This hotel is old fashioned elegance with its high ceilings, lacy cornices and panelled walls,…read morehowever, do not be fooled by the photos. On entering the car park, if you manage to get a ticket at the barrier and the barrier rises, then there should theoretically be a space for you as you now have to pay 3.00 in order to get out. However, there are no spaces. I had to wait an hour for someone to move and I was lucky as others were sent, luggage and all, to a multi storey car park down the road. The space I found was on a high pavement amongst a pile of gravels stones which have now given me a slow puncture.
This hotel is near to the Tower and the North Pier which was good enough reason to choose it. It is in the centre of the town and the promenade and there could be some wonderful sea views if there was not so much junk in the windows, and cars parked in front of the dining area and thus taking away the view of the sea.
My room was clean and the shower and bath were clean too and sparkling white, so I was quite happy at first, and overlooked the fact that the TV was far too tiny and there were only two tea bags,four sugars, and two coffee sachets in the tea tray.
A big hotel like this, if it brags about being first class, should at least have WIF available in the rooms, but computers can only be used in the foyer with an ambiguous code H0tel 999 which you will find after much hassle that the O is infact an 0 ie,. a zero rather than a letter o.
The entertainment is not so good, with a short 40 minute cabaret and bingo with huge prizes of £8.00 for a line.
My first meal was in, apparently the standard, dining room. To eat in the not so standard dining room you have to pay more. The standard dining room is an embarrassment with tables in rows, bread and butter and tea pots already laid out, and more like a canteen than a hotel dining room. It is self service and the food is literally thrown from large old trays into the serving trays on an aisle display. The choice was a cheap looking curry and plain white rice, or dried up tasteless hake, small chewy gammon steaks and pineapple with gravy in the next tray! No sauce for the fish. The vegetables were frozen carrots which were tasteless and rubbery and broccoli so overdone it fell apart and smelt dreadful spreading its stink all over the hotel. The desserts, and puddings were good though.
The next morning, I refused to eat in the standard dining room and they let me go into the better one, after all, I had tried to upgrade my room but they were full.
In a nut shell, the room was fine, except one small thin pillow and a really thin duvet was not very comfortable. Although I did find an extra pillow in the wardrobe the next day. The food was horrible. The wines were not very good and the entertainement was equally not very good. I do not think it is value for money considering the Travel Lodge can offer better food and clean airy rooms.
The Grand Metropole has seen better days. It is pretentious and yet useless. Food bad, facilities, bad, views bad, and noisy. What is more, you are not trusted. I had to pay first before I was allowed to drink wine at the table. Noone asked me what I would like to eat. You just wade over to the centre to the grossely over cooked canteen food. Try and move to a better hotel. Pay more. Cheapness is not worth the disappointment.
