The Park Hotel

There were a few good things: parking was convenient, the breakfast tasted nice despite the limited choice, most of the staff were kind, and the pub food was tasty. But I wouldn’t stay again. It didn’t feel like good value, with the room, deposit process and fire alarm all contributing to a poor stay. At check-in, I was asked for a £50 deposit on a physical card, even though I’d paid in full online. This was tucked into small print under “view more” on the Booking.com confirmation, so it wasn’t clearly communicated and was easy to miss. I didn’t have a physical card, and I saw several other guests caught off guard by the same requirement. The woman handling my question was condescending and said “most hotels work like this,” which didn’t match my experience or help resolve it. At first I was told I couldn’t check in without a physical card. Only after I mentioned asking for a full refund was Apple Pay authorised. That inconsistency added stress after a long journey. The room was cold, with no thermostat or clear way to adjust the heat. Staff brought an extra duvet and acknowledged the temperature, but it stayed uncomfortable, and showering in the cold room was unpleasant. The hotel was full, so moving rooms wasn’t possible. There were also several visible defects, enough that I took photos on arrival to avoid any problems over the deposit. There was no fridge, the telephone was broken, and the key card kept stopping working whenever I left, so reception had to reactivate it, even when I made a point of keeping it away from my phone. Around 2:30am, the fire alarm went off. Guests seemed to make their own way to the lobby without staff directing or managing things. The person at reception, possibly the manager, stayed on the phone, which made the confusion worse. We weren’t told to go outside, and there was no visible sign of a fire. Nobody explained what was happening for over 20 minutes; only later did we learn it was a false alarm. The lack of clear communication and organisation worried me, especially when thinking about how a real emergency might be handled.