Best Western Tillington Hall - Stafford, United Kingdom 

A second work visit to stafford had me checking in to the hotel for the second time in as many months and as i was given a very different room this time, I thought it was worth sharing it with other trip advisor members. Everything I said about the staff last visit is still true - they are lovely, every last one of them. This time my room was in the new block and was a standard 1970's built motel hotel twin room. Clean, Good bathroom and despite my being on the ground floor, very quiet and comfortable. Breakfast is a vast improvement on the last visit too, probably because i got to it earlier but i still think that a better service wouldn't break the hotels bank - I know fetching your own tea and coffee isn't the end of the world, but this isn't a travellodge! For some reason, it was cheaper this time by ?2 - no idea why and we went to the local pub to eat where we enjoyed some very nice microwaved from frozen meals at a good price and very friendly locals who were happy to let us join in on the pub quiz. I think if you go to this hotel, kick up a fuss and get one of the newer rooms, not as full of charm, but for my money, better by far. Would probably go back by choice having seen the newer rooms.

Stayed here at the back end of January 2008. I really don't like to complain about hotels that are at the budget end of the market, I do believe that you get what you pay for. I paid ?70 for a night - B and B. The hotel is in an area of Stafford that could almost be described as urban deprived. my sat nav took me to the side road near the hotel and a glance at the locals had me locking the doors. Upon parking the car, I locked the doors, took every last scrap of personal belongings out of the car, folded the mirrors in and made sure I could see it from the room - I'm sure it's not a rough area - it just kinda felt that way and trust me, it's an old car and I don't normally bother. The check in was painless with an articulate friendly girl delivering an efficient service, in fact, I found all the hotel staff to be particularly pleasant if not actually some of the best I have encountered on my travels. The hotel has some old rooms and some newer ones in what looks like a 1970's wing on the side. I was in an old one, on the top floor. The stairs are steep to the room and narrow, think firemans ladder and you almost have it - the traditional furnishings were comfortable but somewhat shoehorned into the room with no real planning. For example, the armchair at the desk had to be forced to fit under it and when pulled out, hit the bed. The dial up internet point is at the side of the bed, the power point is on the desk 10ft away - not hard to see an improvement opportunity there is it? The best/worst bit was the placement of the full length mirror 30" behind the door so that when you walk in, it seems that someone is walking towards you - not good if you have a nervous disposition - I nearly punched the intruder the first time.. The bathroom wasn't just shabby, it was BAD, a cracked sink, missing bath sealant and gaps in the tiles just distracted from the missing enamel on the bath. The bed was saggy and in the 1970's I used to sleep under a sheet, blanket, and chintzy cover, most places now use quilts and it took some getting used to. The TV boasts 16 channels, except all bar 1,2, itv and 4 were either black screen or, in the case of 5, filmed through a net curtain and a snowstorm. Curiously the DVB box on my laptop found 37 channels using a tiny 4" arial, using the wall socket antennae it found 8... So to watch any TV I had to have the window open an inch - sad huh? The doors creak and slam and the stairs creak twice as loud as the floorboards which give the impression of walking on the backs of vocal frogs. The leisure facilities are good, no, actually they were better than good as long as you don't jump into the pool or stand by the jacuzzi switch waiting for it to reset after one of it's breaks. Do this and the attendant gives you what for. sauna was spotless and very good, pool was likewise and the gym was more than you might expect. I found breakfast to be very good indeed, the mushrooms were delicious but looked hideous as they were swimming in a pool of yukky coloured liquid, bacon was well cooked and grease free, coffee was the let down as it was in a tepid jug and wasn't served, you fetched it. Bar was OK, a bit pricey and when I ask for a diet coke and pay a fortune for it, I kinda expect diet coke, not some hideous sweet generic Rola Cola so no points there. Just 1mile down the road takes you to Staffords Curry quarter where you will find some good restaurants, curiously these are near a Currys retail store so easy to find. if you will use the leisure club and eat a biiiig breakfast, you will get value for money here, otherwise... look around. As I said, I paid about ?70 for this, and we used an agency to get it at this price, ?50 gets you a holiday inn express with awful breakfast but a better room and a better feeling of security. Overall - I think this hotel makes it's money from the big RAF barracks and not much else. it needs gutting at room level and at the very least, the noisy floor sorting out.