I stayed at the Lakes Hotel and Spa as a solo traveller for two nights in mid-August, in a standard double room.
On arrival, I was offered a drink and reception confirmed that I was staying alone. I paid £30 for breakfast (£15 per person for two mornings) and an additional £50 was taken from my card for incidentals.
The room was a good size, but unfortunately very dated. The bathroom was also a good size but again felt very dated. The shower was particularly problematic. It took several minutes for the water to heat up, and once it did, the temperature continually fluctuated from extremely hot to very cold, so I had to keep adjusting it throughout my shower.
The bed was also very uncomfortable. I could feel the springs through the mattress and, when sitting on the edge, the mattress was extremely flat and would almost bounce back up. I didn't get a particularly comfortable night's sleep.
Breakfast was okay, but nothing special. There was a buffet with a selection of hot and cold food, although as a vegetarian I didn't feel there was a particularly good choice. I'm not sure I would pay £15 per person for breakfast again, as the food didn't feel worth the price beyond the convenience of having breakfast at the hotel.
On the first morning, I left some yoghurt and a few other bits, including juice, while I went to get a coffee and pastry. When I returned, my food had been cleared away. I appreciate that I should probably have said I wasn't finished, but I would have expected the staff member to check before clearing a table where food and drinks were still present.
The following morning, I had to wait around five minutes to be seated for breakfast.
Unfortunately, the problems continued when I checked out. Reception initially refunded me only £11.75, as I had been charged £8.25 for a drink. It turned out that an additional £30 had been taken because reception had mistakenly thought there were two guests rather than one, despite confirming this when I arrived.
I had to return to reception to resolve this and then wait around 15 minutes because there was a large party checking in. The reception waiting area is quite small, and although there were other members of reception staff around, I eventually managed to catch the attention of one who came out to help me. I was understandably quite upset by this point, particularly as I had already experienced several issues during my stay.
The member of staff did eventually arrange the £30 refund, and I explained that I hadn't enjoyed my stay and felt the service had been poor.
For a hotel advertised as 5-star, I honestly felt this was more like a 2-star experience. The dated room, uncomfortable bed, unreliable shower, average breakfast and poor service did not feel anywhere near what I would expect from a 5-star hotel.
Overall, I found the stay very disappointing. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend staying here and I would not choose to stay again.
