Your worst hotel...
Discussion
Chelsea Cloisters in, surprisingly enough, Chelsea.
From the DSS tenants in half the rooms to the bouncers on the door and the Rolls outside. Throw in the sheer uncleanliness of it and the broken hearing and I walked, despite the best attempts of said bouncers to intimidate me into staying. Only time I've ever done that.
Straight onto the web and I got a great last minute, cut price room in the Crown Plaza in Victoria there and then.
Learned an important lesson about the importance of planning and the value of cheapness.
From the DSS tenants in half the rooms to the bouncers on the door and the Rolls outside. Throw in the sheer uncleanliness of it and the broken hearing and I walked, despite the best attempts of said bouncers to intimidate me into staying. Only time I've ever done that.
Straight onto the web and I got a great last minute, cut price room in the Crown Plaza in Victoria there and then.
Learned an important lesson about the importance of planning and the value of cheapness.
I had no idea Britannia hotels were so widely awful. My worst hotel was one work put me in, granted at short notice.
And not surprisingly it's the same brand...
I see in the intervening 15 years it hasn't improved...
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g528793...
I was binged in a single somewhere up in the rafters. All the restaurants were closed, the room was tiny. The amount of dust was horrendous.
Other highlights included everything being hardwired. I mean everything - kettle, TV, hairdryer and not a spare socket in the room to be found - you couldn't charge phone / laptop.
Luckily it was only a single night.
And not surprisingly it's the same brand...
I see in the intervening 15 years it hasn't improved...
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g528793...
I was binged in a single somewhere up in the rafters. All the restaurants were closed, the room was tiny. The amount of dust was horrendous.
Other highlights included everything being hardwired. I mean everything - kettle, TV, hairdryer and not a spare socket in the room to be found - you couldn't charge phone / laptop.
Luckily it was only a single night.
RonaldMcDonaldAteMyCat said:
I stopped at the Caledonian in Ullapool last year. Twas a dump. Didn't really matter, as it was a place to get my head down after dinner and a couple of pints before an early start. Wouldn't want to stop there as part of a trip with the missus, though. Inside it was like it had been closed for two years and left to the elements.
We were there 2 months ago - a pretty poor experience TBH (the staff were lovely though). I still can't get over the fact they were charging £100 per night (with breakfast), I'd have felt it was poor value at less than half the price.Not the worst place I've stayed however. That 'honour' went to a no name dive in the Czech Republic, we'd broken down and needed something overnight. Bobbly, holey, nylon sheets on beds bolted to the floor/wall. The bar/restaurant was a miasma of cigarettes & cigars - it felt like a scene from a 70's mob film
I’ve fallen for the Britannia trap - twice.
One near Manchester airport, which was included as part of a package deal - b&b for the night and 10 days parking. I spent the whole holiday fearful of what I’d come back to as the car park had more broken glass than tarmac.
Second time was in Brighton, a lovely building opposite the pier, but an absolute hell hole.
One near Manchester airport, which was included as part of a package deal - b&b for the night and 10 days parking. I spent the whole holiday fearful of what I’d come back to as the car park had more broken glass than tarmac.
Second time was in Brighton, a lovely building opposite the pier, but an absolute hell hole.
The Ibis Budget at Coquelles Calais is, quite simply, the most horrendous excuse for a 'hotel' I have ever had the unfortunate (& unavoidable) displeasure of staying in. I couldn't careless what TripAdvisor tells you about this place (i've never looked), but your better off sleeping in your car / on the pavement / directly adjacent refugee camp.
Seems there is a common theme here. A few years ago I worked in a very nice hotel in Aberdeen at the peak of the oil boom. It used to be that mid week when the rigs changed over you couldn't get a room in town for love nor money, so we used to keep track of what other hotels had rooms so we could direct people there if needs be.
The one place that was consistently bottom of the list was here:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186487...
I heard many stories from rig workers about how terrible it was, several companies refused to send their staff there and instead would put them in taxis and send them miles out of town. We used to read the tripadvisor reviews for comedy value during quiet periods! Amazed it is still in business.
The one place that was consistently bottom of the list was here:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186487...
I heard many stories from rig workers about how terrible it was, several companies refused to send their staff there and instead would put them in taxis and send them miles out of town. We used to read the tripadvisor reviews for comedy value during quiet periods! Amazed it is still in business.
tribalsurfer said:
Casa Del Sol motel in Carpinteria, CA. Just looked it up and it looks like it's been done up but in 2010 it was awful. Only place in the town that had any rooms. Came back after dinner to a Police Raid. Only 1 light worked in the 2 bed suite. Bed must have been from 1900 and a strong musty smell. It was only for one night so stuck with it. On a positive just up the road was one of the best Mexican Cantina's I've been to.
Crapinterior, CA ... shoot me nowI stayed in a hostel called the Adam & Eve Guest House Amsterdam way back in 1997/8 ish. The best bit was the toilets were not included in the price and had a coin mechanism on the door, kind of like on a pool table, so to piss you had to put a 5 guilder (I think) coin in.
I stayed in a beach hut in Goa in 1999 that did not have any running water the toilet was literally a hole in ground outside. There was a vine snake living in the roof, he would come out each night and catch geckos. It did cost about £8 a WEEK!
I stayed in a beach hut in Goa in 1999 that did not have any running water the toilet was literally a hole in ground outside. There was a vine snake living in the roof, he would come out each night and catch geckos. It did cost about £8 a WEEK!
bristolbaron said:
I’ve fallen for the Britannia trap - twice.
One near Manchester airport, which was included as part of a package deal - b&b for the night and 10 days parking. I spent the whole holiday fearful of what I’d come back to as the car park had more broken glass than tarmac.
Second time was in Brighton, a lovely building opposite the pier, but an absolute hell hole.
My 2 Britannia Hotels experiences go against the grain.One near Manchester airport, which was included as part of a package deal - b&b for the night and 10 days parking. I spent the whole holiday fearful of what I’d come back to as the car park had more broken glass than tarmac.
Second time was in Brighton, a lovely building opposite the pier, but an absolute hell hole.
They were excellent. The room huge and spotless. I couldn't find fault.
The public areas were a bit shabby. Didn't risk eating in the Scarborough one
nikaiyo2 said:
I stayed in a beach hut in Goa in 1999 that did not have any running water the toilet was literally a hole in ground outside. There was a vine snake living in the roof, he would come out each night and catch geckos. It did cost about £8 a WEEK!
I stayed in one that had a toilet shack with a gutter that just let everything slide under the wall into the pig pen. The euphemism we had for a dump was "just off to feed the pigs..." 
The worst I've known was a filthy, roach infested working man's hostel in Sudan. Utterly grim.
The hotel was okayish but the experience was dire. We received an invitation to a wedding at a hotel and immediately rang to book a nice room. A couple of months later when the day arrived we travelled up, checked in and were led round a labyrinth to a really crap room. Back to reception to complain and point out we'd booked a nice room months ago and paid a deposit we were told, "Priority goes to guests who book closer to the date." They were unable to give us a better room so we cancelled and drove back home after the reception.
A sober reception for me.
A sober reception for me.
SD_1 said:
Seems there is a common theme here. A few years ago I worked in a very nice hotel in Aberdeen at the peak of the oil boom. It used to be that mid week when the rigs changed over you couldn't get a room in town for love nor money, so we used to keep track of what other hotels had rooms so we could direct people there if needs be.
The one place that was consistently bottom of the list was here:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186487...
I heard many stories from rig workers about how terrible it was, several companies refused to send their staff there and instead would put them in taxis and send them miles out of town. We used to read the tripadvisor reviews for comedy value during quiet periods! Amazed it is still in business.
I had a friend stay there during an extended period of extreme fog offshore (7+days of almost no flights). People were paying ridiculous prices as everywhere was booked solid. I know someone who paid 360 quid to stay in a room at that Britannia! Pure corporate theft. The one place that was consistently bottom of the list was here:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186487...
I heard many stories from rig workers about how terrible it was, several companies refused to send their staff there and instead would put them in taxis and send them miles out of town. We used to read the tripadvisor reviews for comedy value during quiet periods! Amazed it is still in business.
RichTT said:
I had a friend stay there during an extended period of extreme fog offshore (7+days of almost no flights). People were paying ridiculous prices as everywhere was booked solid. I know someone who paid 360 quid to stay in a room at that Britannia! Pure corporate theft.
That was the case everywhere midweek at the time, I wouldn't be surprised if some people paid more than that still. A room that the place I worked at that sold for £180 a night at the weekend was going for £400+ during the week. The people at the oil and gas companies didn't care, you would frequently get phone calls saying "how many rooms do you have, we will take them all" and that was that. Now that it has quietened down substantially even before covid I am amazed the Britannia has managed to stay in business.
A double room in Singapore where i could (easily) touch all four walls at once, when laid on the bed.
Or maybe the hotel on a Fijian island that had two toilets, but only one cistern, which was moved between the toilets when one got clogged. Also worth mentioning that the shower only had a shower curtain to keep it private from the hallway.
Or maybe the hotel on a Fijian island that had two toilets, but only one cistern, which was moved between the toilets when one got clogged. Also worth mentioning that the shower only had a shower curtain to keep it private from the hallway.
ChocolateFrog said:
Worst I've stayed in was in San Francisco.
We were touring round the west coast on a budget. Typically staying $50 a night motels, which on the whole were ok.
We didn't realise you don't get much for your $50 in SF. Turns out it was some sort of hostel for drug addicts and I'm not talking your occasional dope smoker, these were full on homeless heroin addicts.
We arrived too late to do anything about it, think we stayed 6 or 7 hours but would have been better sleeping in the hire car.
Clouded my opinion of SF as I still think the place is a s
thole.
It cost us that much in SF to park our car for the night!We were touring round the west coast on a budget. Typically staying $50 a night motels, which on the whole were ok.
We didn't realise you don't get much for your $50 in SF. Turns out it was some sort of hostel for drug addicts and I'm not talking your occasional dope smoker, these were full on homeless heroin addicts.
We arrived too late to do anything about it, think we stayed 6 or 7 hours but would have been better sleeping in the hire car.
Clouded my opinion of SF as I still think the place is a s
thole. surveyor said:
Now I’m not going to name and shame, but I am going to to post a link to the tripadvisor reviews..
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g190764...
To be fair, your linked hotel is ranked 22 out of 23 in Warrington, so there is one worse!https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g190764...
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