New County

We checked out after the first night and told a young man at the bar why we were leaving. He showed no interest and offered neither a room change nor a refund or credit. My wife and I stay here regularly, but this was the worst visit so far, and I'm not sure we'll be back. We were in a courtyard room between the 22nd and 23rd of Nov 25. It looked good and was clean when we arrived, but the bed was dreadful: hard and lumpy, with such a thin mattress that I could feel the base. My accommodation in Iraq was better, and that was a shell scrape.

At £35 a night, with shops nearby and just an hour from Wales and some nice viewpoints, I'd stay again. I didn't use the supercharger at the services, but it was good to know it was only 10 miles away. Parking was quite pricey because it's off site. The room was spacious, with a TV, fridge, kettle and en suite. Unfortunately, the kettle had limescale. The room felt a bit tired, with peeling walls and some carpet stains. Both lamps had very loose shades, and the heater was barely attached to the wall. There was a dead bird outside the only window that opened. The room was hot, so I asked for another fan at 11pm and they brought one up. Great hosting, and you can't complain for the price.

The facilities were close to zero for what was a very high price. I was in room 31 on the night of 23rd October. It was tiny, and the staff response was zero. The heating wasn't working, and there were no slippers in the washroom, comb, WiFi or iron. I called several times but got no answer. Worst hotel.

The staff were faultless, and the town-centre location was handy. It can be noisy outside, but our room at the back meant it was only a distant drone. There was no parking, though two car parks behind the hotel made that manageable. NCP costs £12.45 for 24 hours. Our room in the courtyard was a good size, but the walls were thin enough that we could hear the neighbours coughing. The water pressure was amazing, and the shower was more than decent. There was tea, coffee, biscuits, a fridge and microwave. The room itself was basic and tired, with dirty, heavily stained, sticky carpets that badly needed a deep clean or revamp. The fridge kept creaking as if someone were in the room, waking me up, and the low bed had me almost dropping and rolling out of it. The cleaner pulled the quilt over and left. The dirty coffee cups stayed on the bedside cabinets, the glasses remained in the room, and the towels were still where we'd left them on the radiator. Either clean properly or don't touch it, I say. Half measures are just confusing.