The Crown Hotel - Stoke on Trent, United Kingdom 

We stayed in The Crown Hotel on a group weekend away to Alton Towers. We just wanted the cheapest nights stay including breakfast. We found this hotel on lastminute.com for ?40 per couple per night which is a bargain! Any other hotels anywhere near Alton towers are on average ?60per room! The hotel was 20-30mins from Alton towers and was really easy to get to and included free parking. You can check in from 3pm but as we were at Alton towers we arrived at 8pm. Check in was a breeze and our rooms were massive! We overlooked the train track which I believe is disused as we didnt see or here any trains and nor did any of our party. We had twin beds and a bedside drawer kettle with bits and bobs for tea and coffee. The beds were freshly made and we had clean towels provided. We got showered and changed to go out for tea and there was plenty of hot water and decent pressure too. There was a wedding reception going on at the hotel which was nice as it was lively and plenty of people to chat to- no noise from this could be heard from our rooms and we were all on seperate floors. The bar was nice in the hotel and they also have a night porter who can serve alcoholic drinks after 11:30pm. The hotel serves food but we went to the local Indian restaurant which is absolutely gorgeous and serves alcohol- this is only a 2min stroll turning right from outside the hotel. The beds were comfy and the rooms were quiet. The only faults I found was 2 small lights didn't work in our room and the bath panel was loose and the shower head wasnt secured so you had to hold it while having a shower. All the faults were minimal and reception were fantastic and dealt with any queries quickly and efficiently and were VERY helpful. What do you expect for the price? Breakfast was toast, fresh juice, coffee and tea and a choice of cereals. It was plentiful and you could eat as much as you wanted all you need for a weekend away to Alton towers!

firstly we found it really hard to find the hotel as the directions given were out of date. secondly there was a damp patch on the ceiling which was dripping through to the carpet at the end of my bed. thirdly the showers are cold and with extremely low pressure. one of my friends main doors to the room could easily be broken into when pushed as it didnt lock. the walls and bedsheets were dirty. the room was very hot despite the heating not being on. there was a huge crack in the ceiling above my friends bed which spread during our stay. the floorboards creaked very loudly and so we were kept up most of the night listening to people walking the corridors. there was never anyone on the 24 hour reception desk. when we asked for help on the door situation he said there was nothing he could about it. however our biggest problem was not the noise or apparent lack of security or the location (opposite a railway and a sex shop), but the fresh blood all up the staircase and walls which appeared after our day at alton towers. the hotel simply cleared it up and made a few attempts to ask the people next door to my friend about it but the police were not called and we were not informed about what was going on. this didnt improve our already terrible mood, and neither did the man across the corridor coming and standing next to our door when we had our friends in. i would not recommend this to anyone unless you want HIV or Aids or if you have no problem living with hookers and murderers during your stay. my one compliment to this hotel would be the lovely man who served us breakfast as he was always happy to bring me water instead of orange juice and was happy to cook as much toast as we could eat!