The expression 'it is what it is' is oft used these days and seems made for Holiday Inns, Travelodges, Premier Inns etc. The general gist being, you get what you pay for; don't stay in a budget hotel and expect premium. To be honest, the hotel was absolutely fine. Yes it's a bit rough around the edges and the rooms were old and worn, however it's location is very good and the breakfast was surprisingly enjoyable. I probably wouldn't have bothered writing a review were it not for the pool. This was actually one of the main reason we booked the hotel; it was one night away with the kids and the bonus of having a pool always keeps them happy. The warning signs were there in the changing rooms which looked iffy but when you dip your toe in the pool and it's a pleasurable warm, you dismiss the worries. That is until you ease yourself into the pool, look into the water and realise the deep blue colour is actually caused by the amount of dirt floating in the pool. I raised my hand out of the water at one point to wave at my family and had several strands of hair (not my own) hanging off it. Have you seen the remake of National Lampoons Vacation when they accidentally go swimming in a cesspool. Ok ok I'm exaggerating but you get the point. I don't know whether the filter wasn't working properly - I know nothing about pool maintenance - but in my experience I feel it shouldn't be difficult to make pool water cleaner than that. As we all agreed, I could have handled swimming in cleaner colder water so Holiday Inn please turn down the temperature and what money you save, spend it on cleaning up the pool.
98 Reviews