Rowton Poplars Hotel

There was no bar anymore, so it was bring-your-own, and breakfast was just cold snacks for £15 per person. We hadn't been contacted about any of this. When we left, the hotel wasn't answering calls from me or Booking. Beware. We'd booked the room, restaurant and breakfast ahead through Booking.Com, and had spoken with the hotel. It all sounded good for our family birthday, a pub with rooms and a great menu. But when we arrived, new signs were going up advertising an Indian restaurant with B&B. The only food available was Indian cuisine, which is fine in itself, but we had guests who don't eat Indian food. The plans we'd made weren't what we found.

The filling station next door has six ultra-fast chargers for electric cars, which was handy for our trip to South West Wales. We stayed one night on the way and the clean, comfortable hotel served us well. The restaurant is open until 10pm and the free WiFi is good. Our room was on the second floor and there isn't a lift. That wasn't a problem for us, though it could be for some people.

The freshly cooked breakfast came in a very generous portion, and the staff were attentive without hovering. Paul was also amazingly flexible when circumstances beyond our control meant we needed a later check-in. It's a short drive into Chester city centre, so the location worked well. Thanks again, Paul, for the flexibility and great service.

The room was unbelievably small, with no windows that opened, a filthy carpet, and a broken toilet seat. Dust and cobwebs covered the ceiling. The bathroom sink was so tiny that trying to fill the kettle flooded the floor. There was nowhere to put clothes apart from hangers on a hat stand, and as soon as I hung up my coat, it fell off under the weight. We'd booked a dog-friendly room for two nights but left after just one. This motel sits beside a very busy road, with traffic passing all day and night; the room shook whenever HGVs went by. The public toilets are beside the rooms, so doors kept slamming. It seems suited only to drivers who want somewhere to put their head down for the night. There aren't other places to eat or drink, so we tried the bar/restaurant on our first evening. It felt more like someone's front room. A full English breakfast and a cup of tea cost £15 each, so we went into Chester for breakfast instead. We emailed the management to share our views and were ignored. When we left early and mentioned the traffic noise, the manager chuckled.