The Beresford Hotel

The only good thing about this hotel was being able to walk down to the beach. Our stay was unfortunately a bad experience. The room was hot, and there was no air conditioning. The fan seemed to blow more hot air than cool. The walls were moldy and could use a fresh coat of paint. Staff weren’t welcoming and didn’t seem to care when they left us waiting, even though several staff members were available to help.

Check-in was terrible, with an impolite staff member, and we were charged an extra fee for two nights of parking without wanting it. We were “upgraded” to a sea - view room that was disgusting and dirty, with the door open when we arrived. A light socket was hanging out of the wall, the carpets were badly stained, and flaking bathroom paint covered our toiletries and the floor. The dirty, stained blinds left our hands dirty when touched, and the door was difficult to lock properly. An incident in a neighbouring room left us afraid for our safety. We called the number on the booking email and were told someone would come as soon as possible, but nobody did. We tried to check out first thing the next day, but there was no one at reception and apparently no staff on the premises. We called again to request a full refund and were told we’d get one. Since then, neither the hotel nor Agoda has contacted us.

From beginning to end, this “hotel” was so fundamentally awful I kept thinking it was a joke and TV cameras would appear. The floors hadn’t been vacuumed when we arrived and were covered in built-up dust and debris. To their credit, they did vacuum while we were there, at 21.35 in the evening. The stale smell at the entrance reminded me strongly of an old pub from the days when smoking indoors was legal. We climbed the filthy stairs because we didn’t dare use the lift. On the way up, we saw a random man doing what looked like botched repairs, with drills and materials scattered around and nothing closing off the area to customers. In the first room, there was still a cigarette butt on the floor, a neatly folded but stained white towel on the bed, and water in the kettle. The window wouldn’t close and its safety catch was broken. In the second room we’d booked, the curtains were hanging off the rails, a plastic bag covered the smoke alarm, the bathroom door had no lock, and paint was flaking off the door. I brushed my teeth with bottled water and wrapped my fluffy coat around the wafer-thin pillow because I was worried about catching something and couldn’t sleep there. Another couple we briefly met wished us luck, saying they’d found the place filthy and that the fire alarm had gone off several times overnight. Most of the lower sea view windows were badly cracked or smashed, and the upper windows were too dirty to see through clearly. I wouldn’t recommend staying here. It was the worst experience, and after looking through past reviews, I can’t believe it’s still trading. Save yourself a possible infection and sleep rough for the night. Trust me, that would be a safer and better option.

My experience was very bad. There was usually nobody at reception. The taps and shower barely had any water, the pressure was very low, and we had no hot water, which made things difficult. There was no bin in the room, and they don’t offer breakfast. There are a few parking spaces in front of the hotel, but I think you need to reserve one because staff park their cars there. If you book, expect only a bed with a roof over it.