Grand Hotel Scarborough

The building is magnificent, inside and out, and the location is great. My room was clean, comfortable and well equipped, and the staff were lovely and efficient. There was a good choice of food, cooked and presented well. We also had Sunday lunch, which was lovely and very good value. A fabulous break at The Grand Hotel. I'll definitely stay again.

We were with a tour group, though everyone eats in the same dining room. The meals were buffet style and acceptable, but lacked style and imagination. Our room was small, as was the shower room and toilet, and there was nowhere to hang towels, so we put them on the radiator. There wasn't much tea, coffee or milk, so we got more from reception. The TV was temperamental. We thought the remote batteries had gone, and reception replaced them without any fuss, but the TV still wouldn't work that night. By the next morning it was working normally.

It was very Christmassy, and a singer in the ballroom was a welcome surprise. The hotel seems to be slowly getting refurbished, and it's clearly been a beautiful place in its day. We paid for a one night stopover and found the room adequate, warm and reasonably clean, with good facilities and a beautiful sea view. Breakfast wasn't to my taste, though there was plenty of choice at the buffet. Dinner was okay too. The bread was fresh, the soup starter was okay, and the rest of the meal was fine. I'd heard the hotel had a bad reputation, but for one night I thought it was absolutely fine.

The fire alarm went off one day, so we went down five floors by the fire exit. On the third floor, rubbish was scattered about and a set of ladders blocked the way. It turned out to be a test, but if there had been a real fire, that could have been dangerous. There was a huge queue of people complaining at reception. I felt sorry for the staff, as this seemed like an everyday occurrence. When people complained, they were threatened with being put out on the street, even a couple with a one year old child. Complaining to the hotel was no use. We were here for New Year on a bus tour and couldn't leave, and the stay actually ruined the holiday. The rooms were bad, everywhere was filthy, and the windows were so dirty you couldn't see out. The food was vile, so we never ate it and had to go out for meals. The hotel had put up a sign saying takeaway food had to be eaten in your room, so they clearly knew their own food wasn't up to standard. It must have been beautiful once, but now it's fallen into disrepair, and it's far too big for the owners to maintain. We didn't enjoy any part of our stay and I couldn't wait to go home. One woman stayed half an hour, checked out and went to the premier inn because she refused to remain there. Everyone we spoke to agreed the hotel was vile in every way. Environmental health needs to inspect it. I'll never book with that tour operator again, and I wouldn't stay here for free.