldn’t lock it from inside, and the TV never worked, even after we asked reception to send someone up. We stayed two nights. The mattress sagged badly, too. Breakfast was disappointing: barely cooked bacon, sausages and pudding that didn’t look appealing, plus just a couple of apples and blackened bananas. I had tea the first morning, then skipped breakfast on day two.

The people working here were lovely and friendly, though the bar setup and service need attention. We waited ages to be served, and I think management could sort that out with better training. I don’t blame the staff. It’s an old hotel in a great location, with a nice leisure centre, but the food menu and portion sizes could do with a rethink too.