I booked this hotel in a hurry after receiving an e mail from MJB telling me my previous booking had been cancelled due to a payment problem. I was a little concerned when I received an e mail with my 'entrance code', which means the hotel has no on site staff, no reception etc. I arrived at 4pm, which was the agreed arrival time in the e mail, let myself into the hotel and wandered around looking for my room, when I stumbled upon it the door was wedged open and I could see the remains of a KFC and a bottle of vodka on the bedside table. After the train journey I was tempted in all honesty, but I thought better of it in the end. I was intercepted by a young man who had just come running up the stairs and he told me he was cleaning another room and this one was due to be done next; the lad had no uniform or badge to identify him as a member of MJB staff which was a little worrying. I notified MJB by e mail of this, but they never got back to me. I suggested I wait in a pub across the road to which the lad looked relieved.

As it happens I didn't return until later that evening, when I did I found a pokey room, a cheap uncomfortable bed (double), 2 very flat pillows, a wardrobe made from 2 sheets of MDF screwed to the wall to form a box with no front on it?, a window with a rather severe damp problem (see pics), the shower room was clean, although again severe damp around the window and ceiling, the shower still had the last visitors used shampoo sachets in it and the complimentary toiletries consisted of 4 sachets of shampoo scattered across the shelf. There were no additional pillows and no reception to go to in order to ask for more.

I stayed 2 nights. After the first night I was a little apprehensive about leaving my things in the room because of the key code access. When i returned to the room the following evening it was abundently clear that no-one had been in to tidy, everything was exactly where i left it. No change of towels or bed making, and the cup i had used to amke a coffee in was still dirty and on the bedside table.

In defence of this hotel I booked it through laterooms.com and got it for £26 a night which I agree is cheap, however I still feel it is excessive given the standard of the hotel. Having done some research I found the MJB website and the hotel is listed at £90 a night for a double room which actually made me laugh when I read it.

The fire evacuation plan on the back of the door had been screwed into place upside down which exemplifies the slap dash approach to the running of the hotel.

Finally I notice that another reviewer of The Lodge who described it as "Not bad at all" later goes on to say that it "smelled ok". Need I say more?

For the money, convience, free parking and somewhere to lay your head this is a good place.

The room was fine, very clean, warm, and with comfy beds. Smelt ok, decor was well above average. Building was in good shape. 10 minute walk into the City centre. This hotel is slap bang in the centre of the Golden Triangle with some fantastic pubs scattered around. We paid £20 each per night for a totally fine room. Would recommend for that price.

Landed here via a late deal on booking.com for another property owned by MFB. When we got to original destination we found a room with a single bed. As there is no reception staff on site we rang for a resolution to this problem and were only offered to be re-accomodated after some polite insistence on our part. At no time was an apology offered. We were told as it was a late booking and we hadn't specified double or twin it was our fault. This was despite the communication from booking.com clearly specifying the room was for two people.
We were told we could be accomodated at Beeches Lodge, another location nearby (10 min) but far enough away if you have luggage to carry. A key code number is given for entrance via the front door and also to individual rooms. We witnessed how easily the main door is left ajar. No on site personnel means anybody is able to access the site if someone can let them in or give them the code. We wondered how often the door codes are changed. Don't leave valuables in your room.
The room was clean. There were two thin pillows and one thin duvet and clean towels-no extra linen of any form.The TV was functional (tiny and on top of a wall fitting) and the shower and toilet adequate. Kettle, cups x2. No fridge. Positives are it's location- 10 minutes walk from CBD, supermarket next door,cafe,takeaways and two pubs in close proximity. On site parking if you get there early.
Negatives- extremely noisy. Our room was by a door opening into a corridor that banged frrequently throughout the night. This was exacerbated by large group of drunken people on the second night who kept going between each other's rooms and yelling between them also. Traffic noise also carries from Unthank Road.
It was a cheap deal so we weren't expecting too much. We viewed it as the next step up from a back packers dorm which was basically what it was. However MFB responded to our feedback on booking.com in a very defensive manner, again pointing the finger at us for the outcomes. For example no-one else complaining about the noise that night made it our problem, the stuff up with the room was down to us and why were we making a deal about having to locate and get to the new site from the original one when it was still near the city centre? After feeding back via booking.com that their poor effort at customer service would not help them with repeat bookings or business generated by word-of-mouth recommendation we did receive a grudging apology.