Bike & Boot Leisure Hotels - Scarborough — Hotel in Great Britain

Came to stay at the Bike and Boot with my partner and small dog in the last weekend of August.||We paid £470 for 3 nights, inclusive of breakfast for 2 at £12.50 a head, parking at £4 a day and the dog at £15 a night. Whilst more than I'd normally pay for a stay in Scarborough, we were eager to try out the hotel on this occasion.||The hotel is situated in a prime location on South shore with a short walk across the bridge to Scarborough spa, or down the ramp to South bay attractions. The town centre is also only a few minutes walk away and the cliff lift is nearby for those less agile or needing a rest at the end of a long day. The lift is reasonably priced at £1.50 one way or £2.60 return. Carers, dogs and under 5's travel free, and as an integral part of Scarborough history it should be experienced at least once.||Upon arriving at the hotel we were swiftly checked in by the gent on reception, who issued our key and parking permits and directed us to the lift. There was no communication beyond this so having never stayed here before we were then left to discover the whereabouts of the facilities ourselves. Parking was easy to find on the road outside the hotel with no problems at all.||Upon embarking in the lift which states holds 4 people, we found this to be somewhat cosy if a little claustrophobic with just the 2 of us and the dog, but it did do it's job.||We were pleasantly surprised to find our room 302 was right outside the lift so didn't have far to walk to find it.||I was slightly disappointed when entering the room that my room request on booking had not been allocated on this occasion, however the room was exceptionally clean and well presented. The bed was extra large so much so we struggled to even find each other in it. The pillows were cosy but very soft if not a little bumpy and definitely wouldn't work for everyone. Due to the room being duel purpose as a twin the bed would have benefited from a bigger/thicker mattress topper when used in It's double form as it didn't cover the whole bed and the middle join was easily felt.||We had a lovely seating area which enabled us to enjoy our sea view. The room facilities were plentiful, boasting a fridge with fresh milk and water, a safe, mini bar, coffee machine with pods and tea bags (it was just lacking biscuits), hairdryer, fan, toiletries iron and ironing board. A fluffy mat was provided for the dog as well as a small toy although after reading lots of reviews about your signature lobster toys I was really disappointed we got a pig and not even a beach themed alternative. The room was predominantly very quiet with little disturbance from our neighbours. Unfortunately as we were located right next to the lift we did endure some light foot traffic due to that.||Whilst apprehensive that we were paying £12.50 for continental breakfast the selection was mostly pleasant and tasty. The bacon was not cooked enough for my taste and the boil your own eggs seemed problematic for ourselves and other guests. Butter was also rationed and ran out completely on our last day. We noted there are facilities for gluten free guests with a small selection of foods provided. The young woman managing the breakfast period was exceptional given she was not only clearing and setting tables but restocking foods and did so solo on all 3 mornings in which we stayed whilst also dealing with disgruntled hotel guests some of the time.||Excellent hot drinks served all day with the added bonus of cake every day at 4, which we were lucky enough to try twice during our stay. Gluten free guests are also catered for here as we enjoyed a delicious gluten free chocolate cake during our stay. Whilst we didn't use the grooming or bike facilities during our stay, these were excellent, well maintained and provided everything you could need for either eventuality.||Although staff were not unfriendly, interactions were basic and brief as an example check in was quick and polite but there was no explanation of where to find anything beyond directing us to the lift, check out again was quick and polite but we weren't asked about our stay like you would normally expect. We did however observe staff were more conversational with returning guests they clearly knew well.||The biggest disappointment in our stay was the room did not depict those shown when booking. Having booked a medium sea view room we were expecting large windows with views across South bay and a bathroom with a large shower facility and space for 2. What we got was a corner room with a sea view visible from one of the 2 seats Infront of it, the second window had no sea view at all and overlooked a large tree. The bathroom was comparable to something from a large caravan. My partner who is 6ft tall couldn't even stand under the shower head as it was so low and the cubicle itself was barely big enough to turn around in. Although the toiletries provided are pleasant they are placed at a height that was not easily accessible to either of us, he had to contort his arm in an irregular position to use them and they were so high for myself that I almost got squirted in the face on more than one occasion. However the water pressure and temperature were very good throughout our stay. The sink in the bathroom was placed very low and being only a shallow bowl sprayed water everywhere when used. The mirror and light above it were the opposite being placed very high and almost beyond my own reach.||Upon laying on our bed on the first night we were alarmed to observe the light above it resembled a noose. This was highly triggering to my partner due to PTSD and we ultimately ended up tieing it up. We have observed from pictures of other rooms that lights generally don't have a loop like ours did.||Other pointers from our stay included:||- The bedside tables and pictures in the room were not secured and could easily fall or detach||- Having been asked if I wanted Alcohol in the room on booking and saying no I was not expecting to find a mini bar in the room and would have preferred this to be optional due to my own alcohol related trauma.||- Whilst the hotel welcomes it's doggy guests in all areas and provides water bowls in reception it would be a good addition to provide dog bowls in the rooms.||- unfortunately the hotel is not accessible to all guests as there are steep steps into the property and the lift is too small to accommodate most wheelchairs. However it would probably accommodate a walking frame as we did squeeze our dog buggy in there with us.||- We didn't visit the restaurant during our stay but had hoped to use the click and collect service when returning to our room. Unfortunately this ends at 8.30pm which was far too early for us. Perhaps a later more limited selection would be a good consideration as I'm sure many guests would use it. The click and collect app itself was easy to use and navigate and boasted colour pictures of each of the foods available.||- The room was cleaned and restocked to a high standard every morning and the cleaning crew should be commended on their work.||- The hotel offers free WiFi and chrome casting to the room TV however this was not accessible on 2 of or 3 nights which was really disappointing.||- Although we were not provided with essential information about the hotel by staff on arrival, we did locate this information on a room TV||Overall we enjoyed our stay and would book again in the future. Hopefully we'll be able to iron out the kinks on...

Overall, not a great experience staying at Bike & Boot. It had some positives, but i won't be coming back.

Positives: Friendly staff. Cheap parking - £4 a night. Thoughtful add ons for guests like the movie room, or free cake slices. Not used by us but nice options. Onsite restaurant and bar. Not used by us but nice options. Fairly priced for a waterfront location. Complementary bottles of water in the room fridge. Nice smelling body wash (pump mechanism hit and miss). Lavazza room coffee machine and pods. Good wifi.

Negatives; No air con. Just a plug in room fan. In fairness to the hotel, it didn't say at booking that they provide air con, but would've been good to have. No room soundproofing. Window was broken and is unable to close fully, resulting in a lot of wake ups (room 111). In a town full of seagulls, better replacement windows and frames would be good. I was woken up frequently on both nights of my stay by them, starting around 2am. 1st night, I was woken at 7:10am from the very loud glass bin collection right outside the window. 2nd night, bin collection was 8:50am, so not as bad but still very loud. 1st night, at 7:40am a loud constant noise started that i believe was coming from inside the hotel. I'm not sure what it was, it sounded like a giant water tank system being heated up. This sound continued for many hours and did slowly fade into the background but its initial start was early and loud. Windows not easily accessible. Had to climb on a chair just to open/close them (bathroom window was able to close fully and also able to be held open on a latch). Room decor showing its age with peeling wallpaper, and marks of dirt (and potentially mould). The sink hand soap comes out so fast, it completely misses your hand and goes all over your clothes. As the bottles are personalised to the bike and boot brand, i can't see that changing, so use the pumps with caution. Lots of unnecessary emails. I appreciate the hotel is trying to give information ahead of time and encourage an early check in, but instead of sending 2 check in emails, a parking information email, and a general information email... a combined email the day before check in would have been sufficient. In addition to the 4 emails mentioned above, I received another email which was a receipt for the stay. However, as i had booked through hotels.com , i had already received an invoice email. The price paid on the email from bike & boot was different to the email i received from hotels.com . Potentially a thought for the hotel in regards to customers booking through a third party website. Invasive data collection. Name of main guest is understandable. Name of secondary guest is not needed. A bank card for any damages or use of the non complementary mini bar items is something that should be settled on exit without a pre auth being required. Requesting my personal home address is invasive. Excessively complicated check in process. Check in online before arrival. Then check in on the ipads when you arrive. Then tell the member of staff the room number allocated by the ipad so they can then give you the room card. The bathroom sink design is more for appearance and less for practicality. Its positioned very low and the tap is awkwardly placed. We aren't tall but even we struggled with everyday tasks like handwashing and teeth brushing.

The hotel has clearly spent more time on the design of the rooms, and not the practicality of them being used and slept in. As the hotel has experienced wear and tear over the years, unfortunately even the decor isn't holding up anymore.

Other rooms may have been better so can't comment on those, but would suggest asking for a room change if you are allocated room 111.

Additional notes: The small double room felt smaller than i expected it to, so I'm very glad i didn't go for the cosy boot room. If you use the coffee machine, refresh the water, and wipe the coffee pods themselves as my partner noticed these were not...

A good place to stay but maybe better on colder days and nights.

Good points: excellent location, right next to the beach, really good sea views. Close to food, drink, shops and amusements. comes with parking permit to park on certain roads for free ( renewable each day you stay until 1pm). large comfy bed, nice soft sheets and pillows plenty of space. good amount of space in the room (large double with sea view) comfy sofa 2 tvs sea crashing onto the rocks and shore was nice sound so close by. good breakfast to say it was low amount of prep for them. Was more than we were expecting as we thought it would just be cereal and toast. There was options for toast/bread to toast yourself. Boiled eggs or eggs to boil yourself. Yoghurt and fruit. Cereal selections. Pancakes with lots of different sauce toppings. Bacon (we are veggie so didn’t touch that). Croissant selection. someone was in reception whenever we had a question etc their customer service was great from everyone. Friendly and welcoming. Very efficient seems like a good team of people. Nice vibe. we tried dinner one night as we were knackered and didn’t want to go too far and it was lovely. We ordered a few dishes from the small plates and sides option all were very tasty and came out quickly. mini fridge in the room with snacks and drinks. Some you have to pay for. maybe due to old buildings and walls but was great at masking sound coming from any other rooms. Was really quiet. Only heard a few creaky floorboards and doors closing but really good for that. dog friendly. We didn’t have a dog to take but the amount of happy dogs that were there was lovely.

Bad points the heat in the rooms. This might have just been us but it was ridiculously hot in the rooms at all times even with the windows open as far as they go (not very far but understandable because of safety). This was also a colder and more wet summer so dread to think what it would have been like to be an actually hot summer. No air con in the rooms which was uncomfortable but the building is old so maybe it’s that. Probably would be better in cold months as there were quite a few radiators so definitely would keep you warm enough. due to it being hot we had to have the windows open all the time which meant we could hear the seagulls screaming 24/7 which is an early wake up call. This can’t be helped of course but something to note. Was worse I’m sure for the hotel nearby The Grand Hotel as they had seagulls making nests above almost every window perch. no lifts to the rooms. We lazy so wow those stairs are hard. We were on the third floor so luggage and bags were hard to take up. Not sure how accessible it would be for wheelchair users etc as there were only stairs leading to the hotel itself. just aesthetic bits and bobs. Lots to be repainted and small niggly bits of work needed to be done to make the place look a bit more presentable. Cleanliness overall was okay but some stains and stuff on the walls make it look a little dirty. Felt like they could have taken a little better care when renovating or fixing new radiators and fire place mantels as paint and wallpaper was done a bit shoddy to cover holes etc. lighting in the rooms was so bad. Don’t know whether they changed the lightbulbs since the pictures were taken but the rooms do not look like that. I think maybe they were going for a cosy vibe but was teetering on the verge of dark and dinghy. Needed more light bulbs or just a brighter bulb every now and then. Bathroom especially super dark felt like I wasn’t wearing my glasses the whole time. shower...