North Beach Hotel

Let's get the postives first: the breakfast was just fine and the member of staff who was on duty was pleasant. The view from the bedroom was superb. However... It took me twenty minutes and a phone call to get checked in - all doors in the reception area were locked and the first number I tried to call was unobtainable. The hotel appeared to be very tired and worn and could do with a facelift. The room was large and the bed was comfortable. The lghting was almost non-existent and there was no bedside light. The window blind was torn - again the place could have done with some TLC -like replacing the wron part of the carpet. Decent enough shower - but very quickly the shower flooded and the bathroom floor was under water. It transpired that the owners of this hotel also own the one a couple of doors down. be warned!

I stayed in this hotel for a business trip and was appalled by the state of the place. On entering my room I was confronted by stained woodchip wallpaper and other outdated décor disasters. The floorboards beneath me were uneven and in some places partly missing (the carpet appeared to be stopping me from falling into the restaurant). Speaking of which the smell of Indian food from the restaurant downstairs is permanently apparent in the rooms to the extent it prevented a good nights sleep. On arrival I had to wait several minutes to be greeted by someone who appeared confused by my arrival despite arriving exactly when stated in the booking. The hotel is set in a fantastic location its a pity the owner is not investing in this hotel in order to get it to a reasonable if not good standard.

It is hard to know where to begin without doubt this Hotel is simply the most awful accommodation we have found here in the UK or abroad on our travels. We arrived Friday late afternoon after a 6 hour drive, the hotel has an Indian restaurant right at its heart. The strong aroma of spices and cooking hit us as we entered Reception, this area serves as the breakfast dining area. Here's where we made a mistake we paid on arrival for two nights - we strongly suggest that if anyone does wish to visit this go and check your room before paying. We were given keys to room 7 - the stairs are steep narrow and gloomy, the smell of spices was not present in the upper corridors. We entered room 7 - there are holes in the wall where someone has it seems punched them. There is a floorboard missing hidden under a very dirty carpet, the room frankly was tiny with a view over a drab building and wasteground (no beach). The walls behind the bed used to be white - there were large patches of brown grimy areas. I sat on the bed the springs gave way - it was well past it's best. The wife checked the bathroom which was in a decent condition of presentation and cleanliness. It was as I sat on the bed I saw countless human hairs on the floor with some toenail clippings. We decided that this hotel was not what we had envisaged at the time of booking and returned to Reception for a refund and departure. The gentleman on the desk informed us we would have to pay one nights fee to cancel. After a short discussion where I had to threaten and pretend to call the Police he reluctantly refunded our money. This is by far our worst hotel experience we will not be returning.