This hotel is built on top of Central Station and in the centre of town – perfect location.
The size of the rooms (Victorian – 12 ft high ceilings etc) and bathroom especially were impressive – that’s where it stops! The former grandness of the hotel and the central stairway is in contrast to the way this place has been left to decline. I reckon most of the hotel hasn’t been touched for 5 years, some of it more than 10 in terms of maintenance/decoration. The dreadful reception, grubby public rooms & bars, taped up carpet rips, holed walls, battered doors cry out for what would actually be a very expensive refit. I didn’t see any evidence of the lauded refurbishment, although I didn’t go exploring.
The advertised TV access was limited to about 6 channels, most of which had so much background crackle and hiss the program was near impossible to watch. Very limited PlayStation games were expensive, didn’t look at movies.
Internet access in wide open reception was chargeable – no wireless, trouser press & iron/ironing board nowhere to be seen.
The place is generally hot & stuffy (June – would be freezing in winter no doubt), especially the cranky old lifts, no air-con, my room faced a brick wall with very little light ingress. The water in my bathroom was tainted with the flavour of past sell-by-date pipework and a sticker proclaimed ‘be patient with hot water – large building’ !!!
The well equipped but small gym (4 runners, 3 steppers, 4 rowers, lots of weight machines) and pool, is down a long, smelly and dingy corridor, where the light fittings hanging from the ceiling in places.
Breakfast was indifferent, as were the mostly foreign staff, food distinctly average.
I felt embarrassed for the overseas visitors here, thinking that this dump was their first taste of Scotland. I would rather walk the 15 minutes up the hill to the Novotel than stay here again.

(1 vote)







