Aberdeen Douglas Hotel

The room was very clean, and the Wi-Fi was free and didn’t buffer. Still, there wasn’t enough floor space to put down a suitcase without it being in the way. The bed was big but hard, and the pillows gave me no support. The room’s dark wood furniture included a table and chair, wardrobe, headboard and bedside table. There was a small TV with poor colours, perhaps because the screen is failing. The bedside lamp had such a low-wattage bulb that reading in bed was impossible. There was also a landline on the desk and a Gideon Bible in the drawer. The old-fashioned radiator never came on, and the bathroom had no heat. It had a shower, toilet and handbasin. The shower was small, with nowhere to put my razor or shaving gel, though shampoo and body wash were provided. The decor felt outdated rather than retro. In the centre of Aberdeen, the hotel has a relaxed bar and lobby, four floors, a lift and keycard room doors.

The apartments in the next building are roomy and spacious, and everything else was fantastic. The bathrooms were the problem. The bath water was cold, and the boiler either wasn’t working properly or had something seriously wrong with it. The shower has its own heater, but that was a disaster too, switching between freezing and hot water. If you like a soak in the tub, I wouldn’t recommend it.

There was an event on, and the music came through so loudly it felt like it was in our room. It wrecked our sleep. The bed, though, was the comfiest ever, so the stay had a real downside and an upside. Lovely hotel otherwise.

The furniture has seen better days and is heavily worn. When we checked in, there was rubbish in the bathroom that hadn’t been cleared. It stayed there for the whole visit, even though they did make the bed. The hotel is right in the city centre, and breakfast had a great range of options.