Crowne Plaza Chester

The rooms were comfortable and had good lighting, and we had a great stay overall. The cleaners hadn’t been round by 3pm, which felt a bit late. The hotel is wonderfully close to the town centre. Its car park is expensive and was full, with people even parking on the ramp, but there’s a cheaper public car park below the hotel and other options nearby.

I travel up and down the UK for work and have stayed at IHG hotels for years, often at Crown Plaza. For my first trip to beautiful Chester, I booked this Crown Plaza and ended up leaving within five minutes of seeing the room. The entrance was hard to find under a dark underpass, which is obviously not something the hotel can change, but it felt random. The lobby and reception were lovely, as you’d expect, and the staff were polite and attentive when they checked me in. Then the lift opened onto a very different, extremely dated hotel. The room looked tired, with chipped furniture, grimy corners and cobwebs by the window. The bathroom was grim too. The rubber bathmat was yellow and covered in sludge, with dirty corners and dusty surfaces. Some people may see that as minor, but when you’re paying good money for a room that IHG markets as PREMIUM, I expect a certain standard. This also seems to be the only Crown Plaza I’ve stayed in without a breakfast card to leave outside the room for room service. You have to call reception to say what you want, and there wasn’t even a menu in the room listing the breakfast options. I left and booked the indigo hotel instead, which was so much better and worth every penny, absolutely faultless. I contacted IHG customer service that evening and was told the manager would call me that same night. That didn’t happen until later the next day, after what felt like an email battle back and forth. My issue still wasn’t settled, and I’m now in touch with my bank to dispute the transaction. Very poor hotel and management. I’m a very disappointed IHG member. Never again.

We stayed in a premium suite for my partner’s birthday, with a large bedroom and separate living room. The location is ideal for exploring Chester, right in the centre and only a two-minute walk away. The pool, steam room, sauna and jacuzzi were great, though around 6pm they’re taken over by locals with kids, so I wouldn’t recommend going then. We went back around 8am and had a completely different, relaxing experience. I’m an IHG gold member and have stayed at a few hotels. To me, the room decor feels a bit dated compared with other four-star places, but the facilities, location and especially the staff’s friendly, professional manner still justify the rating. Special thanks to Robyn on reception.

The hotel looks great at first, but room 135 was a letdown, and parking was terrible. There was dried blood on the bathroom wall, and the bathroom photos speak for themselves. The room is overdue for refurbishment: the coffee table legs look ready to give way, the curtains have been updated but the old track is still there, and the curtains aren’t secured at either end. Old wall plugs remain after fixtures were removed. The sheet didn’t fit the bed, the pillows were lumpy and the quilt cover was inside out. I can’t see how this place can charge what it does and call itself four-star.