I called the hotel early evening on Friday 7th October 2011 and reserved a room with the lady at the "Reservation Desk" for Saturday 8th October. As the conversation progressed it became apparent that she was actually awy from the hotel doing her shopping. More about reception later! She took my booking for a doubleroom and then asked for my credit card details. The conversation had been so fragmented and difficult (my 5 character name had been repeated and spelt out 4 times before recognition) I regreted going that far in the process. But, ever persistent, I awaited confirmation of the booking. It came with a twist. I had been reserved in a sister hotel of the Ruskin. Immediately I said thank you, but no thank you. I followed this up with an email confirming that I would not be using the sister hotel. Saturday morning arrived with a call from the same lady. Still with the background noise of the shops but a simple measage this time. A room had become available for me and my wife and would we like to reserve it for the evening. Yes, I did. I agreed and said that I would be in Harrogate by 8pm that night.
So, back to the reception,
We arrived at 8pm and rang the doorbell.. and continued to ring the doorbell and call the hotel number until the electronic lock on the door opened aafter 5 minutes. 15 minutes later a maid was sent over to the hotel from, yes, the sister hotel to meet us. She was talking on the phone to the registration lady/owner/shopper who was sharing the news that there was no room at this hotel but the sister hotel did have a room. A take it or leave it comment later and we left it. In my opinion this was no coincidence but rather a somewhat calculating and greedy attempt to get me to stay at one of, apparently, a number of hotels that this lady owns.
We left passing the pile of customer details on the desk laid out in the reception area and a silent hotel. We were asked to do one more thing as we left the premises. A guest asked us if we could let him in as the key pad was not working and he could not get back into the hotel. My experience was a terrible one. if nothing else comes from my experience then I hope that the owner/receptionist/shopper takes a diffferent approach to guests in the future.

The Ruskin is an elegant, spacious, characterful building in a quiet road only a few minutes from the town centre. The breakfast is outstanding: organic, local, and plenty of options, including kippers or boiled eggs and soldiers. If you can time your visit away from conference dates, you can get rooms at very good rates, not much more than a B & B.

We really liked this hotel. It had a really good feeling from the start. We were met with a friendly welcome and very clear, consise instructions. Immediately, we were offered a larger room, which we accepted. With our booking came use of the local gym and swimming pool (though it was small, this too offered friendly service). The very central location impressed us whilst offering a quiet place to rest. Our room was clean and tastefully furnished. No overpowering air freshner smells that you get in some small hotels! Breakfast was superb too. Decent, strong coffee and a well cooked full english for my partner! Other items were offered though (boiled eggs and soldiers for me). The only downside, there has to be one, was the somewhat surly waitress at breakfast - I'm not a morning person, but neither apparently was she.

hotel was clean and pleasant abit dated with room decor, didn't meet the owners of hotel at all through out the stay, would have been more customer friendly if they at least showed there faces even to ask them about the area. Polish staff member serving breakfast didn't want to be there and was not at al friendly. breakfast room needs abit of back ground music while customers have breakfast.