Melville Hall Hotel - Sandown, United Kingdom     

My Husband and I have just enjoyed a 3 day "mini moon" at the hotel having taken advantage of what seemed to be and indeed was a very good value offer with Travel Zoo. The exterior of the hotel and the grounds look well cared for and live up to expectations. The reception area seemed understaffed on our arrival and a very pleasant young lady did her best to placate some guests who were annoyed at the delay in booking in. We however were booked in efficiently and in a very welcoming manner. The bedroom (231) was small but we didn`t mind this as it was quiet and had character. It does ,however need updating and redecorating urgently as if the hotel was to be judged on this room it would not deserve nor retain its 3* rating at all. The room had not been vacuumed prior to our arrival although it was reasonably clean elsewhere. The bathroom was down some very steep stairs and there is a a most unpleasant and offputting water stain on the carpet which is a real eyesore and not at all what you would expect to see in a hotel of this calibre.One would expect this to have been attended to immediately ,rather than left . The standard of both food and service was fautless throughout the stay. Staff were, without exception pleasant, hardworking, friendly and keen to ensure that they looked after us well throughout our stay. We only dined one evening in the restaurant as at ?29 p/h it was more than we needed to pay for an evening meal. The menu needs to be more flexible and offer an a la carte choice. Most guests would simply not require 4 courses every evening -regardless of the cost. A less rigid menu might encourage more guests to consider dining in the hotel rather than finding pubs etc elsewhere as we did. We would have preferred to have dined at the hotel every evening as the restaurant is a lovely setting and the staff were wonderful. We did enjoy our stay and may well return , having fallen in love with the tranquility of the island. I would recommend this hotel but suggest that any couple making a reservation ask NOT to be put into room 231 - as the bedroom was the only letdown of what was a thoroughly enjoyable stay.

Stayed one night. All OK. Very friendly and clean. Bathroom a bit tired.