Carrington House

There’s parking, and the stay was okay overall. Our room had three beds and was spacious enough to comfortably fit up to four people. The interiors need some touch-ups and better décor to make the place feel warmer and more welcoming. With a bit of work, the experience could be much better next time.

It’s hard to get warm here: the rooms and entertainment area are freezing, and hardly any radiators work. Staff are trying their best, but with several absences there’s a lot of waiting and queuing. The whole place feels out of date and needs a major refurbishment. Parking is notoriously difficult too.

The food was good, and the friendly staff went out of their way for us. There was two hours of good evening entertainment, but once it ended at 10:00 pm, the bar closed. I was here on a Caledonian bus trip. My room carpet was stained, and I had to make my own bed and collect towels, toilet roll, coffee and tea bags from reception. The hotel is too far from town to walk unless you’re very fit. It’s hilly, and certainly not an easy walk when you’re in your seventies.

We chose the Carrington House Hotel at the last minute for a bank holiday weekend, knowing there weren’t many options. It worked as a base for cycling in the New Forest and exploring Bournemouth. It felt safe, we slept well, the shower was clean and powerful, breakfast was filling, and there was parking on site. Check-in was fine. We’d expected little from the reviews, so weren’t surprised by the state of things. The corridors looked tired, with worn carpet and dirty walls or peeling paint. In the bedroom, the carpet was worn and clearly hadn’t been shampooed, so we kept our outdoor shoes on. Some paint was peeling there too, but there was no mould. The beds looked and felt clean. I checked under the bottom sheets and pillowcases, and we slept well. The bathroom also had peeling paint, but it was clean, which mattered most to us. There was a TV we didn’t use, a kettle we used with our own tea bags, and no safe. It was cheaper to book breakfast at reception during check-in than online, so we did that. Breakfast was fine: Rice Krispies, cornflakes and muesli; machine coffee and one kind of tea each day; cow’s milk or oat milk; white or brown toast, no pastries; hot food that was hot and freshly cooked, though greasy but seemingly good quality; orange and apple juice; and a bowl of apples, oranges and bananas. We didn’t use the small, tired games room. Half the machines were marked out of order, and the rest cost £1 each. Table tennis required a refundable £5 bat deposit. We used the pool once. It looked clean enough, and we showered in our room afterwards. The depth ranged from 1 to 1.5 metres, so our youngest struggled a bit, but an inflatable belonging to someone else helped. The water was clear enough to see the sinker toy we brought, which the kids enjoyed. Before swimming, we had to agree to lots of rules, including no inflatables, jumping or bombing. But we saw people leaving the pool with inflatables, and there was no lifeguard, so I don’t think the rules were enforced. To get to the changing rooms and pool, we had to collect an access card from reception.