The Langstone

Myself and my partner booked the Parnell Suite, marketed as one of the best rooms in the hotel and we were shocked at how bad our stay was. The room: 1. Overlooks the car park, and the other window (the one which is supposed to have a view of the sea) was blocked by trolleys for the bed linen. 2. After coming back to our room on numerous occasions, we would have to push trolleys out of the way to get to the door. This combined with the fact that the corridor has a door going outside meant that we could hear the door going all night with people going out for cigarettes and drinking and talking. Bearing in mind this was an expensive room, you’d think it would be in a quieter part of the hotel, but being on the corner, you get the car traffic, the people traffic and a weird hostel type of vibe. 3. The room was dirty, the bath was filthy, and the bathroom was pretty much falling apart. (Dirty shower heads, shower tray lifting away from the floor, gunk build up around the taps). The tap for the bath isn’t even secured down. My socks were black after walking round that room. 4. TV is great, it’s a mirror that turns into a TV… and it’s not connected to the internet, or the TV… so it doesn’t work. 5. Air conditioning is great, but there was no instructions, when we tried to turn it off, it would come back on again, and when it’s 2am and you’re half asleep having to google how to work it, it’s not ideal. 6. The lighting in the room is cheap, the LED’s are bright white and it’s really unnatural, it feels a little like an office rather than a nice room. 7. There wasn’t two of each hot drink (this was bizarre), having to share a hot chocolate, or decide which one of us could have decaf coffee? 8. The soap in the bathroom was bolted to the wall, and was very tired. I get hotels don’t want people stealing the soap, but it’s £4 out of a £650+ booking for that room. It’s not a youth hostel. Langstone is supposed to be a decent hotel. Also… no conditioner? It would be good to have a little pack of face wipes, cotton balls/buds in it. After a 4 hour drive it was annoying to have to go find a shop that was open on a Sunday evening to get some basic bits. We’ve stayed in 10 hotels on the southcoast, all considerably cheaper that had some extra stuff like this. Breakfast: 1. We had to ask for glasses because half the tables weren’t set. We wanted to sit by the window and it was suggested to us that we sit on another table which had glasses and cutlery. In the end we just took it from another table ourselves. 2. The food was poor. Sausages full of gristle, egg had a lot of shells in it. The second morning we just had croissants instead. 3. The coffee machine ran out, so I had a hot chocolate which had bits floating in it. 4. The restaurant furniture is falling apart. The seats are ripped and dirty. It’s about £3-5k to get new chairs for that room, and it would completely change the aesthetic and vibe. The hotel was pretty much fully booked when we were there, surely it’s attainable. Bar: 1. The cocktails were really good. Honestly really impressed. 2. The outside seating area had quite a bit of a bad ant infestation, and the sofa’s were quite dirty. Overall the hotel is tired. And I got the impression that it was in a bit of a death spiral. Low quality > less repeat business > less funds > less investment back into the hotel > low quality. This is frustrating as growing up I’ve been to the Langstone so many times (since I was 4 years old!), I’ve been there for weddings, parties, stays and I have such a fond connection to the location. I think what frustrates me is how much potential is there, especially with the location. Knowing what it can be vs what is is today is saddening. The hotel needs updating, and the approach to hospitality needs to be reconsidered from the perspective of the guest, not just the profitability of a business. Look after the guests, and the profitability will take care of itself.

We have just returned from a 3 night stay here and definitely would not stay here again. It went down hill from the moment we arrived. When we checked in the receptionist wasn’t very friendly and it was almost like it was an inconvenience that we were even there! We checked in and went to our room and it was like walking into a sauna. I appreciate that we were in the middle of heatwave but the room was so hot. There was a Dyson fan in the room which was no use and all along with a circular fan on a stand. We immediately opened the window and shut the curtain- we were on the first floor so the window would only open about 2-3 inches. The first night both my husband and I I slept terribly, the fans were noisy and we kept waking up sweating. When we left following breakfast I asked at reception if there was anything that could be done, on returning later in the day, we went to our room and it was still hot. However, they had removed the safety catch from the windows so the windows were open wider! On leaving the hotel at night time we asked if another white circular fan could be put into the room As the Dyson fan was useless- this was done on our return and did help a little but the room was still hot and noisy. We juts accepted that we would have to put up with it, we did speak to the duty manager and he suggested that we have another fan in the room - we declined this as is was noisy enough with 2 fans on let alone 3, it would have been like sleeping in a wind tunnel. Other than that, he just seemed to fob us off. The rest of the hotel is tired- the seat is the restaurant are worn, there were marks all In the sink and shower in our room and stains on the carpet. Even the road signs in the car park are faded so much you can’t even see them. The choice at breakfast was ok but items were t replenished in a timely manner. Overall we were extremely disappointed with our stay for the price that we paid. We will Not be visiting again. The hotel Is in desperate need of a refurb.

Two night stay at the hotel and I’m grateful it wasn’t for longer. The room was in poor condition. There were visible stains on the carpet and furniture, bedside lamps without bulbs, and the overall standard of cleanliness was not what you would expect. The towels and bathmat were dirty and soiled, and the shower curtain was filthy, which is completely unacceptable in any hotel. Basic amenities were also lacking. There was no bottled water in the room, no toilet roll, and the toiletries were not filled up, as well as not enough milk or tea provided for two guests over a two-night stay. These are not extras, they are standard provisions that should already be in place. I raised concerns with reception during my stay, after waiting in a long queue of other complaining guests, but nothing was resolved. I was later told these issues had not been logged, which is not my responsibility as a guest. There is also no air conditioning, which made the room very uncomfortable in extremely warm weather. Additionally, the EV chargers in the car park were not available to use, despite being present. The hotel does not reflect the standard shown in its marketing. The images online are misleading and look almost AI-generated compared to the actual condition of the rooms and facilities. Breakfast was very busy with long waits. Even when arriving at 7:30, there were no eggs available and we had to wait around 20 minutes after plating up our food until they were ready. The entire hotel needs refurbishment, apart from the downstairs dining and lounge areas, which feels misleading. As soon as you step into the corridors, you are met with dark, dingy spaces and dated carpet. The swimming pool was poor and needs retiling throughout. Other guests were wearing inappropriate clothing in the pool and walking around naked in the changing rooms, which I found very uncomfortable, especially for families. Overall, this was a very disappointing experience and the management response afterwards was poor. I would not return. I have proceeded to obtain a refund with my bank due to management’s lack of response.