The New Inn Hotel — Hotel in Gloucester

The good - an amazing building, steeped in history and a unique one off hotel, beautiful, quirky and a must see.

The bad - quite possibly one of the worst hotel experiences I have ever had......

I stayed as part of a large group (30+), we arrived to check in. Check in took 3 hours!! At the end of which, one family of 4 were told that they couldn't stay as they didn't have a room for them even though we had pre booked a few months ago! The reason given was that they were new owners and the booking was made by the previous owners. The mistake/issue was eventually rectified but not without some stern battling from some very patient people within our party.

As stated above, the hotel building is amazing, 700 years old, wonky floors, narrow corridors, a real Harry Potter feel and a must see, however, when in the rooms the most basic furniture, cheap wardrobe, chest of drawers etc some loose fittings etc so much more could be done to make the stay feel extra special. En suite bathroom was very nice, just be aware that shower is VERY hot and takes a bit of skill to get it a comfortable temperature.

Day 2 (Saturday) Various members of the party contacted by hotel telling them that they hadn't paid for 2 nights (which we had) and that they were required to pay again if they were planning it stay the second night. This issue was rectified but not the sort of message you want to receive while trying to enjoy a day out in Cheltenham.

WARNING Saturday afternoon/evening the courtyard becomes a venue for live music and attracts some of Gloucester's more "interesting" members of society. To say some of the locals looked as though they had partaken in more than just a few alcoholic tipples is an understatement. I enjoy loud live music and will happily spend time with most people but if you were at the hotel with a young family then you may find yourself wishing you had stayed somewhere else. The hotel is obviously also a popular drinking venue for the locals (understandably so) but as most of this takes place in the courtyard, it is highly likely that your stay in the rooms surrounding it is going to be affected by this

Breakfast (Sunday) Breakfast was served in a beautiful room which again captured the buildings historical antiquity, making you feel that you truly had stepped back in time. However, breakfast took an eternity to serve. When my order was taken (full English breakfast) I was informed that they were quite busy and for a cooked breakfast there would be a slight delay....one hour and 10 minutes later my food finally arrived. Was it worth the wait? It was ok, standard English breakfast nothing special but for £10.95 I would not expect to be waiting over an hour and if I did I would expect something pretty special at the end of the wait! Some members of the party didn't have time to have breakfast due to bus leaving at 11 even though they had been down for breakfast with plenty of time to spare.

Final thoughts... Would I recommend? Yes, perhaps as a one off just to experience the building itself, it truly is a special place. Will things get better in terms of service. I hope so. The new owners have an incredible opportunity to make people's stay here a very special experience just a shame that didn't happen for me this time.

P.s. No paranormal activity on this stay...

Please avoid at all cost , I recently stayed at there sister hotel and complained that there were over 100 flies in the room, and left a review based on my findings . I have never left negative review before this and stayed in 100s of hotels , but the flies were all over the place both dead and alive and the staff said they had complaints before about the flies also o had my perfume stolen from my room . Because of my negative review they said I was not welcome back , I left it at that .. I then booked a night to stay in this hotel and paid £90 , to be told you can’t stay here for leaving a bad review in our sister hotel about the flies , that’s not a issue i booked travel lodge and stayed there , They said I would get a refund the next day 3 weeks later and many many emails they have not refunded me and basically said you should not of made a booking it’s your own problem , I emailed them many many times now they have blocked my emails and I still have not had my £92 refund .. I’m £92 out of pocket .. I’m now having to pay to go through the small claims court to get my refund back . They are refusing to reply and saying it’s everyone else’s fault and not there’s .. I didn’t stay there so a refund would be the only decent thing to do …. Please don’t stay with this company , staff are rude beyond belief and don’t refund customers , items got taken from my room and they denied it and the awful flies in the sister hotel , not to mention I’m £92 out of pocket , I wasn’t going to write a negative review if I would of been refunded … if anyone else has had a issue with flies in there sister hotel , please could you write a review about it as the staff despite seeing the flies down played the issue . Sister hotel is called central hotel … PLEASE AVOID AT ALL COSTS ….. if I get refunded i will be happy to delete my review .. this is my testimony to the awful way I was treated and how awful...

Booked a room at The New Inn instead of the usual Premier Inn to try something new and because the room was cheaper than Premier Inn. Wish I had paid the extra!

Good points:

The New Inn itself is full of beautiful ye olde world charm with original wooden beams, crooked windows, uneven floors and a maze of corridors and doors. The room itself had a very low beam that even at 5ft 2 inches, my head could touch it! I felt like a giant!

Bad points:

The room I was given faced the covered courtyard (which sparkled with lights), which is part of the pub area. The pub was open late with karaoke until midnight. The window was single glazing and did not shut properly (part of the charm of an old building) which meant the noise of every badly sung note (and the good ones!), drinks being ordered, sad jokes and chat up lines plus the smoke from those taking a break from life drifted up into my room. This probably wouldn't have been so bad if the bed was comfortable. However, I felt like I had a bed that was as old as the Inn itself, with springs galore digging into me so much that I am inclined to book a chiropractor to help realign my back. The breakfast was the same price as Premier Inn but much lower in quality and quantity with the two saddest fried eggs I have ever seen. The vegetarian sausages cooked to order were practically inedible, dry and literally grey in flavour. The coffee was very disappointing. As I was packing, housekeeping walked into my room without even knocking.

Overall, the New Inn itself is an amazing building in a great location but not worth the convenience, the money...