Bonnington Beach Hotel

Breakfast was good, especially the hash browns, though the tea was incredibly weak. The room itself was clean and nice, and the staff were polite. But maintenance let things down: the window wouldn't close properly, leaving the room cold, and the shower never got especially hot, with the temperature going up and down.

The shower looked promising at first, but barely any water came through, as if its pump had failed, and it took a while for the water to warm up. The bathroom was also tiny, freezing, and covered in black mould, possibly because there was no proper heat. The only heater was a portable convection unit, which I had to put by the bathroom door to warm it up. I booked a double en-suite, but the bed was two singles pushed together. Every time I turned over, I ended up in the gap between the mattresses. For what I paid, I got what I should have expected, but I still wouldn't stay here again, even for £22 a night.

The price was good for what we got, and I would definitely return despite a few problems. The receptionist was lovely and welcoming, and she was there all weekend to suggest places to eat and things to do. We stayed Friday to Monday, and the man who took our booking had warned us that large groups might come back late after drinking and make noise. We both slept through the night, but the thin windows let us hear drunk groups shouting as they passed. The walls and doors were thin too, so we could hear everything in the hallway and worried that people would hear us moving around. The Wi-Fi wasn't great, though I hadn't expected much. Breakfast was really nice, but it was served in the hotel next door, where nobody checked if we were guests, so anyone could have gone in. The website mentions swimming pools and food available all day, but those weren't offered. When I asked, the receptionist said nobody had used the pool, and helpfully gave us nearby pool addresses and prices. Since there are no food or drinks for sale, a vending machine would be handy for a quick snack or drink. Housekeeping also missed some basics. After a day at the beach, we could tell the cleaner had been in because she left notes, but the tea, soap, and toilet roll hadn't been replenished, the towels weren't changed, and the heater had been switched off. We'd left it on so the room would be warm when we got back. On Sunday, there didn't seem to be anyone at reception during the day or night if we needed help.

Breakfast was nice, but the room had a lot of problems. The wardrobe doors fell off, and I couldn't get the awkward radiator working. There was no sink plug, no soap or shower gel apart from tiny sachets, and the bathroom tiles were loose. One came off when our baby walked close by. The Wi-Fi didn't work upstairs at all.