York Pavilion Hotel, Exclusive Hire

Rooms were comfortable and quiet (but very old fashioned and a little run down). Clean enough. Lovely surroundings. Only a 5 minute taxi journey into York town centre. Main issue was breakfast. Took ages for our order to be taken. When food came, both our full breakfasts had items we requested not to have. Unfortunately, the items we did eat were tasteless which was a let down.

Reception: Friendly staff but the way that full payment was requested on check in, and any purchases made during the stay (bar, dinner) was encouraged to be paid for when taken and not put on a room bill to pay at check out. Card was also pre authorised (for one pence) so we can be charged after we have left “if there is any damage to our room” Made us feel like some sort of criminal. Room 51: Clean and comfy but outdated and in need of a refresh. The en-suite was tired and needs decorating (paint peeling off, door sticking, lots of screw holes from previous locks). Also, we realise this is an old building but to hear so much from adjoining rooms is poor. The guy in the next room coughing and sneezing sounded like he was in with us. Breakfast/Dinner: The food was lovely and the waiting staff friendly. But, the delay between sitting down and receiving the meal was ridiculous. At dinner the waitress apologised and said there was only one person in the kitchen and they were ‘busy with bar diners’. She offered another piece of bread whilst waiting! Sorry, but a 60+ room hotel that also encourages walk ins needs to be better staffed in the kitchen. It wasn’t just us, all of the diners obviously thought the same. At breakfast we sat down at 9.00 then waited 45 minutes for breakfast to be served. There were no cups for coffee and when we asked the waiter brought out 4 cups and said there were no more! Really, not enough cups! And you really should be offering nicer bread, cheap sliced loaves are not a good standard for your hotel. Car Park: We weren’t going to mention the daily £10 charge as other reviewers have said all about that. However we must! We were lucky to get a space on arrival and there is no alternative place to park. The surface is quite muddy and clearly doesn’t drain too well. Manoeuvring around trees and bushes is ridiculous. And to top it all we were blocked in by one of many white vans when we wanted to leave. Obviously the thousands of pounds taken per year is not invested in parking. So, a very generous two stars unfortunately, you could do much better. As Best Western members we were very disappointed.