This was my second stop in Leicester. Last time I stayed at the Belmont, which I adored, but this…read moretime I was hoping to save some money, and trusted the good reviews I saw online for Castle Park. After I had booked and told my friends where I was staying they said they thought the hotel was probably "cheap and cheerful," and I suppose that's the best way to describe it.
I had a single room, a few (walk-up) floors up. The room was small but had an en suite bath. For the price, it was a great deal. But the room was so small that the door didn't open all the way. When I described this to my friends, I admitted that the single bed was wider than most, so perhaps that was the trade-off. And for that, it was worth it. I watched some TV on the itty-bitty television, I looked out the window into the alley-ish space. I also heard my neighbor snoring much of the night, and was thankful to have the TV to drown him out. I skipped the breakfast, which is served in the basement, but it seemed cozy.
I had a funny experience when it came to getting to the place. I had taken the train up from London and the scheduled arrival was a little late for their check-in window. I had called and pre-arranged this with the front-office staff, but then the train was late and I was cutting close to the time we'd set. My Google Maps GPS is generally pretty horrid in Leicester, and I managed to overshoot the side street that the hotel is on. When I found it, I read my map (my GPS still not helping) to the place where Google told me the hotel was -- only to get there and find no hotel was there. I called the hotel, feeling somewhat frantic, and the desk clerk very kindly directed me back to where I should have been all along. She was super nice, calm, and helpful, even though I was probably keeping her late on what was probably already a long shift! They were also super nice the following day when I had them hold my bags.
Overall, I was content with the hotel, and especially with their kindly service. The room was fine - clean and simple. But I'm realizing that I'm getting to an age where saving money isn't always my best idea -- and for me, a splurge to go back to the Belmont is probably my best bet for my next trip to Leicester.