The Wessex Hotel - Bournemouth, United Kingdom     

I booked a Preimum room and the room we got was large and clean although the decor was dated. The hotel itself is in a good location near the town centre and the parking is great. The good points were the hotel location, parking and the size of the rooms. The breakfast was very good too. The bad points were the pool is a bit dated and the sauna and steam rooms are female and male only! Not great if you are with your Partner as you have to sit by yourself! Overall the Hotel was ok but I think we will chose to stay some where else next time we are in Bournemouth.

This is unusual; I rarely find myself in disagreement with other reviewers but in this case my experience was completely different. This may be because I booked through conference package and was placed in a tiny single room but other members of my party shared a similar experience. So what was wrong? Firstly the room was scruffy, poorly lit and badly decorated. The bathroom had poor, old fittings and an inadequate, mixer tap style shower. Worst of all the bathroom was carpeted with a clear dirty trail leading from the door to the fittings. I am not generally picky but could not stand barefoot in there. The bedroom was also not adequately clean. Soft furnishings had seen better days and the ancient light fitting had evidence of insect corpses inside it. You know the feeling - just don't quite fancy hanging my clothes inside that wardrobe. One colleague found a Malteser on the floor! Service was not terrible but had an air of not trying and not really caring for the customer. For example at breakfast there was an older couple at an adjacent table; the disabled gentleman was not served his meal and when the lady complained the tone of the staff was almost to disbelieve her. The only exception we noted to this attitude was the night porter who could not have been more helpful. We ate in the Italian restaurant in the basement. This was very good; I suspect under a different franchise. I have never submitted an unfavourable review before but I have to say this was the worst hotel I have stayed in for a long time. There are lots of hotels to choose from in Bournemouth. Go somewhere else.