Luckily, the reviews below are now out of date as The George Hotel had a brand new owner back in January and the place has now been given a new lease of life.

I stayed at The George for the weekend a couple of weeks ago and must say that for the price I honestly don't think we could have got much better. As there were five of us (two adults, two children and a small baby), we went for a family room which cost just £75 per night. We were provided with a 'Z' bed free of charge and staff also arranged a cot to be placed in the room for the baby.

The room was lovely. Huge windows gave us lots of natural light throughout the day, and the neutral decoration meant the room felt light and airy even in the evening when we had the lights on. The beds were comfortable and spotlessly clean; the linen provided was perfect for the warm summer nights and it all had that newly washed feel which is so welcome when you come to get into bed.

There was a nice quality colour TV in the room, as well as a direct dial phone and tea and coffee-making facilities. The bathroom we were using was located very close to the room, so close that I had no qualms at all about the children going to use the loo on their own. This bathroom was spotlessly clean with a modern and attractive design, it was a spacious enough room for me to take the baby in with me and also for the older kids' to accompany me allowing us all to get washed and dressed quickly ready to go out exploring.

The Lounge is the lovely room where breakfast is served (your room rate now includes a full English breakfast on each morning of your stay), and I found it was a great place to people watch as the large sash windows look directly out over the High Street. The breakfast is worth a mention as it was absolutely huge and brilliantly cooked - my 11 year old usually eats like a bird and she managed to munch her way through this massive meal because it tasted so good!

We ate in the Squires Restaurant and every meal was delicious. The menu is extensive and adventurous; the warm Salmon Salad is gorgeous - I never thought salad veg could taste so good! Prices are very reasonable for the type of restaurant, the choice and quality of the food makes Squires the 'Home of Quality British Food'. The atmosphere in the restaurant is lovely too; the room has original beams and traditional fixtures and furnishings making it seem a very historical feeling dining experience. The Sunday Carvery is excellent with fresh joints of meat and a wide selection of potatoes and veg for you to help yourself to.

We used 'Georgies Bar', the in-house pub, quite a bit during our stay and I loved the place. In stark contrast to the more formal atmosphere in Squires, the Bar is much more trendy and upbeat. Sky Sports or one of the music channels was usually showing while we were in there, and my other half was impressed with the pool table - although after a day of walking around Kettering I was personally more impressed with the squishy leather sofas and a cocktail!

The staff were without fail fantastic - looking at the reviews below I can only imagine the new owner has recruited 100% new people to work at The George Hotel! From the receptionist to the chambermaid to the chef I really can't fault anyone. The staff were all friendly and helpful and seemed genuinely happy in the roles within the hotel. Any questions I had were answered straightaway and I was pleasantly surprised at how helpful the staff were with any problems or difficulties that arose - the main one being how was I going to make up the baby's milk in our room, easily solved with a quick walk to reception and a friendly and efficient receptionist.

There are live gigs at The George Hotel; two upcoming ones are Nowtown without Mowtown which promises to be a tribute to motown and soul being held on 26th October and Badness, a Madness tribute band, are playing on 23rd November.

I know in the past people have recorded bad experiences of The George Hotel, but I'm glad I didn't read those before my visit as I doubt I would have booked. As it was, we all had a fantastic time and The George really enhanced our visit to Kettering. It's comfortable enough to be able to spend some time in your room or make use of The Lounge, and is central enough for you to simply use the hotel as your base for travelling around Northamptonshire and beyond. The choice, as they say, is yours.

If your looking for somewhare to spend time at then this probably isn't the hotel for you. For a base to sleep at it is cheap and clean, is central and has free parking. All this at a price that is hard to beat

THIS 'HOTEL' SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN IMMEDIATELY. It is absolutely the worst place imaginable. I am a frequent visitor to Kettering due to business and always stay in the Kettering Park (beautiful 4*Spa hotel). On this occasion the Park was fully booked due to a Robbie Williams concert so the George was the only hotel with a room available. I knew that it wasn't going to be great however I never expected such a place to be open for business. What can I say without being rude.... The place is not fit to be an animal shelter. The rooms are dingy and smelly. As soon as the taxi pulled up outside, I knew that I would not be staying. Out of curiosity, I took my key and went to see the room allocated to me. Oh to have had a camera! The first thing to hit you is the smell, then the bed crammed up against the wall with a filthy looking blanket on it. The room did not even have en-suite facilities; in fact, the nearest bathroom was on the other side of the hotel! The staff were NOT welcoming, friendly or accommodating!!! I asked to see the Manager and was informed that there is no Manager! I checked out immediately and told them that I would be sending the Health Inspectors out to close them down. The guy in reception found that comment to be hilarious......... I rest my case......

We stayed for 3 nights while visiting family in Kettering. We booked the Lodge rooms as they were supposed to be bigger than other double rooms and, on checking in, the Receptionist confirmed that we were in one of the larger rooms. I don't know how large their normal-sized double rooms are, but I expected to at least be able to walk around the bed and this was not possible. The gap between the bed and the wall was less than a foot wide and consequently there was no bedside table on that side. The bathroom was also small, but adequate, although the hot water was never 'hot'. The tv was old - the basic 4 channels and no Teletext; no radio, a telephone that wouldn't communicate with other rooms even when connected via Reception. The Staff were generally helpful and friendly, but the Bar Staff need more training, particularly in glass-washing. The first night, my daughter was given a dirty wine glass, which was exchanged as if it were a joke; the Barman didn't know that my daughter had supervised bigger and better bars than the one at the George, and would have been mortified if a customer had been given such a glass. Unfortunately the same thing happened on the last night, when my husband and I went to the bar and I was given a glass that had obviously not been cleaned properly after tomato juice or something similar. As the bar had been closed promptly at 9.30 pm, it had to be opened again to search for a clean glass. This might be understandable in a busy bar, but there were very few customers, and on the first night we thought there were no Bar Staff until one stood up from the table near the window where 3 of them were drinking . . . . On a good note, the breakfasts are good and plentiful (but serving stopped promptly at 9.30 am and one had the impression of the Staff being eager to clear up and finish their shift).