The Pickering Park Hotel

The breakfast selection was incredible and great value for money. I accidentally locked myself out in the night, and the gentleman who came to help was very understanding, even though I’d woken him up.

We checked out early despite paying for 2 nights. We’d rather lose the money than stay somewhere that felt like a hostel. There’s no staff on site, and long-term guests hang around the “reception,” which is the kitchen. They were drinking there when we checked in, and their noise made things uncomfortable. Two or three rooms, I can’t remember which, open straight off the kitchen. With the long-term guests there so often, getting to those rooms is awkward, and you can hear them early and late. Room 4 was freezing, with a cold carpet and no instructions for the heating. I had to call on Christmas Day to ask how to turn it on. It was cold enough that I would have left and driven back to Manchester if I couldn’t warm it. The rooms aren’t heated individually; you have to use the corridor thermostat. In the end, I swapped rooms with my brother, who was upstairs. The lamp in room 6 flickered and didn’t work properly. The shower was honestly the worst I’ve had. I’ve had a stronger flow in a jungle in the middle of Thailand, and it took me 20 minutes just to wash my hair. There was bar soap in the rooms and toilets too. I find it disgusting that multiple people have to touch the same bar, and they should replace it with hand soap.

I booked four nights for my son while he attended a course, but he moved to another hotel after the first night. Other guests, apparently long-term residents, were arguing outside his room, shouting and banging around. He felt unsafe and worried there might be repercussions, so he didn’t want to go out to get the owner’s phone number from the front door. The alarm went off while he was in the shared bathroom because he was taking a long time in the shower. It was an expensive one-night stay, and we weren’t refunded for the unused nights.

The bed was comfortable, the room was decent for the price, and there was good storage and a shower. The kitchen was okay, with a few food options, but there was no coffee and the milk had gone off and was lumpy. My main problem was bathroom cleanliness. The upstairs toilet had urine stains and other stains all over it. It was okay overall, but it wouldn’t be my first recommendation unless you need a last-minute booking.