I originally thought I would rate this place as average considering the price but then I discovered that my colleague, who had booked earlier for the conference we were attending, was paying a similar price for the Hotel Bloom opposite which, when I saw the facilities and room, was far superior in every way.

The good points were a very friendly welcome from the reception staff and a reasonable breakfast with fresh fruit including strawberries, good pastries and an OK coffee machine (I much prefer the Nespresso machines which are now becoming popular in many mid-range hotels).

The room, well it was faded and rather cramped, I could hardly pull the chair out when sat at the desk in front of the bed to work on my laptop, it had a large but dated bathroom with a huge corner bath. I find it strange that hotels like this have the inevitable sign asking you to 'help the environment' by not having all the towels washed and then include a massive water and power waster in the shape of an oversized bath and a 'trendy' square wash basin where you have to use a lot of extra water just to fill it up enough for a wash and shave.

The real negative was a very outdated toilet - yes it had been cleaned but it was badly stained and looked inherently grubby, pretty revolting...why on earth not replace this for relatively little money, I wondered? Finally, as with other reviewers, I found the fittings and tiles dated and depressing and there were small signs in all the corners of the room and bathroom that suggested they had not really been cleaned thoroughly.

So, needless to say, I spent most of my time at Hotel Bloom and will make sure I book in better time in future so I can give this place a miss.