The Colonnade Hotel, Meeting Space

This is an old charming hotel in need of updating , renovations and refurbishment. My room was tidy, though an ensuite bathroom up 6 steep stairs was not the best, but doable. Furniture all old walls and decor tired but functioning. Room heating had to be switched in manually , television small but adequate , tea / coffee available and kettle worked. Ensuite upstairs small and my legs collided with he heating rail, shower had no hot water , the face basin did have hot water but drained very slowly.

The front desk staff offered a polite welcome, but in general the hotel is unfortunately overshadowed by its dated facilities. While the room was commendably clean, the hotel's vintage aesthetic felt more tired than timeless. This was particularly evident in climate control unit, which seemed to circulate dust. I opted to forgo using it, preferring the chill. While retaining a touch of old-world charm, The Colonnade would greatly benefit from a significant refurbishment, including the installation of a lift and a modernised climate control system.

I had read many reviews prior to coming here - many were negative because of the outdated building, others positive as it had a charm. Initially as we came in we experienced the charm of an aged building, the reception was nice and so was the main room, then we entered the bathroom - a thin strip, when sat on the toilet your head an knees touching the wall, a dirty shower with a horrible dirty curtain. The shower also wasn't heating at first - I tried to run it for longer but it started flooding, who knows when the drain was last cleaned. I tried calling reception but the phone wouldn't work. When I went down they said to run it for 4 min, after informing them of the flooding, they came up and indeed the water wasn't heating. I was then informed they were going to check something and if it was fine the water should be hot in 20 min - they never came back but alas we now had hot water. There was one socket to use in the room that wasn't plugged into appliances in use.The breakfast was the biggest disappointment. In reception I had seen that they charge 9.95 for it, ours was included and goodness, if I'd paid for it I'd have been even angrier. There was no hot drinks, some cheap floppy bread with a toaster, slices of ham and cheese and jam and some cereal. I saw people with croissants but there was none left by the time I had gone down. This was just not acceptable and in no way 4 * hotel effort. I have since read up on ratings of hotels and this one doesn't even meet 2* hotel requirements so I don't really understand why they are advertising themselves as 2*. One positive thing I can say is the staff are nice and the bedroom part of the room is fine, but other than that I wouldn't recommend staying here unless they have a big refurb soon.