This is a very old hotel set in the rolling prairies of English country side, about 15 minutes north of Sheffield UK, or put another way, in the middle of cow pastures. Sure it's old (probably about a couple of hundred years) and kind of grand looking. It also probably got some kind of a long history behind it, but so is practically everything else in England. If it weren't for the closeness to my client's business, there is no stinkin way I would ever stay here.
My room was on the second floor like all other rooms which would be fine, except the place does not have an elevator. So I had to drag my large luggage (2-weeks worth of business clothes) and a huge brief case (2 laptops and tons of documents) up the stairs. Then, I had to struggle with both large pieces of luggage through a very narrow aisle (2.5 feet wide at the most) and through two sets of fire doors (always kept closed per UK law) on uneven worn out carpeting to my room.
Once I got into my tiny room, it was cold (super old radiator) and the bathroom smelled damp. I quickly checked out the view, which was the nice courtyard view, but the floor must have sloped up 10 inches from the bathroom door to the window, in about only half a dozen normal paces. The full size bed was the largest they got and luckily, the hotel made sure the bed was level on the tilted floor. The TV had such a small screen that any large laptop monitor can outsize it. The shower had low pressure and staying there 3 nights, the hotel was cheap on towels, soap, and shampoo. The WIFI is slow and cell phone service doesn't work well because of all the large thick brick walls.
Other than a full service restaurant with a nice menu, there is no fitness center, no pool, and no business center. It requires a 50-pound nonrefundable deposit and so there is nothing really worth a repeat stay for an international traveling business man like me. This place is the reason why I try to stay at Hyatts and Hiltons. read more