De Vere Royal Bath

What can I say about this hotel, well I am familiar with Bournemouth and was thinking that it would be a nice place to stay, the internet pics looked good and as its October I didn't really worry about the weather after all I was paying for a 4 star hotel for my anniversary. Well the internet pics are a lie, the hotel is in such poor state when it rained the foyer was flooded with water and no attempt was being made to sort the situation just buckets placed to catch the rain drops. This was what I walked into when we arrived at the hotel. So first impression was not good. I have stayed at other DeVeres and this one was being touted as a DeVere Deluxe, anything but deluxe. After being ignored by the receptionist for about 5 mins I was able to check in. I was offered room 43 then told that I was going to room 263 instead. We took our swipe cards and made our way up to our room, by the way my wife is pregnant and we had a few bags with us, nobody offered to help us with our bags. We found our room and the swipe keys didn't work, I tried about 6-7 times then had to make my way back to reception again, where the receptionist asked somebody to come up with me to check the door. He tried as many times as I had and only finally did it after about 5 more minutes. Well once in the room we just stared at disbelief, the room was incredibly small, most of it was taken up by the bed. Outside the window was scaffolding of which we hadn't been told about prior to booking, the windows were rotten and you could feel the draught coming straight through them, there wasn't much point in the windows being closed. So we called reception and told them that the room was not good enough and we requested another, they were able to do this but only if we were to upgrade as the only rooms they had were suites. We agreed and moved to a suite, which was alot better but bear in mind we had to pay extra for this. So we got into the suite which looked great two rooms one bedroom and one lounge. The Bathroom window was open so i tried to shut it, couldn't do that it just kept sliding down leaving it wide open for the rain to pour in, there was a similar problem in the lounge one of the big windows was stuck open so a nice cold breeze blew in all evening. the heating never came on and my wife and I decided to go to the bar just to get out of the room. The bar was pleasant and we were well looked after there. We decided to get room service and this took 1 hour to turn up. and was cold. We decided to get room service for breakfast. well that was terrible, one egg, one bacon rasher, one sausage, with mushroom and tomato. we had ordered toast which didn't turn up and two cereals which only one turned up. Also only on teabag in the pot when two people were drinking from it that is not 4 star. We decided enough is enough and left, we paid our bill and went home. I would advise against staying in this hotel until they smarten up there act as it is not a DeVere, a Travelodge would have been better.

Hotel booked at last minute on Laterooms at one third of normal price. We enjoyed our stay and felt that at this reduced rate we had very good value for money with an excellent location and pleasant, if small, grounds.The leisure facilities were adequate and clean, but like much of the hotel, were in need of an update. We enjoyed two dinners in the restaurant, and whilst the ambience was pleasant, the meal was only average. Breakfast was generous self service with poor coffee. The bar was operated very efficiently although prices were high. We would stay again at a reduced rate but feel thehotel does not merit the normal rate. was not

The hotel still has a faded elegance and a quirky layout. The first room allocated was plagued by continuous dripping plumbing and we had to move. The second overlooked the Bath Road and this is not a quiet thoroughfare at any time of day or night. The majority of the staff seem not to have English as their first language but nevertheless they were helpful and courteous. Appalling weather may have have played a part in our slightly downbeat assessment of the hotel but it does have an excellent location and a certain charm that provides good value for money.

Very good value for money in a convenient location for all amenities. Stayed here with my 87 year old mother and found all staff helpful, warm and friendly. Valet parking a nuisance if you need the car in a hurry at busy times of day.

We weren't warned about valet parking which cost £15 and took us by surprise, because of location of Hotel parking is near impossible on a busy day.