I booked a 2 night midweek all inclusive stay for my Wife and I on a link through Travelzoo. This all inclusive stay was to include all meals, Breakfast, Lunch and Evening Dinner, tea and coffee during the day from the bar and unlimited house wine and beer with our evening meal and from 7pm-11pm from the bar. Finally there was an option of a free room upgrade subject to availability.

I don't like leaving negative feedback, but I do think that those staying on an all inclusive basis should be made aware of exactly what they are getting for their money before parting with it. That way there are no suprises, I admit I did take one of the issues for granted but I think most people would have done the same.

On arrival we headed straight to reception and checked in, I requested the free room upgrade but was told they had 1 room left and we would have to wait an hour in reception to see if it was going to be taken or if we could have it per request ( so could have waited an hour to end up with the same room we could have had an hour before ). I had just driven for 2hrs 30 mins, so we decided to just take the room that was available and have a nap. Now I don't know how many Executive Rooms or Suites this hotel has, but we stayed Wednesday to Thursday and when we had Breakfast, Evening Dinner or we were sat in the Bar having a drink, there was never more than 10 people in the same room. So all Exec Rooms and Suites were fully booked?, yeah right!!!.

Now for the meals, the breakfast was pretty good with plenty of choice from Croissants, lot's of choice of cereals, fruit and a Full English ( comes with Black Pudding, just incase you don't like it ). We didn't have Lunch at all, this break was to recharge the batteries so this was when we had a nap. The Triple Decker Sandwiches available at Lunch Time sounded great though. Evening Dinner was available from 6.30pm and as we were staying on an all inclusive basis, we were handed a paper menu with 3 courses on it and 3 choices per course. We were allowed to choose 2 of the courses, if we wanted a third we had to pay an extra £5.00 each ( not something we had an issue with, just something people should be aware of ). On the first night I had Ardennes Pate for Starter and then Battered Cod with Chunky Chips, Peas and a Tartare Sauce, both were tasty and the main was piping hot ( great ). Both of these were available on the 2nd night of our stay aswell though, so that didn't leave me with a lot of choice as I wanted something different. Service at our table on both days was very good indeed, I witnessed our same waiter, wait on a table on the 2nd night where the guests had had a few and he had the patience of a saint. A little tip in the evening would be to enjoy the unlimited Wine at your Dinner table as the glasses are twice the size of those at the Bar.

Now onto the Bar, this is where I took something for granted. We were allowed unlimited Wine and Beer from 7pm-11pm, I expected this to include Cider but no it was exactly what it said on the tin. The Drinks included were the house wine ( which was pretty good ), Becks by the Tap and one of the Bitters on Tap. They did have Gaymers on Tap, this could be included in the all inclusive Bar offer. The thing is you have to offer the choice, I would much rather have a cheap Cider than an expensive Lager cos I don't like Lager. We used the Bar during the day aswell and had a couple of hot drinks which were presented superbly on a triangular saucer with a little biscuit on the side. Another tip here, my Wife drinks black coffee and I forgot to mention this 1st time ( the result was she ended up with a better coffee in a Cafetiere, as the milk comes in a jug separately ). If you order a black coffee you will end up with a perculated coffee and let's just say my Wife's face when she took a sip was a treat.

We used the Health Facilities once and IMO they are pretty poor. The Gym has 2 Treadmills, 2 Cross Trainers, 2 Exercise Bikes, 1 Rowing machine a Weights bench ( plenty of weights ) and a Lateral Pull Down Bar. The triangular shaped pool was very small, maybe 20-25ft long at it's longest point, useless if you are looking to swim lengths. The highlight of using these facilities though is having to walk from the changing rooms, through the gym to get to the pool. Something that caught my Wife and the next couple through the Health Facilities doors by total suprise!!!!.

Overall I would say the all inclusive basis needs looked at and whats included, you get the opportunity to choose scrambled or fried eggs at Breakfast, so why not a pint of Beer or Cider in the evening!!??. The room was ok, the carpet was dusty ( had fluff dotted about ), not the cleaners fault as She was lovely, I think it had something to do with the Henry Hoover I stuck in a jumble sale back in the 90's. I wouldn't say this is a 4 star hotel, but with a new gym, pool and a Brand New Dyson for the lovely cleaner then it could well be.