PALACE HOTEL & CASINO

Arrival at this hotel into the car park is like arriving at a bomb site. The carpark is set between a 1960’s building, that needs pulling down and rebuilding, and waste land, apparently, where a dance hall was pulled down decades ago! The view from the room was great with doors, when opened, where you could hear the sea and the bed was very comfortable. Those were the good points and our main reason for booking it. As for the rest: - leaving reception you enter a warren to find the lifts and where once it was open and bright leading to the Round Bar is now just walls and doors marked private or with furniture stacked. - The signage for bingo, casino and in-house catering and general appearance are cheap and nasty helping to make you think you are in a run down town in the North of England. - The main front entrance is highlighted by the in-house Chinese restaurant where the outdoor seating area is caged like a prison and there is a chair with stuffing coming out. - The room was on the small size and bathroom was so small only one person could be in it physically and turn around. - The bath/shower tap needed Herculean strength to switch between filling the bath and using the overhead shower - a task I could only manage once! - The toilet flush (a button) took several attempts to work and once literally took five minutes pushing before it would flush! - The tv was small with only basic channels despite being a “Smart TV”! - With no notice at booking or in the hotel, we found out that housekeeping go home at 17.00 and cleaning was “every 3 or 4 days” - in our three nights it was never cleaned! - The carpets throughout looked dirty and as if they were the originals! - With all that we found, we didn’t trust or use the catering services! We used the hotel purely to sleep in leaving to find breakfast and coming back after dinner. Talking with Manx residents they were staggered we had booked there and comments I read on Facebook, whilst staying, backed this up. I cannot understand why a brand like Best Western is associated with this 1960’s hotel that has been changed, for the worst, by successive owners and provides such poor service to its customers. We would never return and l would rate the hotel as a one star and advise no one to book in to it!

Great value, panoramic views of Douglas Bay from my 2/F sea view room, balcony unexpected bonus. Quiet - no noise from casino or bar. Looky's food was good, sea views. Used pool and sauna every day., staff very helpful there. They lend towels for returnable deposit. If you're on a tight budget, Spar shop about 3-5 mins walk away, just turn right from front entrance, open until 10pm, big Tescos near steam railway station. Bus stops to/from town very close. Clean spacious room, comfortable bed, bath with shower, loads of towels. Teabags and coffee. Not ultra modern but well equipped. Was nervous as first holiday alone but staff and other guests were pleasant so soon relaxed. Much better than expected after reading other reviews - exceeded expectations. 24 hour room service available, again would not expect that for low price I paid. Building looks ugly from outside, but great value, pleasantly suprised by quality of service, room and breakfast within.

Excellent position. Bit tired internally. Staff very helpful and friendly. Shower a bit low pressure but was on 4th floor. Adequate shall we say. Food excellent. Very clean and tidy