Novotel Milton Keynes, Willen

My room was quite big and I had everything I needed for a comfortable stay there. The room service was satisfactory as well, I enjoyed the use of the gym and was impressed with the warm pool. Great ambiance and serenity was a constant which helped to provide a peaceful experience and great sleep. Will surely be returning soon.

The room and the hotel is nice, however when we stayed it was full of Irish travellers. The children kept running up and down the hallways and knocking on peoples doors in the middle of the night. They were also making remarks about passing people and causing chaos in the lifts. It would’ve been nice if the staff had put measures into place and stop them from doing it as they were running around the lobby, being loud and disturbing guests as they walk in. The room a few doors down were also shouting constantly throughout the night, we woke up early around 5am due to the kids running around. When we walked through the hallways there were drawing pins and forks on the floor which is a safety hazard.

The vast majority of the staff have been super friendly and just lovely. Literally only one member of staff did not match this criteria. I ordered a meal to include a 'rocket salad’, when the 'rocket salad' arrived, it was literally just 'rocket' and had cheese on top. Nowhere on the menu was cheese mentioned and neither did the words “cheese” leave my mouth when I ordered it as I do not eat cheese and even if I did, I did not request nor order cheese. Instead of this staff member apologizing for his mistake and taking it away. His response was, and I quote "I did ask you if you had any allergies" to which I responded, I am NOT allergic to cheese. I just don't eat it! The lesson here is... please detail the ingredients if they are NOT naturally part of a dish listed on the menu, also please identify when you are clearly in the wrong and take accountability. It’s part of being a mature adult and it’s definitely part of professionalism. Also is JUST 'rocket' your definition of a salad? Maybe the menu ought to have said rocket leaves! And for the price of it, I could have easily driven to the local Tesco's and picked up a couple of bags, incorporated the cost of petrol, and still have been quids in! The last disappointing straw... I purchased a takeaway, and approached the same staff member behind the bar (I don't know why I asked, as I just knew that common sense would not prevail!). I asked for a plate, so that I could take it to my room (Not that I needed to explain myself) and the response from the staff member was “where did you get the food? I responded by saying “outside” to which he replied, “I can't give you a plate!!! I do appreciate that your restaurant is in the business of making money, the fact that I purchased the food outside, means you had already lost that money anyway, so to speak. Therefore, not allowing me to use one of your plates makes no logical sense! Especially as I wasn’t planning to sit in the restaurant. So maybe advising me not to sit in the restaurant would have been more courteous and professional. When I approached another staff member to request a cup, there were no questions asked... Incidentally, the reason why I needed that cup was because the cups in our room were unfortunately not changed. I could have complained about that, instead of using my common sense and just getting another. The money which has been spent on food and drinks here, during our weeks' stay, outweighs the takeaway by far!!! For me, the details matter and the little things count especially treating customers like human beings as opposed to sponsors. Sadly, love nor money would not get me to stay here again.