Albion Hotel — Hotel in Isle of Wight

Just spent 2 nights at this fantastic and impressive hotel. We always do our homework before choosing to stay somewhere and this establishment had many positive reviews. We arrived on Friday afternoon and was checked in and given a guided tour of the main areas of the hotel and a quick tour of the room facilities. We knew the hotel had had a big refurb and I can honestly say it was beautifully up-graded and very tasteful. Our room was 205 and was on the top floor overlooking the beach and had the sunrise in the morning. The room was spacious, had the most comfortable bed and pillows we have ever slept on. The bathroom was also beautiful with great décor, big shower and an amazing shower pressure, also good toiletries, including pillow mist.|In the big wardrobe was a fridge with a jug of milk and also the room had great tea and coffee facilities and like the jug of milk, they were replenished for our second day.|The room also had a small balcony with two chairs. It was lovely hearing the sea at night and first thing in the morning seeing people swimming in the sea!!.|We chose to eat both nights at the restaurant and although not cheap, the quality was exceptional and I would always like good tasty well prepared food rather than a cheaper carb overload. Someone mentioned that they thought the cheese soufflé was the best they ever had, and I have to agree, exceptional!. |Breakfast was included and again this was amazing, good choice of cheese, cereals etc and then you also ordered from the menu for hot option, my eggs Florentine was lovely. Both dinner and breakfast was served in a restaurant with amazing views of the sea.|The staff were very smartly dressed and very engaging. We liked the relaxed dress code for dinner and nobody abused it by wearing vests etc. I wore smart jeans and a smart shirt. We also loved the fact the hotel was no smoking and I can honestly say at no time did I get a whiff of cigarette smoke.|The only very slight negative was on arrival we explained that we were inundated with I think it was 10 or 12 emails repeating our reservation and asking us to confirm our dinner times, this was only a minor issue and does not detract from what was an incredible weekend away.|I would not hesitate to return in the future and based on our experience would hope it would be soon. The real test for this hotel and staff would be during peak season as I am sure this will be a popular choice for a weekend treat.|Many...

We stayed in a family room at the cost of £1100 for five days.

At arrival we went through the mandatory spiel then were told the heated pool was not heated due to a guest shampooing themselves in there. The hotel looked and felt tired with threadbare furniture and paint and plaster peeling, dated decor, duct tape holding down the tiles on the balcony. Lots of the bulbs in the place did not work. The furniture had watermarks all over it, there were no fridges in the cupboards where the minibars used to be. Corridors smelled like cabbage and old fat and staff lounged about on the hotel furniture like they were at a youth hostel.

At reception were were told what we could not have and this seemed to set the scene for the rest of the stay. Our towels and sheets were never changed over the stay. Then when we look into the welcome book it tells us they don't change anything unless asked under the ruse of environmental policy.

The breakfast (which cost over £10 per person per day) was the most poor breakfast ever experienced. Old overcooked beans, one shoe leather piece of bacon one 2" sausage and an egg. The oil used was old and there was limited choice for change. In the end we had eggs and toast all week as this was the safest option. I reported cracked and broken serving jugs bowls and crockery to the staff for it to reappear the next day. Dishes were filthy and the cutlery was covered in food. Coffee was insipid and the quality of the food was poor all round.

The Hotel bar closed at 10.30 on the dot and you were asked to leave and their prices were too high for the service which was not often available. They never had ice and stock for basics was in short supply.

The staff were generally polite with the exception of the night manager who derided his staff and took pleasure in closing everything and jangling keys to indicate he wanted you to go to your room. There was a feeling that this Hotel was without any manager, rudderless. No quality control or standards and definitely no real customer service. The hotel claims to 'go the extra mile' to make your stay a good one. This was not our experience. After 2 days you felt Institutionalised and felt like a child being told what to do and when to do it.

I would recommend any traveller or holidaying family to steer well clear of this establishment. It has a great view of the bay but I would buy a poster and get a real Hotel for your...

The hotel is horribly let down by indifferent reception staff and excruciatingly poor management.

We were a family of 13, occupying five rooms for two nights. Our spend was considerable.

Things got off to a bad start with a curt greeting when my pregnant daughter arrived early. She was so concerned that she called me to say that the receptionists were unpleasant and unwelcoming.

The rooms are well appointed and comfortable. The rooms that directly overlook the sea without a partial view of the road are far superior. A mirror fell off the wall in one room, and the curtains came off the wall in another room, but in both cases, the issue was promptly dealt with.

The restaurant was astonishingly expensive. Although the food was good, it did not merit the cost. The surf and turf for two, is priced at £160. This is more that the Hut for a 30% smaller portion and was far inferior. The meat came plainly grilled. I asked for some peppercorn sauce for which a further £3.50 was added to the bill. In contrast, the Hut provide three sauces to accompany their meat.

We did enjoy our stay until the time of departure. We vacated all rooms by 11am. In one room, our baby was still asleep and we asked if we could keep that room for an additional 30 minutes. The answer from reception was that we could, for an additional £25. We asked for the duty manager to be consulted as they couldn't possibly make up all rooms simultaneously and if we hadn't asked, they wouldn't even have noticed. The answer came back that the charge would remain. The duty manager remained in his office and simply stated that they would charge the £25, because they could.

The hotel management simply didn't care. I ended up asking for all service charges to be removed. We would have returned at a future date had it not been for the receptionists and management. What a shame for our stay to be ruined at...