To be frank I chose this hotel purely on its proximity to where I needed to be for a training course. I was a little worried about what to expect given the number of times that the word 'budget' is mentioned in the hotel's own material; together with the fact that it was half the price of the last hotel I stayed in.

As I was pulling up to the hotel, it was pretty dark and the area seemed a little oppressive. The high fence around it and bright lights were reminiscent of a prison movie I saw once but when I got into the car park and saw it was just like an American motel, it brought a smile to my face. Hey, I've never been to America and I'm easily pleased.

Anyway, it was all positive from there on. All the staff were friendly, keen to please and referred to me by name for the whole stay. The Spanish lady cooking the food did an excellent curry and spaghetti bolognese and all the ingredients seemed very fresh. The place had the air of a small, family run hotel to me.

The room was fine. Basic sounds like not a good enough description; but nothing fancy. The bed was huge and comfortable. The shower had hot water and excellent pressure. No little bottles of shampoo or anything... just one of those soap dispensers on the wall, which I think are better for the environment anyway.

The only downside was that the heating was provided by a wall heater. Although you could control the temperature on it, it was automatically switched off at about 11pm and on again at about 5am. I stayed on one of the coldest days of the year so far and I was absolutely freezing in the night. I asked for an additional heater but unfortunately they had none, so they put an extra duvet on my bed instead which helped. For that reason alone, I would think twice about staying here again in the dead of winter.

Overall, excellent service and splendid value for the price