Gidea Park Hotel

The room itself was comfortable, and breakfast was a good English breakfast. The staff were exemplary, very polite and keen to help, and there were plenty of local amenities and lots of free parking. That helped make the stay feel like a nice place overall. We were offered an upgrade, but the heating wasn't working, so we ended up moved to a smaller room, number 7, opposite the kitchens. It was noisy, with loud guests in the corridor and upstairs, and a compressor kept switching on and off in the early hours. We were just unlucky with the room.

Breakfast was the letdown after a very comfortable night's sleep. The advertised £12 full English was more like half an English: one sausage, two small overcooked bits of bacon, an egg, a plum tomato and some beans. The toast was stone cold, apart from the extra pieces they brought us. We'd come to Gidea Park Hotel for a nearby family party. Our superior double was clean and tidy, with a really comfortable bed. The bathroom was fully modern and well kept, quite a contrast to the dated main room.

The room felt cold, and the heating never came on, even though staff said it would at a certain time. I paid for a double room, but the only double thing was the bed. There was barely space to walk around, and the bathroom door was only a foot from the bed. I emailed the hotel manager and got a reply with stories that didn't match what the staff had done that day. Svetla was rude, abrupt and unprofessional. There are much better places nearby with welcoming staff and cheaper rates. Most of them put the heating on instead of leaving guests to freeze.

The receptionist, Svetla, was extremely rude on the phone. When I tried to explain the problem, she dismissed me and said, “She talk too much.” It felt insulting and completely unprofessional. I booked a single room directly on the hotel's website for £54, and confirmed by phone with the receptionist that I could pay on arrival at that standard rate. At check-in, I was made to pay before seeing the room, and the charge came to £68.08, more than £14 extra. When I questioned it, I got conflicting explanations, including that I'd stayed in a double, which simply wasn't true. I'd booked and stayed in a single. They refused to refund the overcharge and showed no apology or empathy. The whole thing felt like a money-making scheme. There was no honesty, accountability or concern for customer satisfaction, just deflection and a refusal to take responsibility for their staff's error. I'd strongly avoid this place. Premier Inn or Travelodge would be a better choice for transparent prices, fair treatment and basic respect.