just had an all inclusive mid week break to this hotel.the Entertainment was brilliant the singers comedians & magician..staff were outstanding.. value for money.definitly will be back

We stayed at the Carlton because they had a sign outside advertising superior rooms with larger beds with other extras. We were given room 117 which had a 4ft 6in bed, horrible pillows, lumpy duvet and not very good bedding. A toilet that was overflowing from the cistern like Niagara Falls, a basin with the plug not working, and a draught through the windows that would put some wind tunnels to shame.

We complained to the manager and he did fix the plug but did not bother to get a plumber to fix the toilet although it was awful trying to sleep with the noise of running water. He said none of the beds were larger and he could move us to another room but they were all pretty awful. His then gave us the Head Office address and told us to complain.

The restaurant food resembled 1960's school dinners but on the whole was edible. We didn't have the soup after seeing one of the waiters putting croutons in the soup with his hands instead of the spoon provided. It was bad enough with the room as it was without food poisoning as well.

On the morning we checked out we noticed that the clean towels were laying outside the rooms on the floor. Guests were returning from breakfast and walking past or possibly on these towels. Our advice would be to bring your own!!!

We complained to Shearings head office. After another letter chasing them up we finally received a reply after 6 weeks saying that the advert was a general one and did not apply to all hotels. There was nothing on this advert that was placed in the doorway that this was the case.

Despite all the problems they refused any compensation apart from giving £40 of vouchers towards another stay. Why we would ever want to stay in one of their hotels again is beyond comprehension.

having stayed in 4 Bay Hotels, in various parts of the country, I have to say that Bay Carlton is by far the best. The rooms and corridors upstairs are a bit old fashioned but they are very clean and very comfortable. Downstairs is lovely. The food was good with a wide choice and even a glass of wine with the evening meal. The staf were friendly and efficient and nothing was too much trouble. In the evening you could choose to enjoy the entertainment in the basement bar or have a quiet drink and a chat in the Ascot bar on the ground floor. So well done Bay Carlton - credit where credit is due.

I had read up the reviews before visiting this hotel on a Shearings cabaret Weekend, I would say that this Hotel is average, it is clean in the rooms and although the room I stayed in was spotless and had some refurbishment,corners had been cut, the bathroom window has a piece screwed along the bottom of the window obviously beacause it wont close right down to the bottom,therefore, the sash does not meet in the middle and an almighty gale blows through the centre of it ( room 112 ) there is also a hole in the sill in the bedroom,I did not like being placed at a cramped table with other guests,The people who myself and friend were placed with stunk of smoke and were infected with colds,sorry but I found the smell abhorent, and dont see why I should be forced to sit with people I did not CHOOSE to holiday with !!!!!! I did ask to be moved , but the staff did it reluctantly, the food was luke warm, and twice at breakfast sausage was not cooked in the middle, on the last morning , I showed the waiter the under cooked sausage, who removed it ( no replacement offered ) and came out with the guff that it was pink in the middle because it was oatmeal !!!!!!!,the entertainment is average, the compere who does a very good rendition of kenny Rogers really needs to learn to smile,I thought I was sat in the waxworks while waiting for bingo to start. bar prices are £3.20 for a pint of lager, and during our visit we were offered tomato juice by one barman out of a carton at a £1 a go for half a pint, but on the Sunday the price was hiked up to £1.60 and in a small 200ml glass, the excuse being the first had charged wrong, the cost of the cartoned drinks was not on the bar tariff !!!!, trading standards ie weights and measures would be interested in that little conundrum,complimentary toiletries are no longer left in the room and although it states in the guest info in the room when I asked for some I was told they no longer provide them , well update the guest info, I would not stay at the Carlton again, I like to think I am a guest rather than a nuisance who needs feeding when away !!!!!!